Tumblr Blackout Day starts 12AM Saturday/Sep 3 (this Saturday)

If you are planning on participating, make sure your last tumblr post the night beforehand is “BRB Blackout”, so people know why you are gone. Also, please reblog this post so that as many people as possible know when the blackout starts.

Whatever your respective time zones are is when to start. there is no specification.

What is the blackout?:

A day. A single day where you don’t use tumblr. No logging in. No checking it. I know it’s hard being cut off from your community for a day, but a single day, but by refusing to use or look at Tumblr, you are making a powerful collective dent that will (ideally) inspire Tumblr mods to consider that these changes are hurting and upsetting us. You are telling them that that we were very happy with many of the old features that we once had. This is a respectful silent protest.

Why a blackout:

Because social media websites, whether for profit or not, use numbers to determine whether or not their website is successful. Tumblr is a popular, ever growing website with a loyal userbase, so no matter how much the tumblr staff ruins the website, the hit numbers will continue to grow. Making a dramatic dent in that is the only way to really get our point across and demand to be heard. We are essentially making a statement that says “we are not happy with the changes that you have made, it is your users that makes your site successful, please listen to us”

BUT YOU ARE OVERREACTING1111 ITS JUST A WEBSITE WE DON’T HAVE TO PAY FOR IT OMFGZ GRPW UP. 

I’m not proposing that we seek out and gun down everybody who works for and maintains tumblr. I don’t think asking people to go outside or hang out with their friends for a day is being terribly reactionary or overly aggressive. For many of us, Tumblr is a home away from home where we talk to people who share our weird interests. I think we have a right to ask that it runs in the most user friendly way possible. I also refuse to congratulate Karp for “not making us pay” for Tumblr. Most social media websites do not require payment, and many still listen to their users. A good example is Reddit, which is among the most popular websites on the internet and still works tirelessly to make sure that users are happy with the developments they make. 

Some of the negative changes make to Tumblr:

The banning of all follower tracker services. The changes and attacks on Missing E that have resulted in many features being taken away and may result in it’s permanent banning. Askboxes having character limits. Askboxes regularly eating messages that they see as spam. Askboxes not allowing us to post links or use the enter key. David Karp responding to these problems by basically saying “let them eat cake”. The Tumblr sidebar being taken away.

If you have any more questions, please contact me via submitbox. Please do not ask anon so I can properly respond.