What is the Tumblr App?
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 March 1, 2015, Tumblr hosts over 225.1 million blogs.
Category: Blog, Social Networking
APP Store rating: 17+ for “frequent/intense mature/suggestive themes and infrequent/mild sexual content and nudity
What do parents need to know about Tumblr?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some Blockage – the Tumblr app and website can be effectively blocked with OpenDNS on both Apple and Android devices, using the “blogs” category.
The bottom line – is Tumblr safe?
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.
Now what? Have you heard of Bark?
Are you interested in having greater insight into the social media platforms that your kids are using? Bark is one of the best platforms we’ve tested. If your kid is using social media, then they need Bark. We trust them and we think you should, too!
[Click here or the logo above to learn more – free to begin!]
*There may be affiliate links throughout this post because we’ve tested and trust a small list of parental control solutions. Our work saves you time! If you decide that you agree with us, then we may earn a small commission, which does nothing to your price. Enjoy! 