Watch the 2012 Shorty Awards tomorrow night (7:30-9pm), live from TheTimesCenter in New York!
Cheer Missing e on as it, hopefully, brings home a Shorty Award, in addition to the Shorty Vox Populi (based on popular vote) you already helped to win!
SFB editor Ernie Smith will be there too in hopes of the site winning a “Microblog of the Year on Tumblr” honor. We totally expect “We Are the 99 Percent” to kick our butt, but that doesn’t mean we won’t totally be freaking out in case we win. Watch tomorrow and cheer us on!
Many Tumblr users and supporters of extensions like Missing e and XKit contacted Tumblr regarding their upcoming changes to their Terms of Service. Recently, a number of them have received a response from Tumblr similar to the one you’ll find below.
They have clarified their changes in a positive way. Although the new terms do give Tumblr a stronger position from which to come down on extension developers and users, they have made very clear statements indicating they will continue to allow Tumblr browser extensions!
Thanks so much for your support, folks! Continue using Tumblr browser extensions to your heart’s content! [more]
Tumblr clarifies themselves a day after a set of terms changes caused much concern among users.
~ Your Freedom To Use Your Browser Is Under Attack ~
Tumblr’s Terms of Service hasn’t changed yet. So please read and help out!
The Tumblr staff recently requested feedback on updates they will be making to their policies. They specifically mention one of their goals is to prevent the promotion of self-harm. However, their updated Terms of Service includes something a lot less laudable.
Unable to find the required avenues to stop developers from creating and distributing browser extensions that enhance the way you use Tumblr and not getting enough of a response to their scary warning campaign, they now seem to be preparing the groundwork for coming after users of these extensions.
~ Who, you? Yes, apparently. ~
Tumblr had been previously unable to prevent all development of these extensions, scripts and add-ons because they function within your web browser, allowing you to direct these extensions to use your browser to automatically perform tasks for you on Tumblr (like quickly reblogging from the dashboard, uploading images to posts, adding control buttons to your sidebar or hiding content you don’t want to see). The extensions, themselves, do not interact directly with Tumblr, only help your web browser to do it for you!
With the upcoming changes to the Terms of Service, Tumblr will soon be able to punish someone: you.
~ How is it wrong to use something to help me enjoy Tumblr more? ~
The important part of the new Terms of Service is under the section titled Limitations on Automated Use:
You may not do any of the following while accessing or using the Services: … (c) access or search or attempt to access or search the Services by any means (automated or otherwise) other than through our currently available, published interfaces that are provided by Tumblr… (d) scrape the Services, and particularly scape (sic) Content (as defined below) from the Services, without Tumblr’s express prior written consent
These limitations will make using almost any browser extension, add-on or script for Tumblr (and even some not specifically intended for Tumblr) against the rules!
Do you use Missing e, XKit, Tumblr Savior or any Greasemonkey script for Tumblr? Well, pretty soon, that will mean you will be in violation of Tumblr’s Terms of Service. That would be grounds for terminating your account!
~ What’s the Big Deal? ~
Extensions, add-ons and scripts like Missing e, XKit and Tumblr Savior help you get better use of Tumblr. They might mean that you decide against leaving Tumblr, or that you come back to it. They make it easier to spend more time on Tumblr than you might have normally and become a more involved member of this community. These are the kind of things a company like Tumblr should want, but is instead fighting against.
This most recent step effectively means that Tumblr apparently wants to reach into your web browser and tell you exactly how you are to use it to interact with their website. Their way, and NO OTHER WAY.
~ So, What Can We Do? ~
Tumblr’s new Terms of Service policy has not yet been put into effect. They are still looking for feedback. My suggestions is that we give them feedback.
Contact Tumblr (policy@tumblr.com) and let them know that this decision will alienate the userbase they work so hard to grow. Let them know that a browser extension (be it any of them) brought you back to Tumblr, or convinced you to stay, or kept you on this site longer. Tell them that your Tumblr is better off with a Savior, a Kit of the ‘X’ variety or that Missing e!
ABOVE ALL, BE POLITE. The best way to present your case is with clearheaded statements that show Tumblr that these tools make you want to use their product more!
This will become a big issue for Tumblr in the next few days, particularly the scraping thing, which is how services like Missing e and others work. Not sure how to feel about all this yet, but this is certainly not the kind of thing that I think Tumblr should be doing. We’ve been big backers of Missing e in the past, and it would break our hearts to see it taken down like this. So this needs to be explained and dealt with. Are there any other social media services which codify that you can’t modify their interfaces in this way?
upsidedownspirit asks: On the topic of Shorty Nominations, I think it'd be a brilliant idea to encourage people to vote for Missing e in the Apps category. Not only because it's an extremely useful browser plugin, but also because of the aggressive scare tactics Tumblr has taken against Missing e users. If Missing e ends up as a finalist, or better yet wins the category, I think it'd be a really crushing blow to Tumblr's staff.
» SFB says: While not necessarily looking to get “a really crushing blow to Tumblr’s staff” (we disagree on this issue but still greatly love the product), we fully support this idea, and Jeremy has a real shot of winning — he’s currently in first place in the Apps category, ahead of such biggies as Instagram and Twitter. Give him a vote and make sure he wins it all! (And hey, we’re looking for votes, too!) — Ernie @ SFB
I am really sorry to announce that time of FGS project has finished. After 1.5 year of providing users with a service that was meant to improve their gaming experience, I am shocked that this project ends in such an unpleasant situation as I am forced to stop it for good.Friendly Gaming Simplifier developer Arkadiusz Rzadkowolski • Discussing how Facebook forced him to shut down his popular Firefox and Chrome plugin — to the point that they got their law firm involved and banned him from the Facebook platform for life, possibly hurting his chances at future employment. Does this sound similar to the Missing e situation on Tumblr? You betcha.
thecallus asks: Sorry - have to interject. Tumblr knows your browser easily, as do all websites, without accessing anything confidential. This is how, for example, sites detect if you're using a mobile browser. Tumblr is simply performing a simple browser - user pairing to identify accounts that have used the service.
» SFB says: After considering it, while the browser thing appears to be legit (we tested it and had the same thing come up), we’re not finding the language she cites inside Tumblr’s privacy policy — perhaps it existed in a prior version, but it does not exist currently. Here’s what it does say: “Like most website operators, Tumblr collects non-personally-identifying information of the sort that web browsers and servers typically make available, such as the browser type, language preference, referring site, and the date and time of each visitor request. Tumblr’s purpose in collecting non-personally identifying information is to better understand how Tumblr’s visitors use its Website.” So it seems like a half-valid point, half-invalid one. — Ernie @ SFB
Because Missing-e is connected to your browser - not your account. I only have M-e installed on Chrome. So as a test I logged on using IE, Safari and Firefox. And I still had the message telling me to ‘uninstall’ M-e. Yet my second account, which I’ve only ever used on FF, and is not connected to my email address, does not have the message at all.
According to Tumblrs privacy policy, they should not be able to access ‘users information regarding (…) extensions or third party software’. Clearly though, they have. So I think the REAL privacy problem is the fact that somehow tumblr staff are obtaining this information, which they should not be able to access, and are targeting users.
Never mind the fact that I didn’t even have Missing-E INSTALLED on three browsers, and yet the message still popped up on all of them - even after closing it again - is proof of this.
Sort your shit out tumblr
Thanks to Maurice Cherry for bringing this to our attention.
» EDIT: On second thought … while the browser thing seems pretty sketchy and certainly worthy of pointing out, the language this blogger quotes from does not seem to exist in Tumblr’s privacy policy. If you search for a quote, for example, the first results that show up are reblogs of this post. Sent her an ask to see if we’re missing something.
Third-party extensions and hacks are a part of the web, perhaps Tumblr should focus on building new features or its own official “app store” instead of whining about support and server issues.Drew Olanoff of The Next Web has Jeremy Cutler’s back on Missing e.
waskommenmag asks: Can you explain what's wrong with the missing e email you received? I'm someone who knows very very little about computers, and very little about the ramifications of whatever make you "uncomfortable" about the email you got from tumblr. I understand that missing e is an extension that allows certain editing of tumblr pages, etc., but I don't really get why you'd take offense at what tumblr sent you. It seems fairly benign and reasonable to me.
» SFB says: Because Missing e makes my life (and the lives of a lot of other people) a lot easier by offering significant improvements to the Tumblr interface, and instead of figuring out a way to take advantage of the great idea that Jeremy Cutler had, they’ve instead chosen to go this route. At one point, they completely booted him off the API and looked like they were going to sue him. There’s a long backstory here — essentially, the extension became super-popular, then Tumblr decided that it was taking up too many resources. But the problem is, ultimately, there is a significant benefit to using Missing e, which is something Tumblr has not addressed directly. Until they do so, Missing e will still have a reason to exist. As a big fan of both Tumblr and Missing e, we’re greatly disappointed by this. — Ernie @ SFB
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
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Yahumblr.
Just received this message about Missing e, the popular browser extension which Tumblr has not taken kindly to. Kinda not comfortable with this, Tumblr. Here’s the full message, for those who haven’t seen it:
Hello! We’ve noticed you’re using a browser hack, Missing-E, that can cause serious problems for you and for Tumblr.
While we love encouraging developers to customize and build off our platform, the unsupported methods being used here create risks to your data, interfere with our ability to develop and scale Tumblr, and create a huge burden for our support team. Specifically:
Data loss: Bugs caused by unsupported hacks often affect forms that save, alter, or delete your data. This leads to incidents of corrupt themes, lost posts, and broken features that we are unable to protect against.
Privacy: Browser hacks interpose themselves between you and Tumblr, meaning they have access to your email address, password, IP address, search queries, and the contents of your private posts and Dashboard. We have no way of controlling what they do with this information.
Performance: The unsupported method of “page scraping” causes your browser to make excessive requests to Tumblr’s servers during normal browsing. When our load balancers detect this, they automatically trigger throttling to protect the servers from being overrun. This presents as errors and slower response times.
Support: Because the issues that arise often appear to be problems with Tumblr, our support team is frequently flooded with erroneous reports of problems we didn’t cause and can’t fix. To keep these from overwhelming our support team, we’ve had to begin bouncing emails from these users.
We didn’t click OK on the box. Why should we? We certainly don’t think it’s cool that they’re asking us to choose between a plugin and receiving technical support for our account.
When I asked Karp about this and told him that I find ‘missing-e’ to be a useful product that enhances my experience with Tumblr, he told me that people using the extension assume that the issues that creep up are not from the extension but are caused by Tumblr, adding unnecessary burden to their support staff. According to Karp, the ‘missing-e’ is one of many extensions, and not even the most popular one, that Tumblr is forced to support.From Anthony De Rosa’s piece on/interview with David Karp and Tumblr. Question to Karp and Tumblr: If it’s a support issue first, why not just have Jeremy Cutler emphasize that the burden’s on him to support Missing e? Why chop off the entire arm when it appears a scratch is the problem? A disappointing take. (The piece covers other things as well, BTW.)
Daily Dot | Tumblr members calling for silent protest:
More than 10,000 Tumblr users—and counting—are hoping that Saturday will be one quiet day on Tumblr.
That’s when they plan a day of silence to protest protest recent feature changes on the popular blogging site.
The event, “Tumblr Blackout Day,” begins at 12 AM in each user’s respective time zone and lasts 24 hours.
…
The Chicago blogger told the Daily Dot that (she) called for the event to protest Tumblr’s banishment (at least temporarily) of popular Tumblr extension, Missing E.
Huh. I just don’t know.
Note: I have not been involved in this protest in any way. I do not endorse it, nor support it. I am not voicing any opinion against the action, either.
Support Missing E, don’t understand how this will actually have an effect. Also, if they want to have an actual effect, do it on a weekday. We find things slow down on weekends.
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
We e-mailed Tumblr staff asking for official comment on the Missing e situation. Within five minutes, this is what we got back.
It’s a bit generic, but it’s a response. (If you need to catch up to the story, click the link above.) What do you guys think?