Why and How Tumblr’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Can Make You Smile?

There are many things to like about Tumblr’s terms of service and privacy policy, one of which is how the site helpfully included annotations to help readers understand all the legal jargon.

Another thing to like is how Tumblr was able to inject some humor in some parts of its terms and policies.

Humorous Snippets in Tumblr TOS and Privacy Policy

Saying things like:

“Yahoo! owns us and we share”,

“Google search and the far superior Yahoo! search”,

“should we get acquired (again!)”,

or

“if we dissolve (no way)”

can certainly make you grin or smile in amusement, at the very least.

And this is why it’s not all that boring to read through all this stuff even if it is really quite long.

Tumblr Terms and Policies Are Easy to Understand

A lot of these terms and policies are also pretty easy enough to understand even without all the annotations, which is just as well since Tumblr’s minimum age requirement is 13.

So it’s good to see that this microblogging platform actually cares enough to make sure that all its potential users, no matter how young, will be able to easily understand and comprehend all these legal stuff as well as all their rules and guidelines.

Many parts of these terms and policies have been written in a friendly manner. You can really feel or hear the nice and friendly tone of voice, and it’s like having a conversation with someone who might not be your close friend, but who you wouldn’t mind listening to because of the friendly tone injected with the occasional fun humor.

Your Thoughts and Opinions

So, what about you? What do you think about this? Do you like the fun and humorous way that Tumblr wrote its terms of service and privacy policy? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.

Note: info mentioned on this post was true when it was written, but Tumblr’s terms and policies are subject to change without notice, so the info presented herein may no longer apply should Tumblr decide to change its legal info.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by clasesdeperiodismo (CC:BY-SA) from flickr
- This was previously published elsewhere

How and Why Tumblr's Terms and Policies Can Make You Feel Welcome?

Okay, it’s been established (in another post anyway) - one of the things that makes Tumblr’s terms of service and privacy policy cool and likable is how it makes use of annotations to help readers understand all the legalese and legal jargon.

But, guess what? That’s not the only thing to like about Tumblr’s terms and policies. Another thing that makes all these stuff pretty awesome is the tone of voice that the site uses in order to explain everything to its users.

The tone of voice in the way Tumblr has written its terms, rules, guidelines, etc, comes across as quite friendly and many parts of these pages even have a humorous tilt or angle to it, all of which can make your smile or grin in amusement, at the very least.

For example, in the privacy policy page, you can find gems like:

"Should we happen to get acquired (again!) or go out of business (no way)"

or

"like Google Search, or the far superior Yahoo Search"

This one about Google and the others like it are extra amusing, not just because Yahoo! owns Tumblr, but also because Tumblr’s Blog Customization page includes a section on Google Analytics and how it can be used on a Tumblr blog.

In their account security page, they even recommend the Google authenticator app to be used for their 2-factor authentication feature.

Seeing things like this really makes reading all these legal stuff less of a troublesome chore. The friendly tone of voice and the humorous parts of these papers really help to prevent you from being bored to death.

And it can even make you feel welcome as this serves to paint Tumblr into a nice, friendly, and welcoming community.

Your Thoughts and Opinions

What about you? What do you think about all this? Feel free and welcome to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.

*Notes:
- Image is by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published elsewhere on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 11:39 AM

How Tumblr Is Different From Other Sites Based on Its Terms and Policies?

Why would I even be reading Tumblr’s (social networking site and microblogging platform) terms of service, privacy policies, guidelines, rules, and other such information anyway? Sounds like such a boring chore, huh?

Actually, it’s not that bad. But let’s start with the first question. Tumblr seemed interesting enough to me, so I considered starting a blog on Tumblr.

(Update: I've started several blogs on Tumblr and have even made some themes)

Of course, before I registered or signed up, I first wanted to know all about its TOS, policies, rules, etc, so I know what I’m agreeing to and what to expect and what will be happening.

I thought reading all this would be like reading most of the usual terms and policies wherein everything would be full of legal jargon and it would take a while before you can finish reading all of them.

Why? Because, not only will these stuff be horrendously long, it will also be utterly boring and you’ll definitely be needing a break every now and then (because who can read all this in one sitting, right?).

It’s different with Tumblr though, and it’s a good kind of different. Of course, it still took me a while to read all those stuff because there’s a lot, and I've other things to do and take care of.

But reading all those terms and rules didn’t really feel like a chore at all, and it wasn’t all that boring either.

*Notes:
- Image is by tsukkaomi (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published elsewhere on Friday, December 2, 2016 at 11:37 AM

Why Reading Tumblr's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Isn't Such a Boring Chore?

A website's (as well as programs, software, services, etc) terms of service and privacy policy is usually long, boring, and difficult to understand with all the legal jargon, so it's such a chore to read.

So when I find sites that have readable TOS and that actually make an effort to make all the legal stuff interesting and easy for their users to understand, I write about it.

How come reading all about Tumblr’s (microblogging platform and social networking site) terms of service or terms of use, privacy policy, rules, guidelines, etc isn’t such a boring chore?

What makes it so different from the usual terms and policies that you can see on other sites, programs or services?

Well, for starters, Tumblr’s terms of service and privacy policy actually have annotations.

These annotations make it easier for people to understand all the legal jargon and the like because the key points that you need to know are summarized in a way that doesn’t bore everyone to death.

This really makes it seem like Tumblr cares about its users and potential users and that it wants to make sure that everyone can easily understand all these agreements and policies and rules.

This makes them vastly different from many other sites who just list everything in a drab, boring, and dull manner and who can really come across as uncaring especially with how these websites don’t seem to care even if their users don’t understand a single word of what their TOS or policies say.

This perception is reinforced by how these sites seem to have no qualms using long and complicated words and legal jargon. Actually, Tumblr uses those kinds of words too, but it makes up for it by providing annotations.

*Notes:
- Image is by sayuko (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published elsewhere on Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 11:35 AM

Why You Want To Read A Site Or Program's Terms Of Service And Privacy Policy?

Who else does this? Does what and reads what stuff, you ask? What am I talking about now? Well, I’m referring to reading a website’s terms of service, terms of use, privacy policies, rules, guidelines, FAQs, and all the other information that a site provides or makes available for all of its users or potential users.

All the legalities or the legal stuff filled with legal jargon is really boring and a lot of these are such a chore to read. Seriously, it seems like a lot of the sites or even software and programs seem to really not want anyone, including their customers and consumers or users, to read their terms and policies, especially when you consider how all these can be really complicated and difficult to understand.

And I’d really rather not read them, but I still take the time to read them all anyway. Eh, I dunno; it’s just how I am, I guess. I want to know what I'm signing up for, exactly what I’m agreeing to, etc. So I really take the time to explore the website before even going to the registration page.

And it does take time especially if a site decides to be long-winded and have what seems to be pages and pages of terms and rules; it takes even longer if a site is extra boring about these things and decides to use all these complicated legal jargon seemingly at every turn.

What takes me even longer is how I like to take a break because there’s no way I’m reading all this in one sitting (shudder); I don’t even want to think about that. So, what about you? What do you think? Do you do the same?

Here are some of the comments from this article, back when it used to be posted elsewhere:

MegL wrote on August 4, 2014, 4:37 PM:
I read the licence terms before downloading or installing software. I like to know whose life I am signing away!

FreyaYuki replied to MegL on August 5, 2014, 4:10 PM:
Yes, I read those too even if they're really long and boring. One of the worse is how some of those license terms are listed in huge blocks of text, so it's even harder to read.

LoudMan wrote on August 4, 2014, 6:37 PM:
I read it. But then again, I'm nuts. And thank you for this submission to the contest.

FreyaYuki replied to LoudMan on August 5, 2014, 4:20 PM:
You're welcome 😃. I don't think anyone who reads all these terms, policies, rules, etc should be classified as 'nuts'. After all, it is important to know these things so one knows exactly what they're agreeing to, how their information or data will be collected and what it will be used for, etc.

paigea wrote on August 4, 2014, 10:48 PM:
I read all that. Now, do I remember it? That is another question!

FreyaYuki replied to paigea on August 5, 2014, 4:40 PM:
😃 Good question. Since many sites have such long terms and policies, sometimes, it can be hard to remember all of the information. It's too bad these sites just can't make it easier for their users.

BarbRad wrote on August 4, 2014, 11:30 PM:
Yes, I read them. Sometimes they are so scary I'm not sure I should sign up. It seems like most of them say close to the same thing. They all want the right to do whatever they want with your work, but you still have the copyright.

FreyaYuki replied to BarbRad on August 5, 2014, 4:52 PM:
There are some terms and policies that can seem quite daunting with how long they are and how complicated they appear to be since they're all full of legal jargon. I noticed that the part of the terms that end up being mostly the same even for different sites is regarding the disclaimers and liabilities part.

For writing sites, yeah, they do want the right to be able to display your content on their site, but you still retain all the copyrights to it, which is how it should be. I wouldn't want to write for a site that would acquire the copyrights to your articles unless they actually paid you upfront for it.

*Notes:
- Image is by kaboompics (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- This was previously published on Persona Paper on August 4, 2014, 3:56 PM