Читать книгу Tumblr - Tama Leaver, Crystal Abidin - Страница 24

Between 2007 and 2012, tumblr’s Terms of Service were, as is common for social media platforms, written in impenetrable legalese. Back then, a “subscriber” was described as someone at least 18 years of age. In 2012, tumblr added humorous, accessible “translations” to sections of their Terms of Service agreement and their Community Guidelines. The age of eligibility was lowered to 13, and the following explanation was added: “You have to be at least 13 years old to use Tumblr. We’re serious: it’s a hard rule, based on U.S. federal and state legislation, even if you’re 12.9 years old. If you’re younger than 13, don’t use Tumblr. Ask your parents for an Xbox or try books.” By 2020, tumblr’s rules regarding age depended on the users’ location, echoing the differences in law. tumblr users thus now have to be at least 13, or at least 16 if they live in the EU (there is flexibility depending on the data-processing consent age limits in particular European countries), and at least 18 to access blogs self- or platform-flagged as “explicit”⁴ (tumblr Help Center 2020c).

tumblr has never made any prescriptions about usernames beyond stating, since the 2012 update to the Community Guidelines, that “Tumblr’s URLs (usernames) are for the use and enjoyment of our users” and should not be hoarded, traded, or sold, nor registered for the purpose of impersonating someone. The 2012 accessible translation added to this that, “if you want to parody or ridicule a public figure (and who doesn’t?), don’t try to trick readers into thinking you are actually that public figure” (Community Guidelines update 2012). Setting up an account has only ever asked for a functioning email address and your age; tumblr has always accepted pseudonymity. The 2012 Community Guidelines also introduced “non-genuine social gesture schemes” (artificially enhancing one’s follower count), “mass registration and automation,” “unauthorized sweepstakes or giveaways,” as well as fraud and phishing into the list of “What tumblr is not for.”