Even though making fun of Tumblr has become a hobby in itself for many people, including its own user base, I’m not kidding when I say I do love this site. It’s pretty much the only social media I use — and when I say use, I mean engage in its culture. I don’t really do that on any of the other platforms.
I’ve been on Tumblr since 2010 (wow..), migrating from DeviantArt to a platform where easy conversation, discovering amazing new creators, sharing my art and falling into fandoms was super easy, and a lotta fun.
This here is the illustration I used to have on my DeviantArt page to link watchers to my Tumblr. Look, it’s cute. It blinks.
At the time, Tumblr’s culture was quickly growing into its own unique aesthetic that was different from any other social site. Tumblr was where the hilarious memes would start and then get shared on Twitter and other platforms. The timeline was completely normal and not a confusing mess. It was where a small artist or writer could share their work with no expectations and have it blow up organically without a pre-existing massive following or an algorithm designed to mold people’s taste.
It was the space to share your ideas, interests, news and creations in whatever format you preferred. And people would see it; the ability to tag and reblog someone’s work onto your blog to get even more eyeballs on it was such — and still is — a great functionality and a great example of community support. Whole specific-interest Tumblogs sprung up thanks to this tool, and it’s a great way to discover new artists you’d have never come across otherwise.
When I first joined, I joined for the amazing energy in the fandoms. Tumblr is very visual and big on storytelling; people created some fantastic artwork, wrote great stories, shared interesting character interpretations and theories, and even dove into the technical aspects of creating a great story, visual and/or written. Not exactly what you’d call structured learning, but I did learn a lot from them. It wasn’t always in the most traditional sense, and it wasn’t always advice that industry experts would consider good ‘work practices’, but I gradually learned how to filter the gems from the fluff, and develop a structure of learning that works for me.
People like to criticize creating for fandom, but this is one of the fastest ways to improve your craft and push work out there. If it’s an established fictional world (e.g. Harry Potter), the blueprint is already there, and you can use it to create great work and also learn along the way without the obligation and huge time commitment of creating a whole new world every time before you can tackle a project.
Even during times when work completely overtakes me, and all my creative deadlines go to the Bad, Bad Place - looking through my favorite artists’ processes and ideas keeps the subconscious part of my brain working — ‘If I can’t draw today, I can at least simmer on my next project, dammit.’
Which works just fine for me, really. I’m the kind of creative who has to let an idea cook around in their head for weeks, even months at a time, and then comes the divine moment when I rush to my desk to dump 50% of the raw work in one crazy-eyed, adrenaline-fueled sitting. The other 50% is the detailing and the clean-up.
And because Tumblr gives you an infinite mood board of inspiration and reference - and because me and others have been on it for so long - I think there’s a little bit of risk of unintentionally becoming too similar in style and voice to another artist. I look at my dash and I realize I definitely have a type — I follow many artists who have a lot of similarities in their style, especially because they follow each other, too. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I try to not let myself fall into an artistic echo chamber of sorts.
Another issue that scares me is that you can easily forget where you saw a photo reference, especially if it’s an old piece. And if it’s a one-of-a-kind concept, and you end up adopting it into your work on a subconscious level, that could lead to plagiarism accusations.
But Tumblr isn’t the only platform where people went extreme with their accusations. Nutty people exist everywhere. I’ve seen artists accuse other artists of ‘stealing their pose’, and I just sit there baffled...Kid, there are only so many ways the human elbow can bend. Are you seriously going to accuse that other kid of plagiarism because their character is leaning out the window ‘just like’ yours? There are like only 5 ways someone can lean out a window and not look totally ridiculous. I don’t think you understand what plagiarism is.
Thankfully, for the most part, people are kind and understanding. Tumblr’s culture is very diverse as well, and that diversity is reflected in the site’s content, which covers a wide range of topics from art and stories to politics and social justice. No matter how small your niche interest is, there are surely others who’re also into that thing.
I’ve pretty much always belonged to the creative fandom community. Although Tumblr is more famous for its huge activist base, I tend to keep my distance. I hold my boundaries sacred and unfortunately, stories of the insanity that sometimes happens there (especially during the 2015–2019 era) have transcended the boundaries of the site, and it became almost like a branding. The kind no sane person wants to be associated with.
Thing is, I have no idea where some people get the energy to go into days-long arguments with people. I just don’t have the tolerance. If I had that kind of energy, I would’ve solved world hunger and achieved global peace. The world is so much bigger and more hectic than dedicating even one brain cell for this bull.
I was always in my own corner. In fact, I was so in my zone I didn’t even know that there was a CP problem on the platform for the longest time. Things blew up, Tumblr took a massive hit to the reputation, and the app was removed from the store for a while. I remember when we all joked that we could sell our phones for thousands of pounds just because it had the tumblr app installed like people did with Flappy Bird (damn, I wish I’d taken advantage of that~)
A lot of people, especially the new members, believed the site would go down for good, and everyone freaked. People shared their other socials left and right, wanting to stay in touch if it did. But of course, this wasn’t the first time the platform was in danger. Old users like me just laughed and went on using the site like nothing was wrong. Ben Affleck’s iconic meme photo made the rounds and I like to think we helped settle the new babies’ nerves some.
I wish I could say that expression’s an exaggeration but it really isn’t.
I know people love to make fun of Tumblr’s moderation policies, and how hilarious some of their mistakes can be. But I’ll admit, it’s come a long way since then. I used to have innocent Disney-themed posts flagged as adult content, for God’s sake.
The moderation’s not perfect, but honestly? I’d take Tumblr’s over Facebook/Instagram/Meta’s biased nonsense any day. At least the staff over on Tumblr tries to maintain a culture where everyone has the right to voice their opinion. Does that lead to some people being extreme? Does that allow for radical ideas to be shared? Yes, it does. But that’s why children should be supervised when online. As an adult, you own your beliefs, and you know better than to take anything you read online at face value. You develop a bullshit radar. Eventually. Hopefully.
For me, Tumblr’s the only platform where I truly experience the ‘social’ aspect of it. My blog doesn’t need to be fancy. My content doesn’t need to be perfected. Not every artwork has to be completely original and not every writing has to be a whole new world. I don’t need to attain cool social media numbers. My interests don’t need to be trendy and don’t need to cater to whatever’s popular right now.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, there’s no pressure to be anything you’re not on Tumblr, and that’s what makes me stay even when newer platforms show up.
I’d love to hear your own experiences with Tumblr. What do you use it for? How do you think it could be better?
