And you cannot be seen as ‘online’ or ‘offline’, there is no ‘seen @ -insert time here-, No ‘USERNAME is typing…” So there is still privacy, which is good! No chats can be on anon, and you can block and delete conversations too. 

It looks less like an “instant messenger” to me than a cosmetic redo of the fanmail system, taking it out of the inbox and onto the desktop. Where conversations are tracked, so you have a record of what you sent, just like we’ve always wanted. I rather like it. :)

I mean, some people might feel pressured to have real-time conversations, but that pressure already existed with the current inbox. But if you have a message, once you click on the bubble, the notification goes away. You can reply at any speed you want, or not at all. And yes, making it so it’s only mutuals that can message you, and the ability to block right there (because spammers will love it, sigh) are excellent options.

Plus, if you do feel like having a realtime convo, it’s a lot easier to use (and much better formatted) than fanmail. This is actually a surprisingly good job from tumblr. If only they’d been more clearer from the outset that it’s not a replacement for post replies, oh tumblr.

(BTW, if any followers need to be infected with the messaging ability, let me know. Though apparently there’s a limit of 50 per day mind you.)