Don’t miss a thing! New unread activity notifications
We’re making some changes to the activity view on web — starting with unread notifications that will be highlighted blue, as well as multi-colored labels to identify those who you’re closest with.
Why are we doing this?
You may have previously noticed that some activity items were highlighted, and some weren’t. What you may not know is why this was, and you’re not alone.
The previous, light blue highlighting indicated items that were from people you follow. Obvious, right? Well, no, not really. There are design patterns in interfaces that have become standardized from widespread usage to mean a certain thing. Highlighting notifications light blue is one of those that have come to mean “unseen” or “unread.” Which is what it will now mean here, too.
How do I know which are from people I follow?
Good news! We now have colorful labels to identify activity from people you follow. On top of that, we’ve created a new label called “Mutuals” to show people you follow and who follow you back so that you can keep track of those closest to you.
Before and after
Before: Blue highlighting used to signify activity from people you follow.
After: New highlight color now used on unread activity
After: Colorful new labels to distinguish activity from people you follow (following) and who follow you back (mutuals).
More to come
This is the first of several improvements we are making to activity and notifications—so stay tuned for further updates as they come!
Feedback?
Why not let us know what you think in the replies? We’d love to hear from you.
when i was a teenager it felt very revolutionary to be cruel to myself. like some kind of slow passive protest against how much everything hurt. i starved myself of sleep and food and tenderness because it felt right. it felt sharp and angry and radical and i wanted to be those things. adulthood is the realisation that the world is already working to cut into you well before you learn how to do it yourself. caring for yourself and others is the real protest
Tumblr recently made it a requirement for you to be logged in to send asks anonymously. If you receive a hateful ask, don’t publish it - report it to Tumblr. It can be traced back to the user that sent it and with enough reports that person’s account will be suspended.
Share to raise awareness but also to make the clowns who think this behaviour is acceptable think twice before acting brave behind the guise of invisibility.