What is the Tumblr App?

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Description: Tumblr is sometimes touted as a micro-blogging platform, but as it says on its own website, “Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything,” including text, photos, videos, links, music, with complete customization capability. As of February 2021, Tumblr held 518M+ blogs.

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What do parents need to know about Tumblr? 

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The Wild West of Social Media – the app store rating says it all. The ability to post anything means that people post anything. And, you don’t need an account to access everything that is posted. Just download the app or go to the Tumblr homepage and search for keywords.

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Porn Abounds – the hashtag feature just creates a repository of specific themes for people to troll, i.e., #girls, #kikme, #snapchatnudes, etc. The latest stats claim that 22% of the referral traffic to Tumblr is porn or adult related. Estimates are that more than 30,000 Tumblr domains (pages) contain adult content.

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Even though no kids should have Tumblr, the Bark service can monitor Tumblr for inappropriate search terms, if you know your child’s Tumblr credentials.

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Privacy – the settings on Tumblr can be tricky. Primary Tumblr accounts are all public. Outsiders can easily comment on posts and send direct messages to users. An account cannot be made private unless a user creates a second blog on Tumblr under a second name, which of course, most people don’t do.

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Some Blockage – the Tumblr app and website can be effectively blocked with OpenDNS on both Apple and Android devices, using the “blogs” category. 

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Bottom Line – is Tumblr Safe for Kids?

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Due to its description as a “micro-blogging” site, it’s easy to think, “What could be wrong with that?” But, inappropriate content is everywhere and users will easily stumble into something inappropriate. Parents should take extreme caution when deciding if their young kids should use this app based on the risks noted.

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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