From: John Callender <callender.john@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Tumblr Support] Re: I’m being surprised by content I find offensive (ticket #1723482)

Date: July 20, 2013 4:29:20 PM PDT

To: Tumblr Support <support@tumblr.com>

Thank you for the reply, Beth, but that’s not a sufficient answer. I’ve heard the same response several times now: a polite promise to share my views with the team. And that’s it. Nothing substantive. No attempt to justify Tumblr’s policy, but no mention of changing it, either. These responses from Tumblr Trust & Safety are like cotton candy: They look substantial, even have a certain sweetness. But when you bite in there’s nothing there.

From what I’ve read of Tumblr, I assume this was David Karp’s decision. He decided that disturbingly graphic, violent horror movie ads are fine, that people like me are just being too sensitive, and that Tumblr will continue injecting them into our dashboards. You could just admit that. Or you could deny it. Or you could explain how the situation is actually more complicated than that. But saying you’ll share my views doesn’t really help at this point. Unless the previous responses were lying, my views were already shared. But the horror gifs keep coming.

This is a bug report, Beth. Something is broken on your website. It is forcing me to follow a creepy guy who keeps posting untagged horror in my dash. I’d like to unfollow him, but your software won’t let me. You can resolve this ticket as “won’t fix”, but if so you should tell me that, rather than giving me vague assurances that don’t actually mean anything.

I think it’s morally incumbent on Tumblr to support users like me in our desire not to see disturbingly graphic images of horror. It’s a basic norm of human behavior that you not force us to look at images like that against our will. To deny us the tools to avoid seeing them is inconsistent with the principle David expressed in his post.

Tumblr is willing to support me if I don’t want to see porn. So why is it forcing me to view violent horror? That’s what I’m asking, Beth. What’s the difference in those two cases? Why is one something you will help me avoid, while the other is something you actually go out of your way to force me to see?

When you’re sharing my views with the team, please ask them that. Or just tell me what you think, Beth. Because that’s what I really want to know.

You’re a human being. I’m a human being. Your website is all about creating new and innovative ways for human beings to communicate with each other. We should communicate about this.

John

On Jul 20, 2013, at 2:13 PM, Tumblr Support wrote:

##- Please type your reply above this line -##

Your request (Ticket 1723482) has been updated.

You can respond by replying to this email.

Beth (Tumblr Support)

Jul 20 05:13 pm (EDT)

Hi John,

Thanks for your feedback on this issue! We’re always looking for ways to improve Tumblr, so we’ll share this with the rest of our team. Let us know if you think of anything else.

Thanks,

Beth

—

Tumblr Trust & Safety

abuse@tumblr.com

[my original message follows]

John Callender

Jul 20 03:35 am (EDT)

In this “staff” post today:

http://staff.tumblr.com/post/55906556378/all-weve-heard-from-a-bunch-of-you-who-are

…Tumblr CEO David Karp wrote:

> Making sure people aren’t surprised by content they find offensive is also incredibly important and we are always working to put more control in your hands.

Although the post was specifically about sexually explicit content, it jumped out at me because of my recent concerns about violent horror movie advertising on Tumblr. I’ve previously written to support about this; see Tickets 1721975 and 1643254 for details.

I agree that making sure your users aren’t surprised by content they find offensive is incredibly important. I don’t believe Tumblr is currently living up to that standard. In the last 6 weeks I have repeatedly had such content injected into my dashboard without my prior knowledge or consent as part of the “Sponsored Post” campaigns of univervsalhorrorfilms and theconjuringmovie. Two images in particular have a vivid place in my memory:

* an animated GIF of a woman in a mask lurching toward me down a darkened corridor while a sword dripping with blood dangles from her arm.

* an animated GIF of a man staring blankly into space while behind him I see the gray feet of a female corpse, presumably a suicide victim who has hanged herself, slowly swaying.

I don’t mind if other people want to see that sort of thing (well, I’m concerned about the effect such imagery might have on their longterm mental health, but that’s a different issue). But I absolutely do not want to see it myself. It is deeply offensive to me, and I think a strong argument can be made that it is at least as disturbing and offensive as the NSFW content David was talking about in his post.

With the NSFW stuff I realize that Tumblr is dealing with a large number of content creators who are hard to control. But the horror ads are different. Those are being injected into my dashboard by Tumblr itself. Removing them would be as easy as flipping a switch, if Tumblr had the will to do so. Conversely, giving me the tools to block it would be trivial, since Tumblr could (and by rights, should) require any participant in the sponsored posts program to tag violent, disturbing imagery so people who are sensitive can block it.

That Tumblr is choosing not to do that, that people like me who have written to Support have been replied to only with vague platitudes and inaction, makes David’s post today deeply hypocritical.

I’ve been trying to figure out why this bothers me so much. Usually I’m the sort of person who’s more inclined to just tune out unwanted content, to ignore it or, if that’s too hard, just go somewhere else. I think one reason I’m so bothered in this case is that Tumblr’s users, by and large, are so young. Most of the users I encounter on Tumblr are closer to my children’s age than my own.

Children today are exposed to a lot of icky stuff that was much rarer when I was growing up. Responsible adults have an obligation to do what they can to help them navigate the new information landscape, in particular by helping them avoid unwanted exposure to content that they lack the life experience to effectively process. Inappropriate sexual content is part of that, and it’s good that Tumblr is working to do a better job in that area. But it’s only part of the problem. Disturbingly graphic violence and gore is every bit as problematic, and Tumblr needs to treat it with the same attitude: Making sure users aren’t surprised by content they find offensive, and putting the tools in their hands to avoid that content when they want to.

This email is a service from Tumblr Support..

Message-Id:SHYC640Z_51eafd7ff382e_775ce787c47021b6_sprut

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55998106165.

My latest email to support@tumblr.com:

From: John Callender <callender.john@gmail.com>

Subject: I’m being surprised by content I find offensive

Date: July 20, 2013 12:35:06 AM PDT

To: Tumblr Support <support@tumblr.com>

In this “staff” post today:

http://staff.tumblr.com/post/55906556378/all-weve-heard-from-a-bunch-of-you-who-are

…Tumblr CEO David Karp wrote:

Making sure people aren’t surprised by content they find offensive is also incredibly important and we are always working to put more control in your hands.

Although the post was specifically about sexually explicit content, it jumped out at me because of my recent concerns about violent horror movie advertising on Tumblr. I’ve previously written to support about this; see Tickets 1721975 and 1643254 for details.

I agree that making sure your users aren’t surprised by content they find offensive is incredibly important. I don’t believe Tumblr is currently living up to that standard. In the last 6 weeks I have repeatedly had such content injected into my dashboard without my prior knowledge or consent as part of the “Sponsored Post” campaigns of univervsalhorrorfilms and theconjuringmovie. Two images in particular have a vivid place in my memory:

• an animated GIF of a woman in a mask lurching toward me down a darkened corridor while a sword dripping with blood dangles from her arm.
• an animated GIF of a man staring blankly into space while behind him I see the gray feet of a female corpse, presumably a suicide victim who has hanged herself, slowly swaying.

I don’t mind if other people want to see that sort of thing (well, I’m concerned about the effect such imagery might have on their longterm mental health, but that’s a different issue). But I absolutely do not want to see it myself. It is deeply offensive to me, and I think a strong argument can be made that it is at least as disturbing and offensive as the NSFW content David was talking about in his post.

With the NSFW stuff I realize that Tumblr is dealing with a large number of content creators who are hard to control. But the horror ads are different. Those are being injected into my dashboard by Tumblr itself. Removing them would be as easy as flipping a switch, if Tumblr had the will to do so. Conversely, giving me the tools to block it would be trivial, since Tumblr could (and by rights, should) require any participant in the sponsored posts program to tag violent, disturbing imagery so people who are sensitive can block it.

That Tumblr is choosing not to do that, that people like me who have written to Support have been replied to only with vague platitudes and inaction, makes David’s post today deeply hypocritical.

I’ve been trying to figure out why this bothers me so much. Usually I’m the sort of person who’s more inclined to just tune out unwanted content, to ignore it or, if that’s too hard, just go somewhere else. I think one reason I’m so bothered in this case is that Tumblr’s users, by and large, are so young. Most of the users I encounter on Tumblr are closer to my children’s age than my own.

Children today are exposed to a lot of icky stuff that was much rarer when I was growing up. Responsible adults have an obligation to do what they can to help them navigate the new information landscape, in particular by helping them avoid unwanted exposure to content that they lack the life experience to effectively process. Inappropriate sexual content is part of that, and it’s good that Tumblr is working to do a better job in that area. But it’s only part of the problem. Disturbingly graphic violence and gore is every bit as problematic, and Tumblr needs to treat it with the same attitude: Making sure users aren’t surprised by content they find offensive, and putting the tools in their hands to avoid that content when they want to.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55945299057.

From: John Callender <callender.john@gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Tumblr Support] Re: Horror movie gifs in sponsored posts (ticket #1721975)

Date: July 19, 2013 12:21:33 PM PDT

To: Tumblr Support <support@tumblr.com>

Jul 19, 2013, at 11:38 AM, Tumblr Support wrote:

##- Please type your reply above this line -##

Your request (Ticket 1721975) has been updated.

You can respond by replying to this email.

Marcus (Tumblr Support)

Jul 19 02:38 pm (EDT)

Hi lies,

Thank you for taking the time to write in about ads on the Dashboard — we’ll definitely share your thoughts (and that of the rest of the community) with our team.

Marcus

——

Tumblr – Trust & Safety

abuse@tumblr.com

Thank you for replying, Marcus. But seriously: How does sharing my thoughts with the rest of the team help? As a condition of using Tumblr, I’m being forced, against my will, to view horrific images that remain in my head despite my efforts to banish them. Telling your team how I feel might be comforting if I believed it would have an effect on Tumblr’s future behavior, but you offer me no reason to think that.

In a reply to a previous ticket (Ticket 1643254) resulting from a complaint I made five weeks ago about a different horror image, Kristin in Tumblr Support wrote:

Hi John,

We appreciate the thoughtful message. We are sorry to hear that this sponsored content has been upsetting to some of our userbase, and we’ll do our best to keep your concerns in consideration in further efforts.

Best,

Kristin

Tumblr Trust & Safety

abuse@tumblr.com

So you see, my concerns have already been communicated, and the current situation already represents your team’s best effort to accommodate them.

That’s not a sufficient response. Tumblr has to do better. You have to do better, Marcus. You’re a human being. Why would you willingly participate in inflicting this kind of imagery on other human beings after they’ve told you it hurts them and asked you to stop? Why would you be part of a team that thinks it’s okay to do that?

I’m not just being rhetorical. I’m actually interested in your answer.

Thanks.

John Callender

(aka lies.tumblr.com, at least for the moment)

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55905088528.

From: me

To: Tumblr support

I’ve written before about this, when sponsored posts from universalhorrorfilms started showing up in my dash. It’s not okay with me for Tumblr to do that. I hoped it was just an early experiment in monetization, and wouldn’t happen again. I was wrong to hope that. It’s still happening.

A few days ago, while browsing my dashboard using the Tumblr iPad app, a sponsored post from theconjuringmovie showed up in my dash. I really didn’t want to seek it out again, but I thought it was important for you to understand what I’m talking about, so I dug up the ad in question. Here’s the image:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/b6478a0315d67dc25a435638295f673c/tumblr_mq3tpvl4NB1sss0r7o1_500.gif

It is so not okay for you to put images like that in my dashboard without my having any way to opt out of them. It’s a deal-breaker. It is a fundamental violation of the terms of my relationship with Tumblr.

I am happy to look at advertising as part of my Tumblr experience. I’m fine with you putting sponsored posts in the dashboard. I would be willing to see many more ads than I currently see. But seeing even one ad like that is not okay.

I’d be willing to pay for a Tumblr experience that didn’t include ads, but you don’t make that option available. I can use third-party extensions to block sponsored posts, but those solutions are only available for my desktop computer, not for mobile devices, which I like using to interact with Tumblr.

Look at it this way: Having horrific images like this show up in my dash is like being forced to follow someone I don’t want to follow. And not just someone I don’t want to follow, but someone who is actively abusing me with images intended to shock and horrify. And really, it isn’t just like that. It is that.

Maybe you believe that monetizing Tumblr is more important than allowing me to control, at least to a minimal extent, what sort of content appears in my dashboard. Maybe there are enough users who aren’t bothered by this sort of thing that you can afford to ignore people like me.

That’s your prerogative, obviously. Just as it’s my prerogative to opt out of Tumblr altogether if that’s the way it’s going to be run. But before I sign off permanently, I just wanted, one more time, to let you know what I thought.

I think what you’re doing with these horror movie sponsored posts is seriously fucked up. You should be ashamed. And not just David, though from what I can tell he’s where the buck stops at Tumblr, and bears the greatest responsibility. I mean you, the human being reading this support message. Shame on you for being part of this. You’re better than this.

Either give your users a way to opt out of the most-intrusive, most-bothersome ads, or stop showing them until you figure out how to do that.

And apologize. Because this was seriously fucked up.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55904075823.

I thought the ads for theconjuringmovie were not going to be as bad as the ones for universalhorrorpictures, but I was wrong. I just hadn’t seen the worst ones yet.

This morning you put a super creepy animated gif in my dash of an actor’s troubled face, staring blankly, while behind him the gray, lifeless feet of a young woman, presumably a suicide victim who has hanged herself, dangle in the air.

It’s a really horrific image. I’m sure the people who made it are justifiably proud of the way it immediately took me out of the mental place I’d been, contemplating all the cool things that the beautiful, wonderful, interesting people I follow had put in my dash.

theconjuringmovie has not earned the right to have their content appear inline with that of the people I follow. By giving them and people like them that power, and doing it repeatedly, despite my having told you it’s uncool, you’ve broken the terms and conditions that govern our relationship.

I’m not talking about a legal document that everyone clicks through and no one reads. I’m talking about the real terms and conditions. You and I had an agreement. You gave me access to a platform that lets me gather and appreciate the output of a lot of achingly cool people. I gave you my enthusiastic use of that platform, a piece of my time on earth, in which I tried, in my own inept, befuddled way, to contribute something back via my own curation of cool things.

I think what makes me so angry is that I believed you were capable of better. You were capable of better. God dammit, Tumblr. Why did you do this? I mean, I know why. I just thought you were better.

Followers, I’ve tried to think of what else I can do, and I really don’t see any alternative. I’m off Tumblr, at least for now. I’m going to take a week or so, pause my queue and think about it, but I’m not sure I’m coming back. Sorry for the dramatics.

P.S. If you’re a kid who’s willing to do anything for this URL, literally anything, ohmygod John pleeeeeeease, send me one more ask and tell me what you’d do with the URL. If I come back in a week feeling the same way I feel now, I’ll pick the most-worthy and let you have it.

Thanks.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55785193214.

meinherzsprichtstaub:

Sponsored posts can suck my non-existent dick.

I can Tumblr Savior the sponsored_badge_icon when running on my desktop, but I assume there’s no equivalent functionality if I use the Tumblr app on my phone or iPad. I could switch to using the Chrome app, but I’m doubtful that will allow me to install browser extensions. Still, maybe Tumblr itself is avoiding showing me those craptastic ads when I’m using the web interface, rather than using the app? I usually seem to be using the Tumblr app when I have the “ew, yuck” advertising reaction.

Larger lesson for Tumblr overlords: I will go out of my way (WAY out of my way) to avoid Tumblr advertising if you make it intrusive enough. And putting animated gifs intended to evoke horror into my dash is well past that line.

Stop doing it. Or I will stop viewing your ads, one way or another.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55719129920.

Tumblr is still running horror movie ads in animated gif form on my dash.

This one is less disturbing visually than the last time, but I’m now so sensitized to it that it still bugs me.

Attention Tumblr overlords: You suck.

That is all.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/55717990947.

Interesting. The “sponsored posts” in my dash are no longer showing the little graphical element in the upper right-hand corner (the dollar sign). Maybe they removed it because people were Tumblr Savior-ing based on its presence?

Whatever; the ads I’ve seen lately have been very innocuous (cutesy graphics from andisbetter), so I’m not concerned. As long as the really off-putting stuff (like universalhorrorfilms’ advertising) doesn’t come back, I’m fine with it. But hopefully the Tumblr gods don’t believe that a cute drawing of pigs kissing somehow balances out the horror gifs. Because it doesn’t. The horror ads need to not come back, ever.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/52871427059.

anonsally:

the-demon-possessing-you:

ok. they make tumblr more money, which is more for the hard working staff and more for the advancement of tumblr. this money will go to new features THAT YOU WANT. they DO NOT make tumblr terrible.

WHAT IS BAD
The fact that horror and other trigger activating images are going untagged among these sponsored posts. LET STAFF KNOW. REBLOG THIS.

Thankfully, these particular sponsored gifs have not (yet) shown up on my dash, but they sound like an extremely good way for Tumblr to lose users. As someone who is very easily frightened or disturbed by that sort of thing and who has sleep problems already, I’m quite worried about this.

I do understand why sponsored posts have to happen. I just don’t see why they have to be harmful. By all means, get the most creative, interesting ads—but not ones that many people would go to extraordinary lengths to avoid even if they were not “sponsored”. 

I imagine the staff in charge of this thinking that almost any ad will offend someone, so it isn’t their responsibility to judge which ads to accept. But certainly they must see our point that anything depicting graphic violence is majorly problematic. We are not talking about making people angry because the ad offends their political sensibilities (though I’m likely to be upset about some ads for those reasons, too). We are talking about people having nightmares for reasons outside their control.

Tumblr is, by and large, a very considerate place. We all try to tag our posts if we think the content might reasonably cause upsetting feelings to other readers. This enables readers to take care of themselves by avoiding those tags. 

Please, Tumblr/Yahoo!, treat us with the same respect and consideration we treat one another!

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/52475304859.

To: Tumblr Support <support@tumblr.com>

Fr: John Callender <jbc@jbcsystems.com>

Re: Please tag the horror gifs in sponsored posts (ticket #1643254)

Or better still, don’t show that kind of advertising at all. Thanks.

To: John Callender <jbc@jbcsystems.com>

Fr: Tumblr Support <support@tumblr.com>

Re: Please tag the horror gifs in sponsored posts (ticket #1643254)

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to write in about ads on the Dashboard — there’s no way to turn that off, but we’ll definitely share your thoughts (and that of the rest of the community) with our team.

Our goal is to make this experience true to Tumblr, which is why we’ve been working closely with our brand partners to make sure you only see their best stuff.

http://staff.tumblr.com/post/51733370152/since-we-launched-our-first-sponsored-post-on

Please let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with.

Tess

To: Tumblr Support <support@tumblr.com>

Fr: John Callender <jbc@jbcsystems.com>

Re: Please tag the horror gifs in sponsored posts (ticket #1643254)

Thank you for the reply.

The problem in this case is not that a sponsored ad appeared on my dash. I don’t mind that. I often use my iPad’s Tumblr app, and have been seeing sponsored ads there for some time. I realize that Tumblr has to pay its bills, and incorporating sponsored posts into the dashboard is (at least potentially) a perfectly valid way to do that.

What I object to is the specific content of the post: A creepy animated gif of a woman spattered with blood, sword dangling from her arm, lurching toward me down a darkened hallway. That’s not the kind of content I want to see in my dash. It’s the opposite of the content I want to see. It’s content I go to significant lengths to avoid.

You put that in my dash. And it sounds like you plan to keep doing it — “there’s no way to turn that off,” you said.

Go browse (if you haven’t already) the “sponsored posts” tag. Read the comments from users who are at risk of being triggered by exposure to representations of violence, horror, and gore, and who now must try to deal with the images that your untagged advertising put inside their heads.

Tumblr is new, but this is a really old issue. On the one side are your advertisers. People marketing horror movies want to shock and scare. That’s how they sell movies. People who might object to that advertising are less of a concern; they were never going to buy a ticket anyway. You tell me that you’re working with your content partners to make sure I only see “their best stuff.” But that’s not actually going to help in this case. universalhorrorpictures’ idea of their “best stuff” was that ad: It was terrifying. It was terrifying because some very talented people worked hard to make it that way. The fact that it was scary enough to make me write to you probably makes them really happy.

I’m on the other side. I’m your user, and my interests don’t always coincide with your advertiser’s. When those interests are in conflict, whose side will you take?

I want Tumblr to succeed. But to expose users to that sort of content against their will is a violation of _my_ terms of service. If you don’t understand that, if Tumblr as a business entity is unaware of what a violation that was, and thinks this is just a matter of tweaking the algorithm a little, then I need to take steps from my end to fix things. If I can continue to use Tumblr, say by using a third-party plugin that blocks sponsored ads, then that’s what I’ll do. If that doesn’t work I’ll find somewhere else to blog.

Which would be a shame, because I really like Tumblr, or at least I did until this. But if your response means that Tumblr thinks it didn’t do anything wrong here, then Tumblr isn’t the kind of platform I hoped it was.

You said I should let you know if there was anything else you could do to help. There is: You could apologize. Specifically, David Karp could make a public statement that running this ad untagged in users’ dashboards was a mistake, that he’s sorry it happened, and that he and the rest of Tumblr will work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

I don’t think that’s likely to happen. But that’s what would help.

Thanks.

Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/52410954950.