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Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

wsj.com

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Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#111

Post by gnicholas »

tptacek wrote: post #86
xwdv wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically an exercise in blowing several million dollars.

It's funny the stuff HN fixates on. If all you read is this comment thread, you might actually believe that non-porn Tumblr really is just "an exercise in blowing several million dollars", rather than a concern for a very loud, probably rather small subset of Tumblr users (or rather: former users). What seems at least as likely as "adult content is vital to the future of Tumblr" is that adult content has much more va…

> a very loud, probably rather small subset of Tumblr users (or rather: former users)

Well, according to this chart (which I have only cursorily vetted), it seems there are a lot of "former users": https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/af9rwu/oc_...

It shows that as of Jan, 2019, there were about 50% as many users as when the ban was announced. That would suggest that there are as many "former users" as there are current users. And the downward trend has probably continued in the subsequent 6 months.

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#113

Post by Kye »

tptacek wrote: post #86
xwdv wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically an exercise in blowing several million dollars.

It's funny the stuff HN fixates on. If all you read is this comment thread, you might actually believe that non-porn Tumblr really is just "an exercise in blowing several million dollars", rather than a concern for a very loud, probably rather small subset of Tumblr users (or rather: former users). What seems at least as likely as "adult content is vital to the future of Tumblr" is that adult content has much more va…

From my little corner of the internet (furries), porn was often a lead generator. People came for the hot werewolf boyfriends, then stayed for all the non-porn stuff. They don't necessarily stick around if the thing that reminded them Tumblr existed goes away. They follow the draw where it goes. A lot of them moved to Reddit, Twitter, Mastodon, and Telegram chats.

It's a niche, but not a small one. Enough niches tumbled together (or out) is a lot of people.

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#114

Post by chatmasta »

ethbro wrote: post #55
knd775 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. >Mr. Mullenweg said his company intends to maintain the existing policy that bans adult content. He said he has long been a Tumblr user and sees the site as complementary to WordPress.com. “It’s just fun,” he said of Tumblr. “We’re not going to change any of that.”

That choice boggles the mind. If you're worried about cross-links between non-adult and adult content tarnishing the platform, add better features for user flagging. They (before the Yahoo and Verizon cluster&#-1s) were essentially sitting on a gold mine of training data, and ongoing training data generation, for an industry-leading porn detection engine. A subscription filtering product that would be worth $$$. Thro…

I'm sure there is plenty of training data available elsewhere on the internet...

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#115

Post by georgestephanis »

delhanty wrote: post #110
georgestephanis wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

John is a pompous jerk who likes to misinterpret half-truths, scream persecution, and then block people when called out rather than admit fault. And if ever called on it he silently deletes his tweets instead of acknowledging his actions or faults. source: he blocked me years ago for precisely this. also, coincidentally, when he was screaming persecution once prior. https://twitter.com/JohnONolan/status/6057287148407…

OK, fair enough. I notice that you were working for Wordpress.com in May 2018 and had a run in with John O'Nolan on HN then. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17086661 Just disclosing that for you to put your comment in context.

Oh hey I guess I did. Totally forgot about that.

You'll note:

* He says something factually wrong (`It does not run the open source codebase at all.`)

* I point out that he's factually wrong, and back it up.

* He dodges and insists he's right regardless.

Yup. True to form.

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#116

Post by stefan_ »

checktheorder wrote: post #54
knd775 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. >Mr. Mullenweg said his company intends to maintain the existing policy that bans adult content. He said he has long been a Tumblr user and sees the site as complementary to WordPress.com. “It’s just fun,” he said of Tumblr. “We’re not going to change any of that.”

>“It’s just fun,” he said of Tumblr. “We’re not going to change any of that.” English translation: "We are hell-bent on making sure not to steal bdsmlr's thunder and maintain tumblr's death-spiral."

I think the English translation is just ???. That sentence is just the purest nonsense filler.

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#117

Post by ethbro »

chatmasta wrote: post #114
ethbro wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That choice boggles the mind. If you're worried about cross-links between non-adult and adult content tarnishing the platform, add better features for user flagging. They (before the Yahoo and Verizon cluster&#-1s) were essentially sitting on a gold mine of training data, and ongoing training data generation, for an industry-leading porn detection engine. A subscription filtering product that would be worth $$$. Thro…

I'm sure there is plenty of training data available elsewhere on the internet...

Continually tagged by ~100M unique monthly visitors? (the rough drop in traffic, post-ban)

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#118

Post by fiblye »

tptacek wrote: post #86
xwdv wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically an exercise in blowing several million dollars.

It's funny the stuff HN fixates on. If all you read is this comment thread, you might actually believe that non-porn Tumblr really is just "an exercise in blowing several million dollars", rather than a concern for a very loud, probably rather small subset of Tumblr users (or rather: former users). What seems at least as likely as "adult content is vital to the future of Tumblr" is that adult content has much more va…

I didn’t even use tumblr for porn at all. I pretty much only follow artists.

I’m not sure if it’s still a problem, but the ban resulted in loads of non-porn images being flagged as porn. Most people gave up trying to fight it and left. When I visit tumblr now, it’s dead. Everyone moved on and fast.

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#119

Post by parsimo2010 »

tptacek wrote: post #86
xwdv wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So basically an exercise in blowing several million dollars.

It's funny the stuff HN fixates on. If all you read is this comment thread, you might actually believe that non-porn Tumblr really is just "an exercise in blowing several million dollars", rather than a concern for a very loud, probably rather small subset of Tumblr users (or rather: former users). What seems at least as likely as "adult content is vital to the future of Tumblr" is that adult content has much more va…

Sure, it's the former users that are complaining rather than the current users. The problem is that the Tumblr with its current set of users and current policies are what make it a boring and uninteresting place to go on the web.

Tumblr was a hot property specifically because of the former users, and if the site doesn't try to get them back it will become something reminiscent of Digg and Myspace- something to be looked upon with nostalgia but not for spending any time visiting.

Re: Verizon to Sell Tumblr to Automattic

#120

Post by mevile »

ethbro wrote: post #55
knd775 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. >Mr. Mullenweg said his company intends to maintain the existing policy that bans adult content. He said he has long been a Tumblr user and sees the site as complementary to WordPress.com. “It’s just fun,” he said of Tumblr. “We’re not going to change any of that.”

That choice boggles the mind. If you're worried about cross-links between non-adult and adult content tarnishing the platform, add better features for user flagging. They (before the Yahoo and Verizon cluster&#-1s) were essentially sitting on a gold mine of training data, and ongoing training data generation, for an industry-leading porn detection engine. A subscription filtering product that would be worth $$$. Thro…

> That choice boggles the mind.

Serving ads is hard when there's porn on the site.

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