this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2026
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Maybe some of its users will join the Fediverse? But where should they go, I don't think there's a federated Tumblr clone.

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[–] celeste@kbin.earth 12 points 12 hours ago

Yeah, the last thing I remember about pillowfort is their security issues, and I hang out on Tumblr (a space it was designed as an alternative for). People weren't recommending it anymore after that, like they used to.

I tried it out before then, but it didn't hit for me. I've tried a million alternate ljs and tumblrs, so that says nothing about its quality. If you go on social media and no one wants to talk with you about what you want to talk about, it seems like a waste of time and effort.

It's a shame when independent projects like this close down, but if not enough people stepped up to help when help was needed, burnout was inevitable, and burnout can only be ignored for so long. Better to close it down like this than in a more dramatic way.

The type of people who went on pillowfort might actually be interested in fediverse alternatives. They'll reconnect on dreamwidth, probably, and post where they can be found. If Wafrn has what pillowfort users want and, more importantly, if their friends from there want to try it out with them, it could be a healthy boost of furries, lady fandom nerds, and lgbt+ people to the fediverse.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 7 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Lack of funds, essentially. For all we hate corporatised Internet services, we really suck at funding alternatives.

This is an ongoing problem, we need to figure out a way to make these services sustainable. The donation model obviously isn't cutting it.

[–] kazerniel@quokk.au 4 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Paid supporter membership? Something like, you get a snazzy badge next to your username if you send them 2 EUR a month?

[–] architect@thelemmy.club 2 points 10 hours ago

Most people will buy a Starbucks everyday then scoff at paying for a service they use daily.

[–] AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 hours ago

Don't have any sources, but I feel like I've seen that model before and it doesn't seem to have worked so far for most people.

[–] panos@catodon.rocks 28 points 16 hours ago (4 children)

I have not used it, but wafrn is supposed to be a federated tumblr alternative.

[–] squirrel@cake.kobel.fyi 24 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Wafrn is wild. I don't use it regularly, but everytime I go there, there are walls of custom emoji reactions, individuals who post wild stuff I don't understand and hundreds reacting to it with custom emojis that I don't know the meaning of. I love it.

[–] zloubida@sh.itjust.works 9 points 14 hours ago

That was my experience with Pillowfort. It seemed to be a fun club to be a part of, but God did I feel out of touch, I was soooo lost.

[–] Infrapink@thebrainbin.org 7 points 14 hours ago (1 children)
[–] panos@catodon.rocks 0 points 13 hours ago

I never heard of those to be described as close to Tumblr. If we're suggesting nice fedi platforms in general, I would suggest Catodon, which I maintain 😁

[–] zloubida@sh.itjust.works 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I'm trying Wafrn since you sent your message and it's not like Pillowfort, or I missed something important. It feels like an enhanced Mastodon more than anything else.

[–] panos@catodon.rocks 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I don't know what to tell you, I never used any of those, but Wafrn is the one Fediverse platform that I know that presents itself as "Tumblr-inspired". Don't know if there are others, but this one's the most popular for sure. It also connects with Bluesky.

[–] zloubida@sh.itjust.works 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I never used Tumblr so it may not be a Tumblr part that's missing 😅. If I could describe it with things I know it's more like the child of Mastodon and Lemmy. You have communities (but without votes), tags, and personal timelines.

[–] panos@catodon.rocks 3 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

lol, I said this kinda jokingly in another comment, but you may actually want to try Catodon (disclaimer: I'm the maintainer), "the child of Mastodon and Lemmy" sounds pretty close to what we're doing (among others)

[–] zloubida@sh.itjust.works 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)
[–] panos@catodon.rocks 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

we're also always open to suggestions, so if there's any particular feature from Pillowfort that you're missing, we'd seriously consider it, if it fits our direction. In any case I'd love to hear your feedback if you get around to trying it.

[–] zloubida@catodon.rocks 2 points 11 hours ago

I wasn't a heavy user of Pillowfort (like I said I didn't blend in even if I thought it cool). But if I think about something I'll say it!

[–] zak@blog.goodanser.com 10 points 12 hours ago

I have not used Tumblr, but I am replying here from my self-hosted Wafrn.

That may be a different experience from joining a Wafrn instance where people imported norms from Tumblr. Most of my follows and followers are probably on Mastodon. The selling point for me is that it speaks both ActivityPub and ATProto so it can also interact with BlueSky accounts directly instead of through a relay.

@zloubida@sh.itjust.works @panos@catodon.rocks @fediverse@lemmy.world

[–] JupiterRowland@sh.itjust.works 5 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

I bet that next to nobody on Pillowfort has ever heard of the Fediverse, and that absolutely nobody has ever heard of anything else in the Fediverse than Mastodon.

[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 19 points 15 hours ago

I feel like people who are already using an 'alternate' site are more likely to have heard of other ones.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 1 points 15 hours ago

You're basing this assessment on what?