great piece. it’s been really fascinating to see the way that the site has developed into something that is genuinely, *literally* ungovernable. it is perhaps the only social media platform where the userbase is in sharp, unified, and relentless opposition to the platform holders.
my friends who are still there frequently show me posts that are the digital equivalent of firing shots into the air to keep the rents down (sometimes with that exact terminology). much of the content there now is exactly the same sort of retrospective self-analysis seen in this piece. i can’t imagine the twilight of any other platform being as self-aware.
I'm curious to revisit! I log in occasionally but I think many of the people I once followed are gone, so I'm missing out on a lot of the good 'end times' Tumblr content.
I started Tumblr around 2016 or so, the site was so fascinating. Slowly, it morphed into a capitalist monster. Nowadays, I delete it when I can. Idk. It feels like screaming in a void, in a non Kafkaesque manner
this really sent me down nostalgia lane. neither me nor any of my tumblr-made friends go there anymore, but it used to be such an important fixture in my life. it’s almost comical feeling to reminisce in retrospect, but tumblr was literally life altering for me; not just for the media and community it introduced me to, but the people i connected with. my 2 best tumblr friends eventually, after years, became IRL friends. i moved in with my tumblr bff after college (2,000 miles across the US) after having only met IRL once at that point (at an SPN con, no less). we went on to be roommates for almost 7 years until the relationship finally fractured for various reasons. friend #2 coincidentally happened to live in the same state, a few hours away, and we still hang semi-regularly and talk on the daily. tumblr was literally the avenue for me to get out of my step-dad’s house after school, led me to a state i would have never moved to otherwise, led me to the adult job i still have after 10 years, led me to my bf whom i would have never met had i never moved here. life’s crazy man.
i know a lot of people who met old roommates through tumblr! i love that we all felt safe meeting up w random internet strangers. it mostly worked out, and i even know of a tumblr marriage
great piece. it’s been really fascinating to see the way that the site has developed into something that is genuinely, *literally* ungovernable. it is perhaps the only social media platform where the userbase is in sharp, unified, and relentless opposition to the platform holders.
my friends who are still there frequently show me posts that are the digital equivalent of firing shots into the air to keep the rents down (sometimes with that exact terminology). much of the content there now is exactly the same sort of retrospective self-analysis seen in this piece. i can’t imagine the twilight of any other platform being as self-aware.
I'm curious to revisit! I log in occasionally but I think many of the people I once followed are gone, so I'm missing out on a lot of the good 'end times' Tumblr content.
Reading this made me late for a work meeting because I was having such visceral memories. Tumblr was home to a feeling I had totally forgotten.
i’m so honored!
The best you ever had is just a memory…
I started Tumblr around 2016 or so, the site was so fascinating. Slowly, it morphed into a capitalist monster. Nowadays, I delete it when I can. Idk. It feels like screaming in a void, in a non Kafkaesque manner
Spectacular piece. If this was Tumblr, I would have destroyed you with reblogs
this really sent me down nostalgia lane. neither me nor any of my tumblr-made friends go there anymore, but it used to be such an important fixture in my life. it’s almost comical feeling to reminisce in retrospect, but tumblr was literally life altering for me; not just for the media and community it introduced me to, but the people i connected with. my 2 best tumblr friends eventually, after years, became IRL friends. i moved in with my tumblr bff after college (2,000 miles across the US) after having only met IRL once at that point (at an SPN con, no less). we went on to be roommates for almost 7 years until the relationship finally fractured for various reasons. friend #2 coincidentally happened to live in the same state, a few hours away, and we still hang semi-regularly and talk on the daily. tumblr was literally the avenue for me to get out of my step-dad’s house after school, led me to a state i would have never moved to otherwise, led me to the adult job i still have after 10 years, led me to my bf whom i would have never met had i never moved here. life’s crazy man.
i know a lot of people who met old roommates through tumblr! i love that we all felt safe meeting up w random internet strangers. it mostly worked out, and i even know of a tumblr marriage