The Verge:

Tumblr will permanently ban adult content from its platform on December 17th in a move that will eradicate porn-related communities on the platform and fundamentally alter how the service is used. The ban includes explicit sexual content and nudity with a few exceptions, the company tells The Verge. The new policy’s announcement comes just days after Tumblr was removed from Apple’s iOS App Store over a child pornography incident, but it extends far beyond that matter alone. “Adult content will no longer be allowed here," the company flatly states in a blog post set to be published on Monday.

I’m of a real mixed mind here, gang.

I haven’t really been a regular Tumblr user for years, but even then, I wasn’t the biggest user of the site.

(I did briefly consider bringing this site over there, but I’m glad I continue to own my own chunk of the web.)

On one hand:

• Tumblr owns their platform, and clearly, they think there is more value on focusing exclusively on SFW content, and feel that the NSFW content is a percentage not worth losing their access to items such as the iOS App Store, and so on. We’ll see if this move works out for them or hurts them.

On the other:

• The reduction of viable places for creators of NSFW content, whether artwork, creative, or other pursuits is a bother. For a free web to truly be free, these creatives need their place to do what they do best. To lose a platform with the size, scale, and scope of Tumblr, that’s a big hurt.

At the end of the day, like most website changes - time will tell. Will the audience go down? Will advertisers leave or flock? Will there be a Tumblr in 2019, 2020, and so on? You can consider the what ifs for ages - but the team at Tumblr has decided that this is the best step forward. And now the world will show them, positive or negative, if it were the best step to take.