Pillowfort

Pillowfort is a small social media/blogging platform founded in 2016 by Julia Baritz. It was originally known as Pillowfort.io, but changed to Pillowfort.social because the .io domain does not permit any form of NSFW content. However, it is still common for users to refer to the site as pfio, a shortened form of the original URL.
In July 2024, Pillowfort had more than 180,400 registered users and more than 10,200 Communities.July 2024 Community Update, Pillowfort. Published July 17, 2024 (Accessed July 17, 2024). 
The site is still undergoing development, and sign-ups are invitation-only, with invitations acquired by joining a waitlist in a similar system to Archive of Our Own. However, this waitlist may be skipped with a purchase of $5, or with a free invite given by an existing member. The site is user-funded and does not contain advertisements.
As described by the developers:
The site has an official and as well as a page on Known Issues. Since April 2019, Staff has also been releasing Community Updates about recent changes and developments on the site.
==History==
According to PretzelSpaceship's Abridged History of Pillowfort Alpha & Beta, Pillowfort was first announced on Tumblr in 2015.First announcement at pillowfort-social.tumblr.com An Indiegogo campaign for the beta was launched in 2016 and successfully funded. 
Pillowfort's beta launched on an invitation-only basis, and initially, invites were released in limited batches, dubbed "waves," to those who signed up for the waitlist. The first wave of invites was released in February 2017,1st Beta Wave: And we’re live!! the second in Setempber 2017, 2nd Beta Wave: First batch of invites are out!, the third in February 20173rd Beta Wave: The first invitation emails are going out!, and the fourth in May 2018 4th Beta Wave. 
In July 2018, Pillowfort launched a Kickstarter campaign that included invites as a backer reward.Kickstarter Launch! As of December 17, 2018, the Kickstarter campaign had raised $57,045 out of a $39,900 goal with the help of 4,476 backers. The Kickstarter reward invites, or the 5th Beta Wave, were sent out in September 2018.5th Beta Wave: Invites! Since then, the site began sending out individual invites for a small donation, independently of the Kickstart. For a $5 payment through PayPal, donors would get an account invite on the Friday of their donation week.
Those unhappy with the service, soon after registering, were given their five dollars back upon closing their account.
According to Wired Magazine: 
December 2018 was the beginning of the Tumblr purge, a disrupting factor that caused some fans to look for other fannish platforms and thus benefited Pillowfort greatly in terms of visibility, membership and activity. 
By January 2019, the site had just under 40,000 registered users.What’s Coming Up For Pillowfort?, January 14, 2019. Site registrations were reopened on March 28, 2019, still for a $5 fee.Registrations!
Up until April, Pillowfort had been hosted on the .IO domain. Eventually it was discovered that the domain's policies, which state "No .IO domain may be used, directly or indirectly, for any purpose that is sexual or pornographic,"NIC.IO allocation rules conflicted with Pillowfort's policies on NSFW content. For this reason, changing domains was imperative. The site was moved from Pillowfort.io to the Pillowfort.social domain at the end of April 2019.
On January 26, 2021 the site was taken offline to prepare for their public launch. But it was down for some time, as there were security exploits found.Company Update, January 26, 2021. The site reopened on April 29, 2021. Staff Update April 29, 2021. 
On November 3, 2023, Pillowfort Staff initiated an emergency fundraiser for the site and posted a letter from Julia Baritz that revealed "in danger of exhausting all current finances in the next six months if we continue the current funding/spending trajectory". The fundraiser set a goal of $25,000 by December 31, 2023, which would cover the site's year-to-date losses and remaining projected expenses for 2023. In a later update, Staff shared that the end-of-year fundraiser had provided enough funds to keep the site online until at least July 2024, and that each month that Pillowfort met its monthly goal for funding in 2024 would keep Pillowfort online for an additional month beyond this. This has led to a community tradition of fundraising initiatives (particularly if the fundraising trajectory for the month seems to be falling below par) - for example, a fundraiser themed around stabbing Caesar in honour of the Ides of March.
On February 9, 2024, Pillowfort's Terms Of Service were updated to ban AI-generated images.Generative AI Policy (February 9, 2024)
Pillowfort saw multiple Tumblr migration waves in late 2023 and throughout 2024 due to various developments on Tumblr: the announcement that Tumblr would be transitioning to a skeleton staff; the news that Automattic had struck a deal to provide user data for training Large Language Models; severely transphobic actions by Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg; and ongoing anti-trans attitudes by Tumblr leadership.Ok I'm gonna reiterate something someone else posted for my fellow Tumblr refugees here... by coldpapernightmare, Pillowfort. Published February 24, 2024. (Accessed July 2, 2024).Hello tumblr escapees by ArtisanCris, Pillowfort. Published February 25, 2024 (Accessed July 2, 2024).Calling to all Pillowfort users by c-t-, Pillowfort. Published February 27, 2024 (Accessed July 2, 2024).
==Decisions and Controversy About Content==
In July 2018, a fan emailed Pillowfort staff, asking if fanworks or "problematic" content were allowed on the site.
Staff's reply:
On December 10, 2018, Pillowfort clarified that art depicting rape, incest and abuse was allowed on the site, but that loli and related genres were not.
This was a controversial decision that sparked discussion on Pillowfort and other sites.
* Writscrib was another proposed Tumblr alternative. See fan comments regarding vague and unsatisfactory statements from Pillowfort's staff. (August 2018)
* , official post at Pillowfort (December 10, 2018)
* (December 11, 2018)
* (link roundup) by kalloway archive link. (December 11, 2018)
* by fiction-is-not-reality2 plus (December 11, 2018)
* (December 14, 2018)
==The Tumblr Purge and Pillowfort==
Those considering a Tumblr alternative at this time (due to the Tumblr Exodus) began discussing Pillowfort as a potential option, and the idea spread through word of mouth as well as through various publications, such as Newsweek, that covered Tumblr's new policy. Pillowfort received a huge influx of users and the servers began suffering under the load. For this reason, Pillowfort suspended new account creation temporarily in early December. Pillowfort Twitter Account, December 7, 2018. 
In response to this latest wave of new users, existing Pillowfort users began circulating various help documents, explaining the differences in the site to new users accustomed to other social media accounts.Pillowfort is not Tumblr Redux: 3 tips on the transition from dash to feed, December 5, 2018.Pillowfort 101, December 19, 2018.Tumblr/PF/LJ/site culture: what's your experience?, December 7, 2018.
===Pillowfort as an Alternative to Other Platforms===
On December 11, 2018, a fan wrote a long message to fans encouraging them to join Pillowfort. They reminded fans of Strikethrough and the recent decisions at Tumblr: 
==2018 Descriptions and Promotion==
==User Control and Privacy Features==
 
Pillowfort is a blogging platform that includes features similar to both LiveJournal and Tumblr. An official Staff post entitled Pillowfort 101: Meet Your Blog explains the basics of the site and its menus. A left sidebar contains buttons for the Follower/Following/Mutual followers pages, Mail inbox, Notifications page (originally "Replies"), and Settings. Below that are links to Make a New Post, Filters & Blacklist, Communities, Blocked Users, About & Contact, and Search.
===Posts===
When creating a new post, the posting interface offers five post types: Text, Image, Video, Link, and Audio. Although video and audio posts rely on embedding from outside sources, Pillowfort does offer native image hosting.
When posts are created, they can be marked viewable by one of four options: "everyone," "only my followers," "only my mutuals," or "only me." 
The posting interface also contains three special toggle buttons: Rebloggable, Commentable, and NSFW. The first two allow users to turn off the reblog and comment options, respectively, on an individual post. The last marks a post as NSFW, which means that it will not be displayed to users who have chosen to filter out NSFW posts. The site has specific rules on what counts as NSFW and failing to use the toggle is a reportable offense.
Comments may be deleted by OP.
===Blocking & Blacklisting===
Blocking a user on Pillowfort makes two users mutually unviewable to each other. They cannot see each other's blogs, each other's posts, or each other's comments. Posts by a blocked user will not appear on the feed, even if a followed user reblogs from the blocked user or they are members of the same community. Comments by blocked individuals on other posts will appear blank, but threaded replies by nonblocked users are visible.
Blacklisting a word or phrase prevents a post from being displayed. For this feature, users have two options: they can blacklist a term within tags only or within a post's body text as well.
===Communities===
On Pillowfort, communities allow users to make posts outside of their own blog. Users have the ability to watch a community, which causes all posts to show up in their feed. Communities are often centered around fandom, other hobbies, general socializing or other topics.
In addition to posts, communities also have a separate area for "discussions," which are more like forum threads than posts and cannot be reblogged.
From the FAQ in December 2018: 
===Reblogging===
The reblog feature is a major distinguishing feature of the site. Unlike on tumblr, it is not possible to post onto another post. Instead, responses may be written in the comments or in another post with links. Also unlike tumblr, all reblogs are directly mirrored. If the creator decides to edit or delete the post, all reblog-copies are affected accordingly. When a post is edited, the bottom will display small text which says "last edited at (time and date)". This is one of the most popular features on pillowfort, though fans more accustomed to tumblr sometimes disliked it. Proponents say it allows original posters to have privacy and control over their posts. It also ensures that reblogs are up to date.
Onsite, some users have criticized this system or requested that a reblog-additions feature be added.deleting reblogsPillowfort Feature Requests Other users have defended the reblog system as it is and pointed out the drawbacks of changing it.In Defense of the Pillowfort Reblog Systempfio's reblog & comment structure 
In early August 2018, a fan asked Pillowfort about the proposed policy of content deletion by fans themselves:
Some fan comments about this policy:
On December 19, 2018, user osteophage made a post titled "In Defense of the Pillowfort Reblog System".
Responses to osteophage's post:
==Fandoms==
The first fandom with a significant presence on the site was Check Please, as creator Ngozi Ukazu was an early beta user and supporter of the site. 
As of December 2019, the largest fandom communities are Pokemon (2679 members), Dungeons and Dragons (1768 members) and Femslash (1684 members). There is also a FandomOlds community with 1448 members for fans in their late twenties and older.
Other large fandom communities include Dragon Age (1574 members), Marvel (1552 members), Overwatch (1483 members), Kingdom Hearts (1286 members), Fanfiction (1253 members), Star Trek (1237 members) and Yuri on Ice (1196 members.)
"Blanket boxes" are "a series of prompts and questions to help build your Fort" and may be fan-related.
==Some Fan Discussions on Pillowfort==
===2017===
* by Staff (first posted 3 February 2017, had 277 comments as of December 2018, last updated 26 September 2019)
===2018===
* by kirdneh ("Calling them forts make them feel a lot more like a personalized structure where we can have our things neatly arranged, and the community feels a lot "softer" (ha, pillows) than other websites so I think it would be fun. Also, welcoming people to your fort feels a lot cooler.") (February)
* Flow of Communication; or, The Purpose of Reblogging by Magess (July)
* To the Pillowfort Users: Can I just say something real quick? by PureSugarKane ("Guys, can we all agree to just... Not be terrible?") (December)
* Missing the Marginalised Megaphone; archive link by touretticflower ("A big part of tumblr's appeal was the way it allowed marginalised voices to be boosted so far throughout the site. It allowed us to witness intra-community discussions we would not otherwise have been able to without intruding or derailing.") (December)
* by Nepeta ("Everyone seems to come to pillowfort with their own ideas of what it should be.") (December)
* by airgiodslv (December)
* by Maracuya ("The Long Term: In order to build sustainable revenue, Pillowfort cannot rely solely on crowdfunding. Staff at Pillowfort is also adverse to receiving funding from outside investors and sponsors because we want to maintain total creative control over the site. Because of this, we're drafting a business plan that looks at two sources of funding:") (December)
* by youkaiyume ("Hey Pillowfort @staff! I've been thinking a lot about this site's decision to not make reblog additions to posts. I know that it's a measure put in to prevent the original author's post from getting hijacked and giving the OP more control. But the thing that I loved about tumblr is this very feature. Some of the best essays, meta, creativity like fanfics and art, and memes have come out of reblog additions. I think restricting feedback to only the comments where it can be potentially buried, forgotten, or unseen feels almost a waste.") (December)
* by ask-Talon ("I would HIGHLY recommend not to even IMPLEMENT autoplay, and, if anything, give the option to activate it to the logged-in users only, should they actually prefer to have tunes to go off in their ears automatically. I find it really important to no have music choices of blog runners be FORCED onto their visitors. Not just for the sake of saving nerves, since it can be so annoying, but also because some music is full of triggers and some people have PTSD, panic disorders and similar health issues.") (December)
* by DoubleZwei ("So... with Tumblr spiritually dying tomorrow, I'm feeling quite bummed.... People will compare Tumblr to a cancer and, with time, not unlike Deviantart and Myspace, people will even forget what happened, what was lost and why the exode happened.") (December)
* by bellissimabella (December)
* by IlexysCrowe ("Could you please, please, please, please toggle NSFW for posts of characters that are wearing like...minimal underwear/[Edit: tiny, skin-tight] swimsuits or are just covered up, but obviously nude? I check Pillowfort at work with the NSFW toggle off, as web-surfing is allowed at my work so long as we're meeting quotas, and as much as I would like to convince my boss that there is nothing bad showing, I don't think it's going to be that easy. o-o;") (December)
* by osteophage ("Lower your expectations. I love it here, but I'm serious. Pillowfort being in beta means you shouldn't have the same expectations of it as you would have for a complete, finished product (like Tumblr is supposed to be"). (December)
* by osteophage (December)
* by osteophage (December)
* by Keigora (December)
* What is a hitching post? by osteophage (December)
* the links by vaxis (December) 
===2019===
* by Drift (January)
* by phoenyx (January)
* pillowfort etiquette by vaxis (February)
* It's so interesting to watch a 'new class' migrating to Pillowfort. by prettyarbitrary to FandomOlds (November)
* It's only until you move away from tumblr for real that you understand how utterly passive and almost disenfranchised you become as a fan by lsyanatt (September)
==Meta and Further Reading==
* by Emily Dreyfuss for "Wired Magazine" (December 7, 2018)
* by intelligentshipper (December 11, 2018)
==External Links==
* 
* Pillowfort – a potted history of fandom and the internet, looking to the future., article by Siarlot Lloyd, August 19 2018, Stand Up Magazine
* Episode 08 - Pillowfort and Hex Comix, Fanpals podcast, September 2018
* Tumblr's Displaced Porn Bloggers Test Their New Platforms, Wired Magazine, December 7, 2018.
* Pillowfort on Wikipedia
==References==
Category:Social Networking
Category:2010s
Category:Microblogs