Attack of the Supernatural Fandom: Tumblr’s Adventures in Liveblogging

A popular event among the fandom side of Tumblr is liveblogging new episodes of TV shows. The entire fandom uses common hashtags that specify the fandom and the episode title in an attempt to keep their followers from seeing unwanted spoilers. I usually make the mistake of not bothering to block these tags, so I know most of the episode’s content before I watch it.

On Tuesday night I followed the tag “spn spoilers” and watched the Supernatural fandom liveblog season 10 episode 2, “Reichenbach.” This blog post does include spoilers, so if you haven’t watched that episode yet and don’t want to be spoiled, read no further. I won’t be linking the actual posts to the pictures this time since I made screenshots of several posts at once, but feel free to check out this episode’s tag for yourself if you want to see other reactions.

The episode aired at 8:00 p.m. CT. I started glancing at the tags around 7:40 p.m. and followed them until the episode was complete.

Here is my liveblogging experience:

7:39 p.m. – Those in the Supernatural fandom begin to panic. Will I be able to livestream the episode? Will my Internet connection fail me? Will this episode be particularly suspenseful? 7:48 p.m. – We reach the 12-minute countdown. The excitement has reached a point where correct spelling is simply impossible.

7:59 p.m. – Tumblr users begin to warn their followers to block the tags they’ll be using to follow the episode. It’s considered a common courtesy to tag your liveblogging so your followers can avoid spoilers. You also don’t want to drive off followers who aren’t in the fandom and who may get annoyed with your constant posts.

8:02 p.m. – As the episode officially begins, there is general confusion. Often liveblog posts don’t contain many details but simply reactions to what is happening in the show. If you’re not watching the episode, you get very confused. Those who are watching feel like they’re “in the know.” Tumblr user winchesterdelight told me, “I feel like when I liveblog, I’m having a very fun party with others in the fandom as we watch the episode.”

8:14 p.m. – The crack begins. The fandom version of “crack,” according to Urban Dictionary, is a theory/concept that is so crazy, one would only be able to think of it while on crack. On Tumblr it also refers to any silly manipulation of content. In this first post, a user changes the dialogue of the episode so it supports one of their favorite romantic pairings, Dean/Castiel. Tumblr users also talk about how hot the character of Dean Winchester is, a common topic among Supernatural fans.

8:15 p.m. – I love when everyone blogs about the exact same thing at the exact same time. Tumblr user onlyonethatrocksmyworld agrees. She said, “When you scroll through the spn tag when the episode is airing chances are you’re going to see a lot of people reacting in the same way to the same thing, and that’s a very rewarding feeling as a fan. It’s cool to share that ‘DUDE SAME’ moment with people from around the world.” Here’s a good example:

8:30 p.m. – The episode twist occurs as Dean Winchester rebels against his demon companion Crowley. People react to the surprising power shift by quoting the episode.

8:40 p.m. – One of the main cliffhangers before the commercial break occurs. People understandably freak out about having to wait to see the anticipated Sam/Dean brotherly reunion.

8:43 p.m. – No one calms down when the show returns. General panic ensues. As onlyonethatrocksmyworld observes, liveblogging “[is] very therapeutic. I’m glad that this platform exists for us to share our emotions with each other.”

8:50 p.m. – THE CLIMAX OF THE EPISODE CAUSES EVERYONE TO SUDDENLY REVERT TO CAPS LOCK TO EXPRESS THEIR EMOTIONS. THINGS ARE GETTING VERY INTENSE. PEOPLE ALSO LOSE THE ABILITY TO TYPE WORDS AND INSTEAD EXPRESS THEMSELVES BY MASHING RANDOM KEYS.

8:57 p.m. – Everyone, literally everyone, in the Supernatural fandom knows about Dean Winchester’s obsession with his car. So when Demon!Dean tells his brother, “It’s just a car,” the fandom does not react well and everyone is heartbroken.

I do mean everyone.

9:00 p.m. – The episode finally comes to an end and the promotion for the next episode airs. People speculate about the snippets in the promo.

9:02 p.m. – By this time, the shock of the cliffhanger has mostly worn off. The panicked posts die down and people realize that the show has ended for another week.

9:07 p.m. – Some users take this time to make a list of their reactions and thoughts for their followers. They’ll recap their favorite parts and ask for clarifications on points they missed or didn’t quite understand. Sometimes an episode is praised, and sometimes the entire fandom agrees it was terrible. “Reichenbach” was, by general consensus, a great episode. 

About 10-15 minutes after an episode has ended, the use of the episode tag dies down. The “Spn spoiler” related tags, however, will be used throughout the week as people begin to post GIFs of their favorite moments from the episodes. Next Tuesday, these tags are used again for episode 10×03.

Winchesterdelight believes that “liveblogging might not be unique to Tumblr, but … the way that liveblogging occurs on Tumblr is unique.  Like, I’ve attempted live tweeting the episodes on Twitter, but it’s much more disjointed and not nearly as fun.  Tumblr makes it easier to find those who are watching and communicate with them about it, in my opinion.” Onlyonethatrocksmyworld agrees. She believes the 140 character limit on Twitter limits the liveblogging experience. On Tumblr, you’re able to tag multiple things without wasting space and you can post your full reaction.

The next time you’re watching your favorite geeky show alone (because literally no one else you know watches it), considering logging on to Tumblr as you watch the show and following the spoiler tag. It has always made my viewing experience more enjoyable.

Let’s Get Spoopy: Tumblr’s Weird Obsession with Halloween

It’s October 1st–which means it’s officially Halloween? That’s what Tumblr (and, admittedly, every single store that sells Halloween candy/decorations) seems to think. I’ve actually been seeing October/Halloween-related posts on my dash since the beginning of September, though, so the Halloween obsession gets pretty intense.

The arrival of October brings back well-loved memes such as the impending skeleton war, Halloween-related puns and various “spoopy” and “creppy” posts. This is a time of year when Tumblr users flaunt the many inside jokes they have which often confuse the rest of the Internet. You know, same old Tumblr.

The spoopy meme originated on Flickr, but the most popular post it’s associated with on Tumblr is this one:

Tumblr took that and ran with it. Countless posts exist about how “spoopy” and “creppy” Halloween is. For at least the two years that I’ve experienced Tumblr on Halloween, the spoopy tag has been used to identify people’s Halloween posts in all seriousness.

Another one of my favorite Tumblr memes is the impending skeleton war which will apparently begin after the apocalypse or just, you know, whenever. It’s always best to be prepared.

Finally, here’s a compilation of my favorite skeleton Halloween puns. These cartoons have been on my dash pretty much the entire summer and I literally never get tired of them. They’re all part of the same post and I even left one or two out due to foul language, so take a look at the complete post if you like. Happy October!!

Tumblr: Friendly Community or Outlet for Hatred?

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.