Tumblr just announced that they are removing all adult content from their platform.

The internet is offended, annoyed, discriminated, but most of all the internet is wondering what will replace Tumblr? Given that the adult content seems to soon have been its main attraction?

Nobody is talking about the most worrying consequence Tumblr brings. After a while people will find new sources for desired content. Social media sites like Newsgrounds, Reddit, Pillowfort seem to be popping up as promising Tumblr alternatives already.

Type of content aside, here is what is about to happen to Tumblr, which is most worying: accounts and profiles are about to be removed forever. This has huge implications for people who have been using Tumblr for many years to post content and gather a following. Any photographer using social media (and quite a few of us are) to promote their shots knows that strangely stressing feeling of how valuable their following is.

The purpose of this little article and the message I am trying to bring is pretty simple. What is happening with Tumblr now is a reminder that social media following shouldn’t be your top priority. Your following on Facebook, 500px, Flickr, Instagram and so on, can be stripped away. Just in a matter of two years these sites have changed a lot. Some have changed ownership. Others have started collaborating with companies that may use your images without your consent. Others have sold your personal data without informing you first.

If you are finding yourself spending hours everyday promoting yourself on social media sites to gain a larger exposure, stop for a while and think. Is it really worth spending time on something that isn’t guaranteed? What if your account has a kind of photography that the social media site suddenly doesn’t want to show anymore? What if the site itself goes bankrupt? What if your account gets banned or hacked? And the most likely one: what if the site changes so much that you simply don’t want to be a part of it anymore?

These are just a few thoughts that have helped myself find a place in this seemingly endless, yet so fragile social media world. Care less about the number of likes and number of followers you get. Spend more time being creative. After all, that is where it all began, no?