Oooh, I've been on Tumblr since 2013 and I've been steadily active on there the whoooole time. I'm kinda sad that it decided to glitch and put me into shadow jail, which forced me to create a new blog. My old one is turning 10 this year, come on!
I also had a roleplay blog, tried to run an art ask-blog (never really took off, but that's my own fault too), a fan blog dedicated to a certain character (you know, the "f-yeah-character-name" style), I've accidentally said a slur because of being
bad at English at the time and almost got a heart attack when I got the subsequent pushback (luckily back then people quickly believed my panicky remorse...), I've made friends, lost friends...
I'll say it's the only 'social media' I still use frequently, and it's not very, uh, social to begin with. Maybe that's the charm. The ability to customise everything is the charm. The ability to write long-reads in the charm! The navigation... Yeah that thing is broken and it only gets worse with time I think. ALTHOUGH the general tag system works and it's not messed up my the algorithm, so your posts can be found years later and they have equal chances to be seen through the search. Twitter WHO?
In terms of broke-ness I think I, as well as most of the old school Tumblr users, see it kinda like, uh, you know. That old computer which will overheat if you run more than one app on it, but you still love it. That old cellphone where you had to type messages l1k3 th1s because a key wasn't working. Like my neck which will hurt like a birch if I don't crack it sometimes.
Like, yes, it's broken, but we know the funny ritual dance to make it do what we need it to do. We also have bug races, talking crabs and an elaborate movie that has never existed but which everyone watched.
Yes, the Tumblr toxicity is certainly a meme, and yes, it seems like after the nsfw ban the epicentre of that culture moved to Twitter. Those who stayed on Tumblr are now angrily biting the "Twitter refugees" who try to bring that ish back, lol.
But I also think that, well, a good chunk of Tumblr users are the same users who used it since the early tens, and we... Grew up. I'm pretty sure that's also a huge contributor to the fact that the atmosphere chilled slightly. We're joking about cracking knees and bying washing machines now.
That, however, doesn't mean that the negativity is gone whatsoever (I mean, which social space nowadays does not deal with transphobia, for example), but I do actually think that regulating your experience is much much easier when there's no algorithm. It's admittedly harder to do in a fandom, but I'll be honest, I usually find like two or three people whose views are clearly up my alley, and then the rest of the fandom content that gets to my dash through them is usually safe 'cause they vetted it, ahah.
Okay there's actually been an attempt on algorithm, aka the "For You" page, and... It's been working surprisingly well and chill for me personally.
If I am venturing into a character's tag in the wild, though, that means I'm DESPERATE.
...oh wait the question was why people are not keen on Tumblr, right?My guess - the stigma for sure, the fact that half the Internet believes that Tumblr is dead, also for sure. The lack of the proper algorithm, differences from other social media make it harder to settle if you're not used to it. The treshold of getting active on there can seem high (the secret is that to be active on tumblr you just need to lurk and reblog everything you like, it's a website of hoarders. antisocial media), etc etc.
The side of tumblr where I exist is currently very much "We're cringe and we're free~" and that's honestly THE energy I claim.
On the other side, there's apparently a tradwife hardcore catholic segment of tumblr and we've never ever crossed paths and we never will. Love the range.
BTW I think on the topic of settling in on Tumblr and some weird unspoken ettiquette we all follow - Strange Aeons has truly described it all the best, if anyone needs a genuine guide:
Posts & Arts: 83/1k.beats
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