Wait a minute. Tapas just tried serving me a pop-up ad, but instead it 404’ed, and said “VPN Traffic is Blocked. To use this site you must disable your VPN.” But then I tapped the “x” and just used the site like normal. So, basically, their own anti-privacy feature blocks their own ads… so like…. Thanks, I guess.
G O O D N I G H T
- Don’t Care; Accustomed to He/Him
- netscapenavigator-official.tumblr.com/
n̛̠̫̪̰̜̗̭͇̊͂̋́̒̾̐ͯ̈́̓̑͛̉͒͡ͅͅỉ̷̷̴ͦͦ̇̋̈ͪͣ̽ͥ̽͗̔ͨ̎̚҉̣̝̘̺͚̥̱̜̹̪͎̣̱̳̠̰ͅh̎ͧ͐͐̑̆̃̈́̀̌͛̏͒ͣ̾̓͟҉̡̘̥͖̺͓̫̬͕̕i̷̢͍̫̫̩̮̖̥̫̣̦̯̖̰̼̟͚̎̇̎ͩ͛̉̓̑̾̒ͧ̈́̍ͨͩ̓ͤ́̕͡͞l̵̷̡̯̼͈̯̥͖͈̪̻͚̙̭̘̻̣͙̠͂ͫ̃̈́̚ ̩̙̥ͭ̋̇̌̂͐ͮ͐̓ͮ͢͞t̸̸̢̻̤̣̬̗͚̜͇̼͈͍̥͍͎̟̤͖ͭ̒͆̌͢͠i̶̴̞̣̫̹̥̥͎͉̱̖̦ͧ̊͊̄̊͋ͭ̀͜m̨͚̟͖̻̮̖̞͙̣̠͖̦̉̽̃ͬͯͣ͐͆͌͐̿̃̋̃̇ͫ̚ę̃ͬͧ̄̇͑ͥ̋̓̿̂̐͘͠҉̵͕͓̳̤̻̖̳̞̦̳͎̙̰̱̣̱͇n͈̜̦̣͉͓̗̓̍ͮ̇̎͜͟d̠̝̲̹̠̰̞͎̘̖̮̹͗̃̅̄̀͢͡͡ͅṷ̷̧̮̫̬͔̽͛ͧͥͧ̈́̎̒̋͊m̏̃ͥ̓̌͌̓̃́͒͏҉̺̬̞̪̝̰̯͓̱͈̘̥̞͙̮̦ͅ
People having meltdown about Tumblr’s new AI toggle are a prime showcase of how that site is becoming a cess pool of reactionary misery.
The toggle is opt-in by default because opting out is what requires something to be done. Prior to the toggle existing, you were already opted-in with no choice. By hitting that “Agree” button on the terms of service you agreed to allow Tumblr to use your data and send it to its third party collaborators, which typically includes advertisers, but now, in 2024, also contains AI companies.
Your blog was opted-in to this feature this whole time and you never knew. Therefore, by adding the opt-out toggle and making it off by default, absolutely nothing has changed. You’re still opted-in, just like you were a few days ago before the toggle existed.
What is different is that you can now change that toggle and finally opt-out, for the first time. The toggle isn’t something to get mad over because:
A: it literally doesn’t change a single thing
B: it is a net positive privacy feature
C: you’re the one who opted in, in the first place, by hitting “agree” on the ToS. If you don’t like the idea of data scraping for AI usage, then boy do I have some bad news about every other free service you’ve ever hit “Agree” or “Accept All” on. If you don’t want AI scraping your shit, use a more privacy-minded site like Cohost or Mastodon. Otherwise, boohoo. What did you expect?
Tumblr just sees a buzzword and something different and goes and whines about it. Literally the same mindset as the conservatives, and yet these people claim to be better than them.