If there was competition for clients and servers you’d see bugs get fixed and a long-term trajectory for improvements.
I want to hear that your platform is financially sustainable whether or not there are ads. If there is one reason Twitter failed it is because it never found a profitable model for serving customers and had the most value to one individual who thought he could ‘own the libs’ and win every flame war if he owned the platform.
First I heard of this. I was reluctant to use Tumblr after the NSFW permabanning fiasco that happened not so long ago. Some people claiming their 'erotica' was art and shouldn't be censored. But then what if Tumblr decides it can arbitrarily ban other forms of art? See the slippery slope situation here?