Tumblr has a specific culture that may be quite foreign to those coming from other platforms. Below is a summary list of Tumblr dos and don’ts as they pertain to etiquette, so that people don’t think you’re being an arse. Again, these are guidelines and Tumblr is still quite a large site, so depending on where you “are” or “end up” attitudes to these may be different.

⛔ Don’t interact with corporate Tumblr accounts. I cannot emphasise this point enough. Do not like them, do not dunk on them, do not send them hate asks, do not reply to their posts, and definitely do not engage with them in a positive way. Maybe it was funny or amusing on Twitter (it probably wasn’t) but that doesn’t fly on Tumblr due to a strong anti-corporate community attitude.

⛔ Don’t engage in hostility or dunking. It may be a spat between you and someone else but the broad Tumblr community is very drama-averse. Again, leave that kind of behaviour on Twitter; if there’s someone you don’t like, block them and move on.

⛔ Don’t aggressively peddle in competitive, petty capitalist ways. This is not to say that you’re not allowed to promote your store or commissions if you are an artist, and often you’re encouraged to do so. Rather, Tumblr has an “indie” artist vibe that is distrustful of corporate influences and attention-seeking influencer culture, so don’t inundate your followers or blog with sponsored content, advertisements, promotions, and so forth.

An example of an alright way to advertise your work if you’re an independent artist! It’s not obnoxious and it doesn’t read like an ad. A lot of the time, artists might not even put links like this in their posts and instead rely on the links on their blog page.

⛔ Don’t lump small, indie, and cottage businesses into the above rule! Please make a distinction between corporate brands versus individual artists and merch sellers. The times are hard for small folks making trinkets and art commissions.

⛔ Don’t ask others to reblog or promote your posts*.* While requesting for exposure on Twitter is considered normal or even encouraged, the same behaviour on Tumblr is seen as distasteful for reasons similar to the above point on peddling. Allow your audience to grow naturally.

⛔ Don’t just like posts, especially without reblogging. Especially for things like art, it can give the impression that you have acknowledged the post but have decided it was not worth sharing; some people can take offense to having their posts liked but not reblogged. Of course, there are nuances—liking someone’s personal vent post is seen as a nonverbal gesture of support—but reblogging is still king on Tumblr.

⛔ Don’t censor words, especially trigger words such as using asterisks in place of letters or breaking up those words with punctuation. It may seem counter-intuitive at first, but realise that people who need to hide those kinds of posts use filters based on key words—if you obfuscate trigger words, this will make it harder for these posts to be filtered for those who have sensitivities to them.

⛔ Don’t obfuscate trigger words either, such as using “unalive” in lieu of “death”, for reasons similar to the point above. Tumblr’s content moderation system is not aggressive as that of, say, TikTok’s, so don’t worry about being unfairly dinged for using those kinds of words (unless, of course, you’re actually violating Tumblr community guidelines. In which case, maybe just don’t post).

🔁 Do reblog stuff you like, and do so liberally. Again, Tumblr users are wary of users who appear to be uncooperative, competitive, or are bots. Other users will be quick to throw suspicion on you if they notice your blog consists entirely of personal posts and likes. It won’t be the end of the world if you’ve gone a while without reblogging, but folks blocking you pre-emptively will sour the mood. Plus, it’s kind to share the creations of those whose work you enjoy!

🔁 Seriously, reblog stuff! This is the primary means of interacting on Tumblr and is core to its social paradigm. Use your common sense though, and don’t go around reblogging things like personal vent posts.

#️⃣ Do tag your posts. Tags are primarily used for organising your blog, but also to help others filter out content they might not want to see. They are also a means of commenting on posts, so familiarise yourself with that too. Tags on Tumblr do have a bit of use for discoverability, especially for fandoms, but reblogging and following and “curating one’s dash” still takes precedent.

Tumblr’s robust tagging and blog filtering/search features means it’s easy for users to cut through the noise when they want to. Don’t get too worried about “cluttering up” your blog with reblogs!

💬 Do understand the difference between replying, commenting in a reblog, and commenting in tags. The last item is likely the most unfamiliar to newcomers: Tumblr users often comment on a reblog post in the tags, rather than the text of the post. When in doubt, do the same. The nuances between these modes of commenting are super important, I’ve had to make a separate page on them!

🚩Do flag your posts with the appropriate community label if they contain mature content.

<aside> 🛠️ Note that the option for setting a community label on a post is only available to you with the beta post editor on desktop. Ensure you are using it to access the feature.

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🎉 Don’t take things too seriously! Tumblr’s community is quite protective of its culture, but said culture is pretty lax. Staff also tend to break things on the website, too, so just relax and it’ll get fixed; the site’s still here, after all.

🌸 Remember to be kind. Golden rule to live by, really. Engage in good faith, reblog things you like, talk to people, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You’ll be happier for it.