Goodbye, Tumblr

10 Years of Blogging

I started the original Submissive Feminist Tumblr in 2010, when I was a 19-year-old college sophomore in the first kinky relationship of my life. I was young, vulnerable, and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I turned to Tumblr for advice on sex and kink, because it’s the first place I found a community of kinky people. Back in its heyday, the Tumblr kink community was large, diverse, and vibrant. I met kinky folks from all over the world and I learned the core principles of BDSM that I still follow today, such as the importance of consent, safewords, and aftercare. Tumblr is where I found my identity as a submissive feminist, something that has greatly shaped my life over the past 10 years.

I learned so much from Tumblr, from basic terminology to kink technique to discovering things about myself I would never have learned otherwise. Tumblr very much became a home for me when I needed it most. Over the last decade, I’ve spent a lot of my time there and have met many friends and partners along the way, who I will never forget. I grew to love sharing this part of myself with my little corner of the internet.

Tumblr became a very large part of my support system, and I often turned to my followers for help when I needed it. They’ve always been there for me with distracting questions in my inbox when I was upset or PayPal donations when I couldn’t pay my rent. They sent me to Scotland to visit my long-distance partner, which was the trip of a lifetime that I wouldn’t have had without their support. They carried me through so much pain and heartache over the years and I will never forget the kind words and actions of those 100,000 followers.

The Porn Purge

The darkest day in Tumblr history: December 17th, 2018. Tumblr banned adult content on its platform, noting that genitals and “female-presenting nipples” were no longer tolerated. Much of the Tumblr kink community got flagged as NSFW, blurring their avatars and effectively shadowbanning them from the platform. Porn was no longer searchable, sex workers left the website, and the larger kink community fell apart.

It hasn’t been the same since before the porn purge, but Tumblr continued to be a place where I was able to talk freely and share my ideas, reviews, articles, and personal life with what active followers I had left. However, a wave of account terminations have been taking place on Tumblr in the last month, and it was only a matter of time until the end for me. Unfortunately, that time has come.

Moving Forward

Tumblr provided me a sense of self–a space to be unapologetically me. It shaped me into who I am today and I’m utterly heartbroken that this chapter of my life has ended. I’m mourning the loss of my account because it was more than a blog to me. It was my community. My safe space. My place to turn when I didn’t have anywhere else to go. And now it’s gone.

I’m trying to process the loss but also keep in mind all the good things I’ve gotten from this website. I poured 10 years of my emotions and my hard work into that blog and I’m really disappointed that things are ending this way now. However, Tumblr was just the beginning for me. 

My Twitter account is still small by comparison, but I’m finding a good sense of community there. My website is independently established, separate from the Tumblr account, and I have lots of new content coming up. Just because my initial blog is gone doesn’t mean I’m going anywhere. I’m not done making a name for myself and I have so much more to give. I hope that you will join me as I move forward, toward better things.

My DMs are open for those who want to reconnect.

      

If you’d like to stay up to date with new posts on my website, scroll to the very bottom of this page, enter your email address, and hit that “subscribe” button. You can also join my Patreon for a more personal look at my work with behind the scenes content and NSFW tiers.

If you miss the opportunity to get advice from my Tumblr, you can send me an anonymous message on Curious Cat.

3 Replies to “Goodbye, Tumblr

  1. I too was a part of the tumblr community. I enjoyed the content for learning about kink and bdsm. The graphics also really sparked my imagination. I came across your blog after googling “bdsm blog”

    My Dom also really misses my tumblr. even when we were apart he would browse my tumblr and it kept the spark alive.

    I feel a bit lost now.

  2. I’ve been in and out of tumblr all this year…. I have to day it is very different. the nsfw scene is still there but you have to find certain corners of tumblr to find it. I went to go search for your content because I was thinking about buying a new dildo and I cried a little in my heart when I wasn’t able to find you. I even tried going through some of your post, however, your tag name is has been labeled with deactivated at the end of it. I’m glad you are still continuing your journey. I will subscribe and hope to see more of you!

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