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  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 14, age appropriate for kids over 16; suggested age 15.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Gives blogging a shot in the arm with mixed-media postings.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 15–16

The good stuff

  • Educational value:

    Programmers can jazz up the looks of their blogs by editing the HTML code generated by Tumblr's canned themes.
 

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Heavy on snark and pop culture.

  • Violence:

    Not an issue.

  • Sex:

    Tumblr prohibits "obscene, pornographic, abusive, indecent" behavior and members younger than 18, but full frontal female nudity - and high schoolers - can be found by poking around a bit.

     

  • Language:

    Watch out for pottymouth including s**t and the F bomb.

  • Consumerism:

    Refreshingly ad free.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Sometimes depicted or mentioned in passing; a recent photo of coke lines is pretty typical.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Tumblr

Parents need to know that this online hangout is hip and creative but too raunchy for tykes. Privacy is available only via an awkward workaround: the first profile a member creates is public, viewable by anyone on the Internet. Members desiring full privacy must create a second profile, which they can restrict to friends. (By contrast, a Facebook or MySpace profile can be locked by simply checking off a box.)

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can discuss the wisdom of older teens joining a site like Tumblr, which seems to have been created largely by and for twenty-somethings. The content is by turns refreshing, juvenile, inscrutable, and sexually provocative, with female members matching the guys innuendo for innuendo. Note: Tumblr promotes heavy mobile posting so parents who still pay cell phone bills might need to monitor usage.
Tools and tips that can help

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