Got an email to fill out a survey on the concept of tumblr Premium and related features, and while I’m assuming that I’m not supposed to talk about it too specifically in case some things mentioned in the survey aren’t fully implemented, the features listed as possibilities sound pretty solid. Limit increases, monthly benefits (both for the user and as gifts for others), special badges and decorations, etc.
There were no features listed that are already available for free, so they’re genuinely looking at offering new features for paid users rather than following in Xitter’s footsteps and locking existing features behind a paywall. Likewise, nothing listed would be obtrusive to the current tumblr experience or unfairly favor a paid user over a free user any more than dropping a few bucks on a Blaze already “favors” the person being Blazed. (Which is up for debate, since that whole feature is literally “LOOK AT MY POST, BOY” and is one of the most tumblr things that tumblr has ever done.)
I was extremely leery going into the survey, because “premium” features these days are generally not premium at all, but I’m feeling very positive about the upcoming features now. Overall—and I say this as someone who has worked in webdev and digital marketing, used to pay for icons on LiveJournal for multiple RP accounts, currently pays for ad-free here, and has been doing beta testing for so long I once had the personal email addresses of both the founders of deviantART—it sounds genuinely good! Nothing anyone can’t live without, but a good number of fun things that would actually be of interest to the tumblr userbase.
Now I’m just waiting to see how many of the features floated in the survey wind up in the final package, and how much that package is going to cost.