Tumblr has officially retired “Tips,” an opt-in feature that allowed creators to receive one-time payments from their followers.
Starting today, the tip icon will automatically disappear from all posts and blogs where the feature is enabled. Creators using this feature should note that June 15 is the last day to withdraw money received from tips.
The reason for disabling the feature is simple: it wasn't gaining traction. According to a report written by the company last month: “Tips have not seen the usage we had hoped.” Additionally, since last year's reorganization, Tumblr's plan has been to put an end to things that aren't performing well.
“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 colleagues, and we're sorry to deprive you of this,” the company added.
In 2022, Tumblr introduced Tips to complement Post+, the subscription offering that allowed creators to put content behind a paywall. However, Post+ was shut down last year due to user backlash. It seems that users were tired of their favorite platform trying to monetize it, so it's not surprising that the platform's attempt to use Tips didn't work out.
As for other monetization features, Tumblr still has its Supporter badge, which costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year and can be displayed just like any other on their blog license Plate. Company explained on its website that the “shiner and Shiner” supporter badge will appear as time passes and the user continues to support the platform.
