if the art is being scraped for AI training either way, why does it matter that Tumblr starts taking money for it? it changes literally nothing except that the site might survive a bit longer with the additional funding to combat how much money it's still loosing.

Because it’s not a logistical question it’s an ethical one. Partnering with a generative AI company which openly steals art and uses it to put the same people it steals from out of jobs is an ethical issue. “Scraping is going to happen anyways so let tumblr make money off of it!” And tell me why I should stick around for it? Why support a website that does not fight for us, but shakes hands with those who exploit us? Does tumblr, a corporation, need this money more than my mom who hasn’t had illustration work in months? Do they need it more than all of my visdev friends struggling to find jobs? I’m amazed that you’ll shill for tumblr as a company yet come into the ask box of one of many people that actually creates things you like and tell me to roll over and get exploited for their profit. Tell me why you like tumblr. Just for staff posts? Or for the artists and writers who provide endless entertainment for you everyday? I’m sorry for having the barest amount of conviction in taking down/ not posting art here anymore, but mine and my friend’s livelihoods are more important to me than tumblr’s profit margins.

The opt out does include all posts, including reblogs, even those made before the integration. You don’t have to leave!

I appreciate that you guys want me to stay and I’m grateful that you like my art enough to say so, but 😭 I don’t trust tech companies like midjourney as far as I can throw them and a big part of this is just out of principle— I don’t want to support a site that’s willing to sell out its user base like this.

I’m sorry about you having to leave tumblr. All this ai stuff really is so incredibly frustrating, I do understand your choice to leave fully. I just wanted to send an ask before you left to let you know that I love your art dearly and it’s a big inspiration on mine since I found it. If you still post on any other socials I’ll try to keep up to date with you. Other wise, a tearful farewell from tumblr at large 😔

I really appreciate this 💙 for now i’m on twitter, @sanjihateclub (though if they go full AI scraping partnership im jumping ship there too). I’ll probably keep posting art SOMEWHERE online and i’ll be here to lurk as usual…. right now im looking at a few different sites to post on, and if I go through with one, i’ll post my link on here when i do. It’s hard not to feel like we are fucking cooked but I still want to post my art and connect with people 😔 so I’ll do what I can to make that happen, just… somewhere else. I hope my favorite artists move somewhere I can find and follow them too… it’s all greed I tell you!! And we’re the ones paying the price!!

so… it looks like this is happening… ah… I’m so sad… tumblr is the only social media I actually liked… I did the whole ‘opt out’ thing, but I doubt that includes posts made from before this was incorporated, and from a personal standpoint, making AI scraping ‘opt OUT’ and partnering with one of those companies at all is a bridge too far. I just can’t support it. It’s stabbing me and everyone who I respect and whose work I love in the back. Every social media is what its users put into it, and I don’t want to put anything into one that cannot even respect its creators enough not to steal from them. (Plus, in my experience, predatory companies don’t even respect the rules they make… it’s just a facade to lull people into letting them get away with theft or scummy business.)

I think twitter is planning to incorporate AI scraping too… idk about instagram, not that I use it much, anyways. its all such a mess, and for what… just a cash grab…

I doubt I’ll stop using tumblr entirely, if only to reblog stuff (if anyone at all keeps posting after this) but I won’t be sharing my art here anymore, and will eventually delete my original posts and place them elsewhere, properly glazed and nightshaded. Bluesky? Pillowfort? I’m not sure where I’ll go now… maybe I’ll just go outside.

guys i’ll be honest.. I’ve made it through a lot on here, but if tumblr decides to sell to midjourney or any other generative AI I have to delete everything… 😔 it seems like they’ve already scraped most of the posts on here dating all the way back to 2014, but even if it’s too late to prevent theft of my art, I just can’t keep using a website that would do something like this— I don’t want to contribute clicks and views to a company that so readily throws its artists and creators (the reason anyone uses the site!) under the bus. If it does happen, I will probably make an archival drive of all my posted pieces and upload a nightshaded version to google drive or pixiv or something. If there are any works you really love, I would recommend saving them on your own.

I’ve had my art reuploaded without permission, stolen and sold on random websites, but this generative AI grift is the worst of them all. It’s soulless greed that does nothing but take advantage of those who already struggle to make a living in a notoriously thin job market. It’s a pointless theft machine. As if the world was ever starved for artists.

guys i’ll be honest.. I’ve made it through a lot on here, but if tumblr decides to sell to midjourney or any other generative AI I have to delete everything… 😔 it seems like they’ve already scraped most of the posts on here dating all the way back to 2014, but even if it’s too late to prevent theft of my art, I just can’t keep using a website that would do something like this— I don’t want to contribute clicks and views to a company that so readily throws its artists and creators (the reason anyone uses the site!) under the bus. If it does happen, I will probably make an archival drive of all my posted pieces and upload a nightshaded version to google drive or pixiv or something. If there are any works you really love, I would recommend saving them on your own.

I’ve had my art reuploaded without permission, stolen and sold on random websites, but this generative AI grift is the worst of them all. It’s soulless greed that does nothing but take advantage of those who already struggle to make a living in a notoriously thin job market. It’s a pointless theft machine. As if the world was ever starved for artists.

have you seen the online concert for meiko and kaito that dropped on the 24th yet? 👀

Yes, I watched it!! It was cool!

wheres my post canon adult lost contact with old friends lowkey depressed teru at

marcille said i know my wife is just like her brother i don't have to like it

unfortunately, on this platonic male outing at outback steakhouse, my partner has ordered a “blooming onion”, transforming this once casual affair into a romantic tryst

Boy best friends

BEST DAY OF THE YEAR!

liberating women today by going out looking like absolute shit

Please rb for reach and add your reasoning for your pick in the tags if you feel like it <3

Divided

quite the list