How To Tell If Tumblr Flagged Your Blog

LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING ON TUMBLR

Hey everyone! I just wanted to address what's been going on with Tumblr and talk about how it may affect you and me. If you have been following any of the news stories or noticed weird things happening on the platform, you know that Tumblr is going through quite a change.

Apple removed Tumblr from its App Store because Tumblr's automated filters failed to detect and bar illegal pornographic content that was uploaded to the site. Tumblr has been working with Apple to resolve the issue and today Tumblr announced that on December 17, 2018, all NSFW content of any kind, legal or illegal, will no longer be allowed on its platform.

So how does this affect us?

Tumblr is using an automated system and algorithm to detect and filter out any NSFW content across every account on the site. This algorithm is flawed because it is mistakenly flagging content that does not fit this category. Another problem is that when a post is flagged, the site does not notify the account that the post was flagged or why. I know this because as I looked through my entire blog this morning, I found approximately 30 posts of mine that were wrongfully flagged.

Doo Central is a Scooby-Doo blog that does not feature any sort of NSFW content, so any posts being flagged by Tumblr is being flagged by mistake by the automated system. Like I said, around 30 of my posts have been flagged and all of them were completely appropriate and not in any way NSFW.

If you are a Tumblr user and frequently upload content on your blog(s), I urge you to go through your whole feed to ensure that none of your posts are being mistakenly flagged. If a post has been flagged and you feel that it is a mistake, you are capable of appealing the post. You cannot appeal the post on an iOS device. You must either use an Android or other phone device or visit the actual Tumblr website to appeal a flagged post. Unfortunately, if you reblogged a post that is not originally yours and it has been flagged, you cannot appeal it. It is up to the original poster to appeal their flagged posts. I reblog many posts on Doo Central because I am not the only one who shares cool Scooby-Doo content. I am sad to say that some posts I've reblogged have been flagged and I am unable to appeal them despite them being perfectly fine (and frankly great) posts.

I just wanted to make sure people who are seeing these changes and not understanding why they are happening or how are now informed. Appeal your posts if they are wrongfully flagged. Prepare your blogs if they do feature NSFW content. It's unfortunate that Tumblr is going in this direction and that its automated method of accomplishing this initiative is affecting blogs like mine that have nothing to do with NSFW content.

Doo Central is not going away in any capacity as a result of Tumblr's new direction. Neither is Doo Central's sister blog That Groovy Scoobcast. I hope you found this post somewhat helpful and that we can all still enjoy Tumblr and all the other great content that is hosted on its site!