Tumblr .. .

[dotmidi]

  So, Obviously on my life online I've had my fair share of social media and then I evolved to abandon all of web 2.0 since I'm pretty against their stances and I see most people share the same view or at least limit themselves from these applications.

Leading into the topic of this, I've left behind all except one: Tumblr.
I've heard people who aren't exactly keen on this site either and I was just curious as to why
 Since it is practically a more modernized stance of what a blogging website would be like, there are barely any ads and all the users encourage adblockers.. there's close to no algorithm, other than the fact that when you follow people/tags you see their content.

When I'm away from forums or neocities, you can usually find me on Tumblr and I'm just curious as to why I can find most people with a twitter on neocities, but not a Tumblr? I could imagine it possibly is because of the stigma it got and i've very much noticed from the younger groups of people i've been around

[TheFrugalGamer]

I know I personally dislike the way they do their navigation. I know there are a few folks who add custom links that let you go look at pinned posts or their favorite tags, but I don't feel like I can sort through posts the way I want, and going back I encounter a lot of broken links. I also don't like the lack of a robust commenting system.

But that's just me. A good deal of the Sims 4 community is on there and they have a ton of great content, I just wish it were easier to navigate.

[dotmidi]

A good deal of the Sims 4 community is on there and they have a ton of great content

True that! Tbh, I just use it to collect images and references so I use the tagging system for my account but I can understand how disorganized it can feel to actually be on the look out for specific content like Sims 4 CC (i cant actively search for BIPOC related CC for the life of me on tumblr

[Melooon]

I have a VERY old tumblr that predates my site! I didn't use it very much, but I did make a few posts apparently - I mainly used to go and look at pictures of forests in the mist https://loytopia.tumblr.com

[creaturefeature]

I still stay on tumlbr for the entertaiment, their lastest funny shenanigans involved the introduction of user polls.

So what´s the first thing someone does with it? A bug race: https://www.tumblr.com/inqueee/706918249405808640

I voted for the catterpillar if you´re curious

[TheFrugalGamer]

Haha! Love that bug race!

[Cele]

Post-writing I realized this is quite the negative post so warning.

I've been on there since 2012 and well. It's better now but I'll be honest, Tumblr's biggest problem has always been the absolutely despicable people who use it. I left it for about 2 years because it was like. The acephobia was everywhere. I won't go into details since the rules of this site but it was really, REALLY bad. And no, you couldn't escape it by just following different people, it was like everyone in every fandom wanted to make it clear they were making fun of the stupid little aceys (a "slur" they invented for this purpose). You could really see the effect on an independent social media platform called Pillowfort, like a huge chunk of the people on there are asexuals and it's so clear they were escaping the harassment campaign.

Well, it turns out most of the worst people went to Twitter after the ~apocalypse~ (and now Twitter is absolutely insufferable) so like I said, it's a bit better now so I've been using it more. It's nice and slow now when most of the people I follow have long since gone inactive. I don't particularly wish for any "refugees" from Twitter to come back.

[Guest]

I've been on there since 2012 and well. It's better now but I'll be honest, Tumblr's biggest problem has always been the absolutely despicable people who use it. I left it for about 2 years because it was like. The acephobia was everywhere. I won't go into details since the rules of this site but it was really, REALLY bad. And no, you couldn't escape it by just following different people, it was like everyone in every fandom wanted to make it clear they were making fun of the stupid little aceys (a "slur" they invented for this purpose). You could really see the effect on an independent social media platform called Pillowfort, like a huge chunk of the people on there are asexuals and it's so clear they were escaping the harassment campaign.

OMG this. I used to use it for a while and I think I remember seeing some of this kind of stuff.
quite ironic considering much of the community there claimed to be for "equality" and "acceptance" and boasted about it constantly.
Sure...

Another thing is, I don't know if it's still an issue since it's been years since I've used it, but I remember the porn bots were really bad on there, and I would often get followed/messaged by them.
(I mean yeah, if you like that stuff then good for you, but this was just creepy and invasive.)

[Guest]

I wanted to use Tumblr many times but I never got over how confusing it was to use. Like, I have a blog, but it's also my homepage, and I can reblog other people and put notes on them, but it's also my own blog posts, but sometimes not and it just appears as a comment or note and my followers can't see it?

Like, if it's a blog, how do I have a conversation with other people like all of these threads you always see screenshots of; I don't want to post a million one-line "blog posts" just responding to people since, you know, a blog post is supposed to be like a self contained article?

I never got Tumblr.

[Guest]

I never got Tumblr.

Same here. It seems like an evolution of LiveJournal or maybe MySpace, but I was never into those either. The only blog service I ever used was Blogger, but I think Tumblr is more community focused? Instead of creating an isolated blog for your thoughts each post is public in a way, like you're having a conversation instead of a monologue. Or maybe I'm way off.

[Cele]

Yeah, Tumblr is a social media (micro-blogging like Twitter) so instead of making your own posts you can also just share ("reblog":wink: other people's posts. Or you can do both. It was basically impossible to have a convo on Tumblr back in the day apart from a back and forth in reblogs, but nowadays posts have a discussion section where you can talk without it appearing on your blog as reblogs. (They also replaced the ancient fanmail feature with private chat.)

Another thing is, I don't know if it's still an issue since it's been years since I've used it, but I remember the porn bots were really bad on there, and I would often get followed/messaged by them.
(I mean yeah, if you like that stuff then good for you, but this was just creepy and invasive.)

They disappeared for a moment but since the Twitter shitstorm news, there's been a new surge. I never got messaged by one tho, just following me.

[strwbtea]

I've been regularly using tumblr since 2011. I've changed blogs several time in that time to fit my interests more.

Here's my main thats about socialist modernism and eastern europe: https://kosmicznacebula.tumblr.com/
And general cute/y2k/etc stuff: https://c0smicberry.tumblr.com/

[Corrupted Unicorn]

I think I like browsing Tumblr better than posting on it. It's got golden nuggets of wisdom, if you know who to follow. I struggle "being active" in any media, I'm like, 80% lurker :omg:k:

[tarraxahum]

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:

[Guest]

Same here. It seems like an evolution of LiveJournal or maybe MySpace, but I was never into those either. The only blog service I ever used was Blogger, but I think Tumblr is more community focused? Instead of creating an isolated blog for your thoughts each post is public in a way, like you're having a conversation instead of a monologue. Or maybe I'm way off.

Funny, I actually remember seeing some articles that claimed that Tumblr was basically "The new MySpace". I think I get where they were going with having a social site with customizated personal pages and all, but I think the big difference between Tumblr and MySpace, as well as other journal/blogging sites like Blogger and LJ is that Tumblr is more of a microblog, as in it's focused on sharing pictures and brief texts and reblogging others than it really is writing about yourself (or whatever you want to write about). So I guess in a sense it's more like Twitter with MySpace-esque page layouts?

I've also heard it referred as "the new GeoCities", but that seems more off to me.