Is Tumblr Safe | A Complete Guide for Parents

It is safe to say that this is the era of social media. There is probably no one who is not into social media. Its platforms have provided a new way to communicate with people from all over the world.

You must have heard about Tumblr from your tweens and teens. But do you know what Tumblr is or what you can do on Tumblr? Is Tumblr safe for kids?

Tumblr was initially started in 2007 by David Karp and is now owned by an Automattic company. Its hype increased from the mid-2010s, and it was popular mainly among teenagers.

After blocking all the adults’ contents in 2018, it had some controversies, but by 2021, it has got even more unique visitors worldwide. Since there are more than 475 million blogs on Tumblr now, you must wonder what Tumblr is.

What is Tumblr?

Like Facebook and Instagram, Tumblr is also a popular app that works like a microblogging site. However, on Tumblr, you can make a post just like in a blog post, but a short blog post or similar to feature snippets. Your post can be of anything from a picture to quotes, GIFs, anything you want.

Since Tumblr works like blogging websites, therefore, it is also recognized as “microblogging.” You can either post your original content on social media or repost the blog, also known as reblogging.

Apart from posting and reposting content on Tumblr, you can even comment and likes on posts. However, the most interesting thing about this app is its feed is similar to Facebook and Instagram feed and has little functionality of Pinterest.

Tumblr users can posts creative and inspiring post that helps to inspire other users of this social media. It allows you to follow people who have similar interests as yours and even learn from them. You can even communicate with people on Tumblr by sending text messages.

It is a great platform to discover new contents or latest trend that is happening around. Also, this site allows users to create accounts without revealing their identities. Read further to know more about Tumblr and decide is Tumblr safe for kids or not.

How is Tumblr Different From Other Social Media

Despite having similarities with Instagram and Pinterest, Tumblr is quite different in connecting with your audience. On Instagram, you mostly post pictures of your own, and there is no particular theme for posting pictures.

You can make a post of anything and everything on Instagram and Facebook. While on Tumblr, you post more inspiring posts, but it allows you to post any contents like images, video, audio, links, etc. Many people also consider Tumblr a digital diary as you can anonymously make a post on your account.

On Facebook, you need to add people as friends to communicate and view their posts, while on this social media site, all you have to do is follow the account you find interesting. While on Facebook, you tend to be friends with anyone you know in your personal life or with random strangers and know more about them.

But, latter you connect only with people who have a common interest as yours. Talking about the newsfeed of Tumblr, it looks similar to Twitter. But when it comes to making posts, there is no word limit like you get on Twitter.

This app is microblogging; thereby, your feed is considered similar to a blog page where you can customize your page. There are many templates that you can use to customize your page.

Who Can Use Tumblr?

Anyone who is over 13 years old can open a Tumblr account. To create a Tumblr account, all you need is a valid email address, create a username, and a strong password.

There are no extra procedures for validating your age, and this is where Tumblr fails. You can create your account just by adding your email address, username, and date of birth.

Children who are below 13 can lie about their age and create their accounts in the app. Once they create their account, they can follow multiple accounts, and sometimes they may even follow accounts that are inappropriate for their age.

Is Tumblr Popular Among Teens?

Tumblr is popular among teens in comparison to people of other age groups. Among the total users, 45% of users are under 35 years old. You can find more people on Tumblr than on Facebook. In Tumblr, you can find more teens girls than teen boys.

As per a report made by seventeen statistic makers, 65% of the audience of this social media site are college students.

Your teens can find people share similar interest as them, which is also one reason for them joining Tumblr. It’s where you can share your knowledge with one other. It has the potential to introduce your teen to creative ideas.

It is one of the best places for creative kids to share their ideas and creativity. In Tumblr, your teen does not need to share their daily activities; they can share any contents they want without exposing their details.

Is Tumblr Safe for Kids?

There is the positive and negative side of everything so does Tumblr, as you are well aware that social media is never safe for your kids. This is because they get exposed to many contents without your consent.

The main reason teens love Tumblr is that they do not have to know people they follow in real life. However, this also has been a matter of concern for parents as they want safety for their teens.

Since it is a platform where anything that your teen post is visible to anyone who searches for it, parents are worried about their children’s privacy. Also, if your teens’ blog page is popular in the app, people will get curious about your teens’ personal life.

Once your teen gets used to using this social site can be pretty addictive. From this aspect, you can assume that it is much like other social sites.

However, one positive side of the app is, it banned inappropriate content in 2018. Aside from that, you can rate your content on Tumblr.

Measures That Parents Can Take To Protect Your Child on Tumblr

As a parent, you should keep your kids safe from the potential dangers of social media. Here are some safety measures that you can take to keep your kids safe on Tumblr:

Teach Them Some Basic Rules

After reading the point mentioned above, you might have been clear that anything your teen post on their Tumblr account is public, you cannot make an account private. Anyone can bully your teen or misuse their post on the apps thereby; you need to make some basic rules like,

• Do not provide personal details on this app since you can use it anonymously.
• Regularly communicate about how misusing social media can harm their future,
• If your kids are below 13, ask them to wait until 13 to join the social media.
• Ask them to block people who are harassing them on Tumblr.
• You should explain to your kids, all the activities they do on social media are traceable.
• Ask them to use social media only from specific devices and when you are around them.
• You can even encourage your teen to use safe mode while using Tumblr.

Limit Time on Device Usage

Once you get used to Tumblr, it is an addictive social media. Your teen might not be able to get off social media once they are hooked on it. They can spend their time more than required when they are on this app.

Henceforth, you should strictly set screen time rules, especially during summer as they have more free time during this time. When you allow specific time on such apps, your teen will not do much on the apps.

Likewise, there are fewer chances of teens getting exposed to social media bullies and other adverse effects when they have limited time to use such apps.

Moreover, by applying this method, you will be able to limit your teen’s screen time. As you are pretty aware that, if there is no time limit on social media usage, teens can use their devices all day and night.

Use Parental Control apps

Next, the most popular method that you can use is to set parental control apps. With parental control apps, you can monitor the device activities of your kids remotely. One of my personal favorite parental control apps is fenced.ai.

This is by far my most favorite parental control apps as it provides the most accurate picture of what your kids are doing on their device. Apart from, fenced.ai, you can even use apps like bark, Qustodio, Net Nanny, and so on.

With parental control apps, you can set a time limit on the app usage or even block the apps if your teens do not follow the rules.

Conclusion

Summing up, there is no social media that is entirely safe for your teens. So is Tumblr; we cannot say that Tumblr is entirely safe for your teens. It would be best to ask your kids to follow the rules you have set for them to keep them safe from online predators and danger.

Educate your teen about the potential threat that they can get by using this app. You should teach your kids that once they make a post on their social media, it is there forever, even if they delete it. Let us know if the information regarding "is Tumblr safe" is helpful through comments.