Tumblr is adding a monetization tool for the second time today. Tumblr Tips, which is currently available in the United States and will be available globally soon, will allow bloggers to collect one-time payments from their supporters. Tumblr will not deduct any fees from these payments, however, usual credit card costs will apply (2.9 percent + $0.30). Tipping is available on the web, iOS, and Android, but Tumblr told TechCrunch that it will not use Apple or Google’s internal billing systems to allow mobile tips, which means authors will not lose an additional 30% to fees.
Users can add a comment to their tip when tipping a creator. Tipping anonymously is permitted, but the tipper will not be able to leave a message. Fans can give up to $100 in tips. This tip jar-style feature comes after Tumblr launched Post+ last fall, which allowed users to charge a monthly subscription for access to exclusive content — but Post+ wasn’t well received on the platform. Despite the fact that many successful Tumblr artists link to external Patreon or Ko-Fi accounts to commercialize their material, fans were outraged by the thought of the platform containing monetization options.
Some questioned if it was legal for Tumblr to encourage users to commercialize their fanfiction, while others pointed out that the test version of Post+ didn’t allow artists to block subscribers, perhaps posing a security risk. Tumblr intervened and condemned the targeted attacks after one of the bloggers who helped test the Post+ function received death threats. “I felt like the sacrificial lamb,” the blogger, Kaijuno, told TechCrunch in July, “because they didn’t announce Post+ beforehand and only gave it to a few people, which landed me in the crosshairs of a very pissed-off user base when I’m just trying to pay off medical bills by giving people the option to pay for content.”
“I expected some pushback because people despise any change to Tumblr, but I figured the brunt of it would fall on the staff, and the beta testers would be spared the worst of it.” Some Tumblr users informed TechCrunch after the initial Post+ announcement that they would prefer a tip jar option to a subscription feature like Post+, which only works if they generate paywalled content. A former Tumblr employee told TechCrunch at the time that the function that became Post+ began as a tip jar. Tumblr’s higher-ups, according to the insider, redirected the project to create a paywalled membership product because they don’t deal directly with the community.
Tumblr finally implemented Tumblr Tips, which appears to be a response to creator complaints. However, after the initial beta rollout, it’s unclear how effective Post+ has been. “We aren’t revealing our figures, but we can say that with the open beta, we were able to reach a much larger audience and gain more insights, particularly from international authors.” Tumblr’s head of product for subscriptions, Bohdan Kit, told TechCrunch, “These newly discovered learnings will help us prepare for a complete launch later this year.”
Tumblr Tips is meant to be used in conjunction with Post+, not as a replacement. However, the opportunity to tip may aid in the onboarding of creators and their fans to the subscription service, which will pay Tumblr a 5% commission. Tumblr has struggled to build its user base since its fatal porn ban in 2018, but the business now promotes itself as a platform for Gen Z, who account for 48 percent of Tumblr’s users. Even still, for many millennials, the platform is a source of nostalgia. What distinguishes Tumblr from the rest of the big platforms? Posts that are not algorithmically jumbled and are in reverse chronological order to increase engagement. It’s the little things that count.
