#^^' i turned off all of my extensions for this so that shouldnt be scuffing anything up here

[eclysia]

Hello, hi. I'm not usually one to add onto posts like this, but when I see blatant misinformation being spread around, I do my best to combat it.

I created a new burner account and it does indeed seem like you are forced to follow tags and users. The bottom left guides me to do so, but...

Fuck that noise.

Clicking the 'tumblr' in the upper left corner takes me to an empty dashboard. And if I go to blog settings here..

Look at that! I'm a Bulbasaur now!

So while the new account creation is quite intrusive and heavily encourages you to follow tags and people, you are in no way obstructed from changing your blog's appearance.

However, I am a Tumblr veteran; testing this came somewhat easily to me. I can see how new users would come to believe that they are in fact forced to take part in following before changing any of their stuff.

In short; NO, tumblr is NOT forcing new users to follow new people and tags, but the workaround for it is EXTREMELY UNFRIENDLY for new users.

For new people, try making a post on your blog before following others! (Or quite soon after you do.) Even a single 'hi' is enough to let people know that you're real and prevent you from being blocked.

Edit: This is relevant to desktop only! I'm unsure about making a new mobile account.

fun fact!! it turns out that now when u make a new blog, tumblr forces you to follow 3-4 people before you can change your icon or modify your blog in any way!! this, of course, means that, yes, some of the "potential bots" many of us have been automatically blocking could have possibly been genuine new users who were only just seconds in to having an account!!! tumblr is literally screwing new users over!!!!