Tumblr is site for blogging, but it is set up to allow the easy sharing of photos, text, audio, video, and links. It also allows users to follow and interact with each other, kinda like Twitter. Anyway, I came across Tumblr late in 2011 not too long after I went to Youmacon for a second time. I met my dear love Aris there, so that was a great thing that happened there. I believe she was the one who told me about said site, so I decided to go ahead and check it out.
When I first signed up, I thought it was a little dull until I started following people. Then I got to see interesting things on the dashboard, where you see all the posts and whatnot of people and blogs you're currently following. It started off just fine. Everything went well the first couple of weeks until I found out about the roleplayers on Tumblr. I was a budding Blazblue fan at the time, and got inspired to create my first RP blog, using the character Jin Kisaragi. Then some things began to happen in my relationship. Aris got really upset with me spending more time interacting online with others than with her, due to this roleplaying I got myself into, but I kept ignoring the problem and I tried to justify it.
Finally it got to the point where I was trying to keep up with five blogs, but one of them I really wasn't using, so it was four. I ended up deleting them all over time, but Jin was the one character I kept going back to, even with my access blocked being told to stay away from Tumblr.
Now people are wondering why anyone would tell someone to stay away from Tumblr, and I'm going to say why. I was told to stay away for the following points:
- Bandwagon Riding: Now a bunch of people who regularly use Tumblr will probably rage when they read this one, but it is true. When I was there, I started noticing things I really wasn't into. I never really liked comics, but yet I got pulled into watching Thor and The Avengers because everyone else had seen it and I wanted to know what the fuss was all about. Another point is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Now, I am a sucker for cute things, but I really got into it when my friend Rachel told me that she was into the series. I didn't really think she was, but when I saw all the MLP stuff in her favorites on Youtube, she wasn't really kidding. I started reblogging MLP pics that I saw folks posting, and posting less of things that I really like, like Kuroshitsuji, CLAMP works, and other thing that I really enjoy.
- Tumblr Speak: Now EVERY community online that I've been in has had terms that the site members use regularly to communicate things with others. Tumblr is no exception. Some of the terms I picked up there were: Feels, I can't even, ASDFJKL; What is air? OTP (though I could have sworn I saw that on a forum that I used to go on for Harry Potter way back in highschool). My point here is that these words began to leak over into my offline life. I would use the word feels when presented with something that gave me a strong reaction. This annoyed Aris even more, and was what really lead her to making me get off the site.
- Tumblr's No Life Encouragement: If there was ever a place full of people who don't have much going, it's definitely Tumblr. Now I'm not saying that everyone that uses it is a teenager who lives at home with their parents, but most of the users there blame Tumblr for their lack of work, their procrastination, and their lack of a social life. While getting to know folks and talking about your favorite things online with others that like the same is fun, doing it in person is more fun.
- The Mood: A lot of people there have this dissatisfaction with society. I noticed that I became very negative about nearly everything after using it for a good while. I hated life, and I started bashing people who went out into public, and doing other fun things that didn't require a computer. It's a pretty silly thing too.
- Elite Douchebags: This is one of my favorite points in people that I've seen on Tumblr. They're usually the ones sending anon hate, or tagging their hate with a fandom name attached to it. There was this one in particular in the Blazblue fandom that everyone worshipped like they were a god or something. I never did it but I found it quite irritating that other people did. Also, they came off as being the main authority on a roleplaying certain character from the series. "Blah blah I studied his character blah blah I know all about him blah blah everyone else is out of character blah blah" That was really annoying to read. Just because someone runs multiple fan blogs and make graphics concerning your favorite game series does not mean that you have to kiss their ass and worship the ground they walk on. And I don't care if I just offended you. Have a nice day.
Pretty much what I am saying here is that Tumblr has a lot of issues. But even with all of those things, and my not so good experience to where it changed me into a person I was not, I will admit that I do like the site. Yes, the users there can be problematic, but I like how Tumblr is set up. As always, people hardly ever use a website for its creators intention. Like with Tumblr, the creator who came up with it wanted to make an easy place for people to blog and share things. He had artists and creative types in mind. While there certainly are artists and writers and whatnot on Tumblr, for many people this is overshadowed by the large population of whiny teenagers who do nothing but complain about how their lives suck and that only people on the internet truly understand them.
They'll only regret it when they realize that they have wasted precious time they could have been using to do other things. At this point in time, if I were to return, I would not give Tumblr the time or the value that I used to. I'd probably log on twice a week or something like that. Websites do not ruin lives. People do.
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