Good thing I waited a bit before discussing this issue… you probably had already heard that one of the main blogging platforms, Blogger, had announced about a week ago that they were going to essentially shut down all the adult content blogs (and while we focus mainly on the gay blogs, I’m pretty certain there was a lot of straight porn on those sites as well). This came as a pretty big shock to most people, especially when told they had only about a month to change platforms if they so desired. While adult blogs could be made private, a viewer would need an invitation to see it, and if you have a large audience, that could become quite unwieldy.
Amazingly, Blogger and Google got enough negative response that they changed their minds just days ago, and will continue to allow adult blogs provided they have the warning page and are flagged as such. I’m surprised they backed down, but am obviously pretty happy… there’s a lot of great adult blogs out there on Blogger, and for the time being, they seem to be safe.
But I do feel like this is an omen for the long term future of adult blogs. The fact they announced the decision in the first place, along with their penchant for shutting down adult blogs without much (if any) warning is a pretty blatant indication of where they’d like to go eventually. It could take a while longer now, but I do think that over time, they’ll gradually tighten the screws until it’s difficult and not practical to post adult content. I’m also going on the record saying that I personally think it’s only a matter of time before tumblr gets more restrictive about its adult content.
All these are reasons I decided many years ago to move to my own platform. It’s a bigger hassle, sure. I have to pay out of pocket to keep this site going (which is why I do appreciate it when you use my shopping links to make any of your gear purchases). But I do feel it’s a bit worth it in exchange for the freedom and relative safety I have, basically never having to worry if my work will be taken down due to content (though I did recently have a technical glitch that could have taken the site off line–but it was technical, not content related).
Just to cover myself a bit more, I am considering adding my own “Warning: Adult Content” page to this blog. I know they’re annoying, but after all that’s happened, it may not hurt. In the meantime, I’m happy for all my fellow bloggers who have dodged a big bullet. And as for me, new posts begin tomorrow!
