Tumblr’s got a new paid subscription product but still won’t allow porn

Tumblr is still around (though we forgive you if you didn’t know that) and it hopes a new offering will entice Gen Z types to post content to it. The microblogging site has begun letting some users charge for access to premium content, following in the footsteps of other platforms like Substack, Patreon, and OnlyFans by giving creators new tools to make money.

The new feature is called Post+, and lets creators charge one of three monthly prices — $3.99, $5.99, or $9.99 — for access to exclusive posts, with Tumblr taking a 5 percent cut. Users can continue to post free content as well.

Once a darling of the social web, Tumblr was a popular place for teens to share all types of mixed media content, from creative writing to photos and more. It was also the go-to service for very niche communities, many of them focused on adult content. But an acquisition changed Tumblr’s focus and sent many users fleeing.

NSFW — At its peak, Tumblr hosted heaps of NSFW content, which became an issue when Tumblr was sold to AOL and then Verizon, with the latter deciding to ban adult content in 2018, allegedly following issues with child pornography on the service. Tumblr could have targeted removal of that content specifically, but instead opted for a blanket ban that alienated users who posted nudes or graphic artwork, or who used the service to connect with like-minded people.

That probably looks like a bad move in the context of Post+ considering the rise of OnlyFans, which allows adult creators (or non-adult ones) to charge for access to photos and other media. Launched in 2016, the site processes $2 billion in transactions annually and takes about $400 million of that in fees.

Tumblr was slowly dying with or without porn, as other platforms like Instagram offered individual features of Tumblr but done better, like photo sharing. But in-house data from Verizon published in 2017 indicated that porn was woven into the basic fabric of Tumblr, with most users following at least a few accounts of the pornographic nature. So it wasn’t quarantined in some illicit corner of the site but was a major traffic driver for Tumblr.

Stiff competition — Tumblr was sold by Verizon to WordPress developer Automattic in 2019 for far less than the $1 billion it paid for the service. It’s unclear how many users Tumblr has today, but the company says that 11 million posts are created per day.

That’s a minuscule number as compared to other platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok, which have all been racing to offer creators ways to make money off their work. Influencers are necessary to keep these platforms popular, and they’ve demanded ways to be rewarded for the traffic they drive. There’s also been a general increase in willingness among consumers to support individual creators they feel a connection with through direct payments.

Facebook just last week announced it will pay creators $1 billion to use its services, and Twitter has implemented features like Tip Jar where fans can support their favorite creators.