Tumblr is a blogging website that has twirled the cyberspace around its fingers. It suffices to be a new method of procrastination-as if we needed another one. But let me assure you, it is much more than a simple blogging website. It’s like Fightclub, you can’t speak of it anywhere besides Tumblr but everyone knows about it. Looks like I just committed a peccadillo but I suppose I can justify my actions under public welfare. I think as I read this, the Tumblr users in this class would either be nodding their heads along with me or shooting daggers at me through their eyes. If you do neither, I will consider myself successful.
The Tumblr community can be neatly stereotyped in a few categories. My favorite category is called Political Correctness Activists. I think they’re definitely pièce de résistance of the entire community. These are the ones who feel the need to debunk everyone in this universe for their misuse of language. You can’t have a normal conversation with them without becoming the bane of their existence. For example, if you say cats are really cute, you will be attacked for making such a definitive statement. I mean, you should have said that “in your personal opinion cats are cute”. Moreover, cuteness is usually associated with appearance, and by calling a cat cute you are being disrespectful to the cat community which shouldn’t merely be judged by how “cute” they are. Saying that a cat is cute is also kind of racist or animalist (if such a thing exists) against other species of animals. Although it is important to avoid aberration in speech, casuistry ideas can’t be applied to every situation. And that is precisely what these people are doing.
Moving on, my second favorite kind of Tumblr users are the Anonymous haters. There’s an option on Tumblr where people can ask you questions without revealing their blog URL’s and let me tell you something about anonymity: it gives people a chance to voice their opinions without it being held against them. Now, usually this malcontent audience is fun to deal with because mainly they chastise you for your opinions. But my favorite part is when the person they’re sending lackluster hate mail to turns into a cantankerous baby. It’s so easy to lose temper and by doing so, the person ends up pandering the anonymous hater’s purpose i.e. to incite a reaction and depredation. The funny thing is though that hate mail is assumed to have a direct relationship with popularity. In some bizarre way, the amount of hate mail you get equates to your fame on Tumblr. So there are people who deliberately make statements that would get them hate mail instead of empathy. I suppose hate mail serves to be a way for hedonism for some.
There’s an unsaid rule on Tumblr that is very similar to the Miranda warning: everything you say can be and will be held against you. It matters not if you acknowledge that your statement was ad hoc to the given situation, it will face an unofficial trial by the Tumblr audience. For instance, if you dare to say that in your opinion Ron Paul is the best republican candidate, expect a mob of people to enlist his flaws for the next five centuries. Keep in mind that people on Tumblr are there to procrastinate and thus lack a life. So arguing back wouldn’t be wise unless of course you have homework to put off. I guess the good thing about this is that it makes you think twice before forming an opinion.
The Tumblr community is very open-minded. All opinions are welcome as long as your opinion coincides with the norm. The moment you deviate, all mellifluous words will be forgotten and you will be put under the limelight until you remand your opinion. Even nepotism wouldn’t work in such scenarios. I guess freedom of speech only works if your speech is not, de facto, free.
You learn a lot from Tumblr, especially terms like “Special Snowflake Complex.” It sounds like a disease but in actuality it’s a fake syndrome where you think you’re a special little snowflake because you think or act differently than others. It’s funny because you will see a lot of Tumblr users making fun of people with the aforementioned condition when they themselves are indeed a victim of this complex. There are also those who claim to not believe in labels and yet have a billion labels typed in their “About Me” section.
Sometimes I feel like Tumblr is a harbinger for generations to come. If so, then we can expect a lot more talking and less doing by the people. Of course, what I describe is bathos of the scene. I am a part of the very community which naturally gives me the right to jab at it.
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