Tumblr has officially discontinued “Tips,” a feature that allowed creators to receive one-time payments from their followers.
Starting today, the tipping icon has been automatically removed from all posts and blogs that had this feature enabled. Creators who used this feature should be aware that June 15 is the final day to withdraw any funds received from tips.
The primary reason for the shutdown is clear: the feature did not gain the expected traction. According to a post by the company last month, “Tipping hasn’t seen the usage we’d hoped for.” Additionally, Tumblr has been planning since last year’s reorganization to eliminate underperforming features.
“While this will affect a very small number of you, we know that those of you who do Tip do so with great admiration for your Tumblr peers, and we’re sorry to be taking this away from you,” the company stated.
In 2022, Tumblr launched Tips as a complementary feature to Post+, a subscription service that allowed creators to put content behind a paywall. However, Post+ was discontinued last year due to user backlash. It appears that users were unhappy with their favorite platform’s monetization efforts, so it’s not surprising that Tips also failed.
Regarding other monetization options, Tumblr still offers the Supporter badge, costing $2.99/month or $29.99/year, which can be displayed on a user’s blog like any other badge. The company explains on its website that this badge will become “shinier and shinier” the longer a user continues to support the platform.
