Although many people have heard of the social networking site Tumblr, not a lot of the people I associate with have their own accounts. The Tumblr content they see comes from other websites, such as BuzzFeed, which uses Tumblr content in posts like “19 Times Tumblr Asked The Really Important Questions.”*** However, these posts often highlight the funniest, most unique and though-provoking content of the site. Non-Tumblr online users only see the best or most intriguing posts, so their sense of social network and its users may be skewed.
Tumblr users bring many important issues to light, combine old and new content to creative amazing pieces of fanart and media, and share inspirational stories with their followers. A majority of Tumblr users have very liberal political views, advocate for LGTB+ rights, and promote awareness of mental health, all of which can be great things. But often Tumblr users escalate these views to an alarming point: support for homosexuality turns into hatred of heterosexuality, feminism becomes an anti-male agenda, and support for people of color prompts mockery of anyone whose skin is white. Here’s one example.
Although the original post by user pomfette may be seen as funny initially, the contribution by user sjwf*ckups invites a different interpretation of the post. What is it about Tumblr’s atmosphere that makes a post “glorifying abusive relationships” funny? The 200,000+ notes indicate that this post has been liked and reblogged that many times on the site. Did the users who shared it find the post funny, or are they trying to call attention to the issue sjwf*ckups brings to light?
What strikes me the most about this post (which you can view by clicking the link in the caption) is that the original user, pomfette, can no longer be found at that URL. Often this indicates the user received so much hate regarding their content that they moved to a different URL or left Tumblr altogether.
Here’s one more example. I’ll try to censor Tumblr posts in my blog to be as user-friendly as possible (since Tumblr users LOVE to swear), but if you want to see the original uncensored version just click the link in the caption.
User candycoatedcreepies’ rant goes on, providing links to the article and even including quotes, but this screenshot gets the point across. Tumblr has a tendency to jump on the hate-train without bothering to check sources or even to wonder whether the content they are posting could be considered hateful or offensive. Often the original post circulates long before other users bring these issues to light. It makes you wonder how many of the people who reblogged the post initially agreed with these views of hatred.
By the way, I would have linked to candycoatedcreepies’ page to give you an idea of their views, but unfortunately the page could not be found. What a shame.
Thankfully, not all of Tumblr’s users are ignorant to this issue. This post by user year-0f-the-kyle reminds other users that you can’t fight fire with fire. Although Tumblr’s community of haters may not be very big, I see these types of posts circulating way too often for me to think it’s an insignificant issue. Next time you see Tumblr content circulating on the web, ask yourself what sort of views that post is really promoting.
***Some or all of the pages I link to on this blog may include foul language and/or views I don’t agree with. Click on them at your own discretion.
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