Photo Courtesy of The Wub- Wikimedia Commons
Tumblr is a platform that is different from most social media. It has an authenticity rarely seen upon the internet. In the current age, we hope they can keep it up.
Iconic, messy, and expressive. These are some of the words to describe the popular social media platform Tumblr. Tumblr is widely recognized as a space for alternative subcultures, niche interests, and stigmatized groups. With huge popularity in the 2010s, it is littered with memes and pop culture references. Tumblr, to put it simply, is a hit! In a world dominated by other social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, it can be hard to understand why Tumblr has the engagement it does. What draws people into it, and why do teenagers feel more drawn to it than other apps? This article will tell you why!
First, Tumblr is authentic. Most apps like Instagram and TikTok have a polished, oversaturated, and busy look, with advertisements or artificial intelligence content. However, Tumblr’s content feels “messier, more expressive, and less transactional,” which was noted by the Pepper Agency. This particular visual and technical style was preferred because posts lean toward a scrapbook aesthetic, embracing more grainy photo textures, harsh flash photography, and visible edits rather than highly defined studio polish.
One of the most identifiable features Tumblr has is its HTML/CSS customization, which allows a user to go into the code of their own page, and customize their blog, making it as unique as they would like. This is reminiscent of 2000s web culture in websites like MySpace. As more of the younger generations seek a more authentic internet experience, Tumblr allows users to craft and customize; instead of looking inside the box we are now looking out. This reblog system occurred because of the lack of engagement-farming incentives and is considered to be more community-based than other social media platforms.
Moreover, Tumblr creates safe spaces, allows cultural innovation to thrive, and pioneers digital activism. According to the JSTOR Daily, many Tumblr users make the voices of the “queer, disabled, and youths of color” seen and heard in terms of media. Unlike other platforms, users were their own catalysts and could make fanart, fanfiction, and other forms of media that challenged stereotypes or offered differing interpretations of popular characters, as was said on The Arkansas Traveler. Granting users access to this creative freedom allowed underrepresented communities to see themselves in the media they enjoy, rather than relying on mainstream media to represent their experiences. By reimagining these fictional characters, users fostered a more inclusive language and challenged general social norms. Having more of these progressive conversations helped them develop a greater awareness of perspectives that differed from their own.
Last but not least, memes and fandom culture might be Tumblr’s most impactful and long-lasting contributions to the internet. Tumblr’s meme culture deserves its own spot in the Internet Hall of Fame, preferably next to a picture of a raccoon stealing someone’s lunch. Unlike other platforms, where trends can feel like carefully coordinated marketing campaigns, Tumblr feels more like thousands of people sharing one collective fever dream. Take the infamous “I like your shoelaces” exchange, for example. If you recognize the reference, congratulations! You have officially spent enough time on the internet to qualify for absolutely nothing.
Tumblr was also home to fandom jokes that could leave anyone outside the fandom wondering if they had accidentally stumbled into a conversation in another language. And that was part of the fun. You did not need a ring light, a carefully edited video, or an influencer telling you what was trending. Sometimes, all it took was one deeply questionable sentence and a few thousand reblogs. Tumblr users were not just consuming internet culture; they were making it, one increasingly unhinged post at a time.