Tag: Tumblr

IS THIS THE END FOR TUMBLR?

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So the countdown has started.
Monday the 17th December, 2018, see’s the implementation of new rules and regulations by Tumblr.

As I briefly mentioned in a blog a few days ago, HERE, Tumblr announced that it will permanently ban adult content from it’s platform on December 17th. A blanket ban on ‘adult content’, regardless of what it is with just a few exceptions.

Like I said in that blog, “they seem to think that everyone who enjoys a bit of ‘adult content’ is automatically looking for ‘porn’ and this is simply not the case”.

The exceptions include nude classical statues and political protests that feature nudity. It’s interesting that Illustrations and art that feature nudity are still okay — so long as sex acts aren’t depicted — and so are breastfeeding and after-birth photos. If this is the case, why are artistic photos of the human form being  flagged? 

Several people I follow on Tumblr are photographic artists who specialise in the nude human form. Beautiful work that is now being flagged and will not be visible to the public from 17th and, in some cases, the blog itself will be deleted.
One of the photographers has written a wonderful little article about how he feels about this kind of censorship.

Michael Stokes starts the article with the following paragraph….
“Part of my morning routine is to wake up the computer, have coffee, and see if Instagram or Facebook have removed any of my photos or, worse yet, deleted my account. Social media sites are important because not only are they my main source of exposure to income, they are my calling card for the models who pose for me. As a photographer who specializes in the male form, I shoot still images of men in various state of undress, everything from shirtless to full frontal nudity. I’m also known for photographing wounded, amputee veterans in the nude, work that has been the subject of about a dozen doctoral theses and published in various academic journals, with themes from changing perceptions of the handicapped to an analysis of masculinity in America as it relates to war.”

You can read the full article HERE

Michael’s work is stunning! And in my eyes, is no different to the classical statues and paintings that Tumblr has made an exception for, and here we have a prime example of the problem.

The image on the left is a ‘classical statue’ and, can I just point out, is completely nude. This image, by Tumblr’s new rules, will still be allowed on the site.
However, the image on the right is a photo by Michael Stokes, a photo in which the model is wearing shorts and the model wouldn’t be out of place strolling on a beach. This photo is one that has already been flagged as inappropriate.

Again, classical statue on the left will be allowed, the stunning photo by Michael Stokes on the right will be flagged and banned. I don’t see the difference!!

Like I said in my previous blog, “Tumblr has always been a safe space for people and minorities to find like minded people to share content with regardless of what that content is”.

And as Michael says in his article “This is not exclusively a LGBTQ+ issue, it applies to all minority voices faced with further marginalization. Not everyone wants to live in a strictly homogonous society defined by a social media giant. Facebook is a monopoly and Verizon acquiring and sanitizing Tumblr is just another example of a large corporation manipulating social media to serve its own purposes”. 

So, I will continue to follow these people on Tumblr to see what happens.
I suspect the site will become extremely boring at best, or die completely at worst. How fast that will happen is anyone’s guess. So for now, I’ll continue to add wonderful images to my blogs, although my blogs also get automatically posted to my Tumblr site, so it will be interesting to see if I get any flags!

GOOD WEEK!

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It’s been a pretty good week so far and I’m in the mood for a big blog.
I’ve been on annual leave and preparing for Xmas, but with that said, I did still have to do a placement day, which was actually quite enjoyable!

Anyway, Tuesday evening we went to a secret screening at Cineworld.
I love these events because we have absolutely no idea what film is going to be shown until it starts. All we know is that it is a film due for release at some point over the next couple of months. Two cracking films in the past, and shown a good 8 weeks before their actual release dates were ‘Love Simon’ and ‘The Incredibles 2’. This time it was ‘Green Book’.

When it started, the whole audience did a collective ‘whaaaat???’
I’ll admit, I haven’t seen a thing advertised about this film and knew absolutely nothing about it.
It’s a bit of a slow starter……BUT…..stick with it. As you get more and more invested in the characters and the humour of the film, it’s actually really good. Viggo Mortensen is almost unrecognisable, and Mahershala Ali is wonderfully amusing.

Based on a true story, Green Book is a comedy-drama set in the 1960’s about the classical and jazz pianist Don shirley, played by Mahershala Ali and the Italian-American bouncer Tony Vallelonga, played by Viggo Mortensen. The pair take on a tour of the Deep South, not a safe thing to do for people of colour in the 1960’s! Tony is initially quite prejudiced but the two slowly form an amazing bond and end up as life-long friends.
The film itself is named after ‘The Negro Motorist Green Book’, a mid-20th century guidebook for African American travellers, written by Victor Hugo Green, to help them find motels and restaurants that would accept them.

Would I go and see it again?
Possibly, but I will, in all likelihood, add it to my DVD collection.  

Not so good this week, was the announcement by Tumblr to ban ‘ALL’ adult content from the 17th December.
This is a real shame and to be quite frank, I think it will kill Tumblr!

Banned content includes photos, videos, and GIFs of human genitalia, female-presenting nipples, and any media involving sex acts, including illustrations. The exceptions include nude classical statues and political protests that feature nudity. The new guidelines exclude text, so erotica remains permitted. Illustrations and art that feature nudity are still okay — so long as sex acts aren’t depicted — and so are breastfeeding and after-birth photos.

They have already started to flag posts and inform users that their content is not suitable, but something is very wrong if they think that this kind of photo is ‘explicit’!!

I have been on Tumblr for almost three years and it is a wonderful place to find any kind of weird and wonderful content you’re interested in.
I would never have fallen into the Kylux fandom and started writing fan-fiction if I hadn’t found this site!
It has always been a safe space for people to find like minded people to share content with regardless of what that content is. Artists have found it a great place to showcase artwork that would probably never get to see the light of day due to censorship restrictions elsewhere.
The failure of the site is their inability to control ‘bugs’ and ‘porn bots’ and their inability to ban sites that include pedophilia. Their answer to the problem is a blanket ban.

They seem to think that everyone who enjoys a bit of ‘adult content’ is automatically looking for ‘porn’ and this is simply not the case.

10 years ago, the same thing happened to ‘Livejournal’ and all that happened was that the users migrated to a different platform and Livejournal died.
I have already seen this happening on Tumblr. A lot of the people I follow are setting themselves up on Twitter and Instagram and getting ready to jump ship if they need to.
Michael Stokes, the photographic artist who I’ve discussed on my blog recently, has had to purge around 90% of the photos he has on Tumblr, including all of his wounded veterans photos because they have been deemed inappropriate! 

Classical statues are allowed but not this apparently!! What’s the difference?

Anyway, I wait for December 17th with baited breath. I have a feeling that Tumblr will become quite a desolate and boring place very quickly.

So now that I’ve had that rant what’s next?
I’ve made a start on my three reflective essays for my portfolio. That’s not exactly going well but at least I’ve made a start.
I have been really enjoying ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of here’ this year and last night had me and the kids in floods of tears as the five remaining contestants got visits from family. When John clapped eyes on his husband Scott, I just melted!
I really don’t know who’s going to win this year, after James left, the four remaining contestants are all fantastic for different reasons.
Personally I’d like to see John crowned King (or Queen!) of the jungle.
The annoying thing is, that I won’t be able to watch the final on Sunday because I’ll be in Birmingham at a Hozier concert.

WAIT…WHAT?!!!

Yep. Sunday evening, I’ll be at a Hozier concert!!!
I’ve only waited four years for this.
I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!

This is the moment, almost four years ago, after falling asleep on the sofa, waking up in the early hours with the TV still on, showing a re-run of Graham Norton. I had been woken up by an angel singing and that is when I became mesmerised and totally fell in love with Hozier.

So, back to today, better bring this blog to an end.
I’ve got a few small chores to do, clean car windows, fill car with petrol, de-wookie the husband, pack for an overnight stay in Birmingham and then head to the cinema to see Mortal Engines!

I will ‘hopefully’ bombard my blog with photos and possibly some videos of the concert when I get back on Monday.

TTFN!

REGRETS

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This is going to be a difficult blog to write without sounding bitter.

I’ll state from the start…..

I do NOT regret getting married.
I do NOT regret having my amazing kids.

But, as I meander through middle age, I think about the things that maybe I’ve missed out on.

I grew up with an amazing extended family, but they have always been very down to earth.
The whole point of life was to get a job, find a partner, get married, have kids, retire, have grand kids and that’s it.
I was always pretty much allowed to follow my own path but I was never in an environment that pushed for me to follow any kind of dream.
I was expected to find a job, find a partner, have kids, etc…..

After 21 years of marriage and three kids hurtling into adulthood, I’ve had time recently to indulge in things that a few years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed about and it’s made me think about what I missed out on before I got married.

As a teenager I was pretty isolated.
I had a few close friends but I didn’t explore who I was. I kept myself to myself. I lost myself in movies and locked myself away in my bedroom with my music, videos and magazines.
The internet was unheard of back then!

I started blogging over ten years ago. I used it as a kind of diary and a way to express myself as a stay home Mum. It now enables me to rant about things and obsess about things and I find it quite therapeutic.

Along came Facebook which I embraced like everyone else on the planet.

I found it harder to relate to Twitter. I’ve started trying it again but still don’t really get it.

Instagram is another one I’ve tried but don’t really use too often.

Tumblr!!! was a revelation. I love Tumblr. It feeds my obsessions nicely.

Youtube is a go to place when I need a laugh.
I use it to backup my blogs a lot but I have also learned to appreciate it for wonderful inspirational people. Some doing crazy things.
A recent discovery is a wonderful young man by the name of Riyadh (Riyadh k on Youtube)
This young man is full of life. He’s inspirational and has had the guts to live his life the way he wants. Most importantly, he makes me smile and he makes me laugh.
Oh yes, he loves his wine… like me!!

Then we have Snapchat. I only started this yesterday and I still have to get used to how it works, but I’m sure I’ll get there eventually.

I wonder what my teenage years would have been like if all this was at my fingertips.
I was over 20 years old before I had a boyfriend and I was 25 when I married him.
I never experienced anything else or explored my own sexuality.

Is this a regret?
Yes, I suppose it is.

I hope I have instilled into my kids the need to explore and find things out before they ‘settle’ down to anything that will tie them down.
I’ve tried to be very open with them about ‘everything’.

I think Tumblr would have been my place as a teenager.

I think all the revelations of the past couple of years have sent me into a midlife crisis.
I’m doing things I wouldn’t have dreamed about before (tattoos and clubbing) and I’m looking ahead to what I want to do when all of the kids have flown the nest.
Unfortunately my body is not cooperation on that one.

I seriously need to look at the next year and do something about my health before it’s too late. I want an ‘active’ retirement and do some of the things I didn’t do as a teenager!!

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED

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So yesterday was the first day of a 10 day run of days off and annual leave.
I spent the day doing nothing much.
I needed to rest my Knee as the day before I had just done my first long day in around 6 weeks and the knee was really complaining about it.

I started with the usual cup of milky coffee and a scroll through all the goings on overnight on Tumblr.
I spent a little time on Pinterest that I haven’t done for ages and got a little carried away pinning pictures but completely forgetting that every time I do that it posts my activity to my Facebook account!! I flooded my dash with Star Wars, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac and more.
Lovely for me, but not something that interests most of my FB friends and family!
I quickly changed my settings so it won’t happen again!

Having time to spend nosing around the internet I got a little annoyed.
Since becoming a huge fan of Adam Driver I would naturally be interested in reading articles relating to him and his work.
I’ve been getting more and more disgruntled by how mean some of the comments about him are getting and it made me quite angry to think that this man, who has obviously had to deal with comments like this all through his young life, is still being affected by them now.

So I wrote a little post about it. In Defense of a Cupcake!

I think it struck a bit of a chord with some people because by 8 o’clock that evening my blog had spiked it’s viewings from the average 50 – 80 views to an amazing 300!!

I don’t write my blog in the hopes of getting more views, I write it as a kind of a diary for myself.
I find it very cathartic because it gives me a way of venting my enthusiasm for something without boring people who aren’t really interested.
It’s also a way of keeping family and friends updated on certain events.
I don’t care if it gets readers at all to be completely honest but when my site informed me that traffic to my site was spiking I was pleasantly surprised.

As always, my Tumblr colleagues responded with likes and reblogs and some lovely comments in support of what I had said in my blog.
Tumblr is one of my favourite places on the internet, even though I’m probably old enough to be Mother to most of it’s users!!
They are all very passionate about what interests them and it is a great place for amazing Gifs and artwork from some very talented people who most of the time don’t even think they ‘are’ talented!!

So this blog is simply to say

A BIG THANK YOU!!

To everyone who reads my blog, likes my blog, re-blogs my blog and generally supports all my interests.
Keep up with all your blogs, movie theories, Gifs, artwork and fan fiction.
Without it I would be very bored!!!!