So Interesting Stuff Happened Over The Weekend. I Found Out That Aaron Carter Had Been Using My Cosmic

some post: THE FOLLOWING USER IS A PEDOPHILE

me: ah what undesirable™ ship is it today

Scammer Targeting Tumblr Artists

The title says it all really. So if nothing else, please share and reblog this post to raise awareness for those that might be caught out - both artists and followers. For a TL:DR, please look at the bottom of the post

What is happening?

Right now, there is at least one person actively impersonating multiple artists across tumblr in an effort to scam their followers into paying for fake ‘cheap commissions’. The scammer will clone a tumblr, usually using a slight change to the url/account name to look like the real deal. They will then message people directly through Tumblr with messages along the lines of “Hey, i’m doing cheap commissions right now. DM me to get one”. Naturally, this is ends up just being a way to take their money without giving anything back in return.

Who does this affect?

Everyone. Simple as that. As long as the scammer in question works unopposed, they are free to spread their influence and continue to scam more people. Even if you haven’t been targeted yet, it does not mean you are safe or immune. Several artists have already fallen victim to this scammer, and I encourage any artists that have to reblog this post with the details of their affected account(s) and the ones the scammer has set up.

How can we stop this?

Tumblr, like many other social media platforms, seems to care very little about ‘minor’ occurences like this one, and despite reaching out directly to them over a week ago through multiple avenues of contact - they have refused to comment on the situation, provide a recommended response for users, or take action on behalf of those already affected. Despite this, there are still tools at our disposal that we can use to make this scam more difficult, and to increase its visibility to those within Tumblr staff that are required by policy to take action. Tumblr has the following to say on the topic of impersonation: Confusion or Impersonation. Don’t do things that would cause confusion between you or your blog and a person or company, like registering a deliberately confusing URL. Don’t impersonate anyone. While you’re free to ridicule, parody, or marvel at the alien beauty of Benedict Cumberbatch, you can’t pretend to actually be Benedict Cumberbatch. They then provide a link to this online form that you can fill out if you suspect someone’s identity is being confused. Unfortunately, this can only be filled out if you are the victim of impersonation. In other words, only the artists can fill this out legitimately. So, what about the followers and users of tumblr whom aren’t being impersonated? Our most valuable tool in this online platform is the platform itself. It enables us to spread our word near-virally across all the many sub-communities on Tumblr with remarkable efficiency for a user-driven system. We can take advantage of that effect to increase awareness of the situation. Even if you - the one reading this right now - aren’t an artist or don’t know an artist, the act of reblogging this post or sharing it directly with friends improves it’s ‘ranking’ in popularity increasing its chances to be seen by more people. We don’t need everyone on Tumblr to see the post for it to be effective, just like we don’t need the entirety of the human population of the world to be immune to a disease for that disease to be rendered ineffective or eradicated. If enough people are aware, the likelihood of pulling off a successful scam increases dramatically reducing efficiency to a point that it no longer becomes profitable to continue.

Why should I care?

It disheartens me to say this, but of the many artists I contacted directly over the past week to warn about this issue many of them refused to listen or dodged the responsibility with lines like;

“I’m not being impersonated, so it doesn’t affect me”

“I’m just one person. I can’t make an impact”

“I need to take care of my community. Other people can look after theirs”

This is honestly disappointing that so many artists or art-rebloggers care so little as to intentionally wave the responsibility of keeping their followers and fellow artists safe from this, that they cannot spare 10 seconds of their time to share an informative post. I’m not here to bash artists, but it is time that everyone takes responsibility for their own communities, and of those around them. Artists: You have a responsibility to ensure that your followers and fans aren’t being abused by someone who may impersonate you. If they succeed, your reputation will be damaged, and your followers will resent you. Your followers are also almost guaranteed to be following other artists meaning your efforts can spread beyond your own circle of influence, so don’t be naive when you think you have little effect. Followers: You have just as much responsibility to be aware of those that might try to scam you or your fellow followers. Don’t just sit in silence when you see something wrong: Ignoring the issue only makes it more resilient to our efforts to stop it. You are the vocal majority if you just use your voices to be heard!

TL:DR

A scammer is impersonating artists and scamming money from their followers under the guise of ‘cheap commissions’. If we ignore the issue, it will get worse. Every single person that reads this can afford to spend just 10 seconds to reblog and share this post. Those 10 seconds can save others from being scammed for hundreds of dollars. Reblog & Share

Look at them squiggles.

I Really Need Your Help...

I have an announcement that is….honestly difficult to talk about. You never really want to bring up things like this, especially when you are the kind of person to never ask your friends to pay for you for lunch or buy you something because you’re poor. I do commissions yeah, and wanted to raise money for my family to fix the roof, so I’m sure you’re all already tired of hearing from me, but this time, this is bigger than before. If you aren’t interested in hearing what I have to say, go on and scroll down and ignore me, but if you are interested, please continue reading. 

Keep reading

YOU ONLY KEEP ONE BULL 

(Originally published in Comics For Choice)

Very informative thread -source

romanticizing mental illness is dangerous and misleading

PSA: IF YOU LIVE IN ENGLAND PLEASE DO NOT IGNORE

Some of you may have heard about the UK Cat Killer, some sick fuck who has killed and mutilated over 300 cats and other animals such as pet rabbits and wild foxes over the past 3-4 years.

Recently there have been an influx of more killings especially around the South Eastern area, including Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, Berkshire, etc, where the animals have been mutilated and either returned to their owner or left on footpaths and sidewalks where kids regularly walk to school. School children have been finding theses horribly mutilated animals. Most recently, however, on Monday a lady’s cat was found beheaded and splayed out in a star shape beneath her bedroom window in the morning about 2 minutes away from where I live, my mum works at a vets and was visited by Scotland yard police who advised everyone who lives in the area to keep their pets in at all times if possible. Especially at night.

So, since Tumblr is so American-centric, I thought I’d write a little PSA telling people who live in the UK to please keep your pets in at night, and if possible, during the day. 

Sources of information for those who want to read more about this arsehole:

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/decapitated-cat-farnham-linked-uk-14770593

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/947716/croydon-cat-killer-targets-young-girls-pet

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5693109/The-Croydon-Cat-Killer-mutilated-400-England-started-butchering-pets.html

SNARL is a good continuous source for those who wish to follow further

This has been a PSA, thank you.

people treat bisan, motaz and plestia like they're influencers instead of, you know, people who have endured/are enduring war crimes beyond imagining and ethnic cleansing. what I mean is, they never asked to be spokesperson for their people's humanity, or planned to be so visible. they're just people, ordinary people who can never go home, who are surviving colonial violence. what they're doing and what they have done defies any term of admiration or respect I could apply. But I wish that people would stop thinking of these individual Palestinians trying to survive in war zones like celebrities or politicians with actual power because it's just another form of dehumanisation. Ask yourself, what will you do if something happens to Bisan? If she is killed or goes dark or inshallah she escapes? Everyday I see posts like, "if Bisan dies, I'll riot!" riot NOW. speak up, now! Palestinians and Lebanese and Syrian people who aren't going viral on social media are being murdered by the occupation in the 100s everyday. I am begging people to stop hingeing their faith in the free Palestine movement and the movement to end the Zionist occupation on individuals. I love Bisan and Motaz and Plestia with all my heart and pray for them every day, but I'm begging people not to reframe Palestinian liberation through individualism. Support BDS, donate to UNRWA or the Red Crescent Society, listen to Palestinians across Palestine and the diaspora. Your belief in the freedom of Indigenous peoples has to transcend the ones most visible and palatable to you.

Raindove is still fundraising to get as many people out of Rafah as quickly as possible while the tanks are encroaching on Rafah. The terrorist zionist forces are going to try to do as much damage as possible. They're about 3k away from their initial goal. They don't have much more time. They've already done so much to help Ghazzawiyeh, they can do more with your help.