Tumblr Humor At Its Finest, Part Two

In a previous blog post, I talked about the warped sense of humor that Tumblr users have. In this post I continue my investigation of Tumblr humor and what exactly people who use this social network find funny.

One thing that must be considered is Tumblr’s main audience. According to Business Insider, Tumblr “is strong with teens and young adults interested in self-expression” with 46% of its audience between the ages of 16 and 24. The type of humor generated thus caters to people who are currently in or just left the awkward stage of adolescence and are merging into adulthood.

The post above brings to light a dark past that I myself have experienced. Our generation began to embrace social media around seventh and eighth grade, a time that nearly everyone remembers as awkward. I remember sending many texts that proclaimed how random I was, and I also used the “xD” emoticon much more than should have been allowed.

Tumblr’s demographic also collectively remembers the same cartoons, movies, and music from their younger days. A few posts became popular in part because everyone knows the characters from the cartoon which got its start in the 90’s, Spongebob Squarepants.

Both “stepping on the beach” and the-groundskeeper’s caption “what i did in graphic design class today is” refer to popular Spongebob episodes. The picture itself imitates an older meme which takes The Perks of Being a Wallflower’s quote, “And in that moment, I swear we were infinite” and applies it to ridiculous situations like this one.

This next post kind of terrifies me.

By itself, the picture is pretty funny. The character of Spongebob is oddly distorted and the accompanying text is nonsensical. But Tumblr, as usual, takes it further with these pieces of artwork by moopdrea and pentecost, respectively.

These rather terrifying additions turn a funny post into a hysterical one.

Tumblr users are also fans of defying expectations…

…being somewhat rude…

…and using puns wherever humanly possible.

Of course my favorite types of Tumblr humor are the completely odd and unexpected posts that just kind of jolt you.

The staff of Tumblr understands its demographic and the type of humor its users have. So every once in a while, they get in on the fun as well. The following pictures are all a part of one post.

 

Come Together: When Tumblr Collaboration Becomes Awesome

One of Tumblr’s main features is that any user can add to any post. They can add comments, sources, pictures, reaction GIFs, anything that will supplement the original post’s message, prove it wrong, make it funnier, etc.

A lot of the time, Tumblr users create art based off of a text post to add an element of visualization, such as in the following examples:

Tumblr user hauriret was inspired by nonbinaryeldritchhorror‘s post to create a piece of art and cited it as the stimulus for the artwork.

The vision of the original user came to life with a work of art done by a different Tumblr user. The same thing happened in the next post. Suncalf created the text post, and dorirosa added the art to go along with it, uploading it directly to the original post.

While some Tumblr collaborations result in amazing fanart, others add just the right touch of humor or wit to make the original post much funnier than it originally was.

One of the most well-known examples of adding to a Tumblr post to make it hilarious is Tumblr user perchu’s addition to the “Moreos” post. His addition to shslvalkyrie‘s post made him Tumblr-famous and he in essence became his own meme.

The original post can be found by clicking the screenshot below. It featured a fake advertisement for “Moreos,” which separates the cream and cookie segments of Oreo cookies and allows the consumer to combine them in whatever quantity they want. Perchu’s reaction to this idea is interesting to say the least.

Perchu’s intense use of profanity was part of what made his rant so hilarious. Completely overreacting to a post about Moreos made perchu extremely well-known on Tumblr, and to this day his username is tagged in multiple Oreo-related posts.

Finally, there have been some amazing audio posts created based off of text posts. On Tumblr these appear as audio files, but unfortunately I can’t transfer the audio files to WordPress. I’ve included links to Youtube videos which contain the full audio, and you can also click on the screenshots to see the original Tumblr posts.

This one makes me cry laughing. The original text post makes fun of the style of A-Ha’s song “Take On Me,” and the audio makes fun of the text’s posts interpretation of the style. It turns into a hilarious manipulation of the song.

This post is one of my favorite examples of Tumblr users’ creativity. It started with a simple yet brilliant manipulation of FUN’s “Some Nights.” Lovelyklaine changed the lyrics to make the song apply to Tumblr users, and merryblangstmas (now found at the username brickshack) took the one verse and created a Tumblr-themed version of the entire song.

 

The lyrics and merryblangstmas’ addition can be found here. If anyone ever asks you what Tumblr is about, this song is actually a pretty good description of the life of a Tumblr user.

Let me know if you have found any other examples of Tumblr collaborations!

Men-Haters or Rights Activists? Views on Tumblr Feminists

Feminism is a hugely controversial issue today, especially on the web. The Twitter campaign #YesAllWomen, Emma Watson’s speech at the HeForShe Campaign, and Time Magazine’s inclusion of “feminist” in its list of words to ban in the new year are a few of the recent feminism-related topics that have gone viral this year.

The users I follow are largely pro-feminism. Just like with social justice bloggers, there are feminists who treat the issues fairly, cite their sources, and attempt to raise awareness, and there are feminists who aggressively attack opposing views and express hate toward men and anti-feminists. 

Recently, a Twitter campaign related to feminism has spread to Tumblr as well. According to this Huffington Post article, a Canadian writer named Anne Thériault was inspired to  give lines from the classic movie “The Princess Bride” a feminist twist using #feministprincessbride. Here are some examples:

"I smell nothing." "What you do not smell is called misogyny. It is among the more deadlier poisons known to mankind" #feministprincessbride

— Anne Thériault (@anne_theriault) November 12, 2014

"Never go against a feminist when equal rights are on the line!" #feministprincessbride

— Hope Cimenski (@HopeCim) November 16, 2014

Good night, misogyny. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning. #feministprincessbride

— Mary Beth Williams (@embeedub) November 13, 2014

"I always think everything is a tool of the patriarchy until proven otherwise. Which is why I'm still alive." #feministprincessbride

— Emmy Bengtson (@EmmyA2) November 12, 2014

While many Tumblr users loved this campaign and came up with their own examples of feminist Princess Bride quotes, others complained that feminists were ruining a great classic.

There are two general views regarding Tumblr feminists, and both are represented in these two videos. The first represents the negative view of Tumblr feminists, the second the positive view. Both of them contain swearing, so view at your discretion.

As is often the case on Tumblr, users create humorous posts to make a point about controversial issues. This Twitter account mocking anti-feminist views has been circulating Tumblr recently. Here are some of examples of tweets from this account.

I don’t need fimeisns there are some things i NEED men for, like lifting heavy things or making me feel uncomfortable at bus stops

— WomanAgainstFeminism (@NoToFeminism) November 14, 2014

I don’t need femism because there is WOMEN’S STUDIES at colleges but where is the MEN’S STUDIES besides in every history book ever written??

— WomanAgainstFeminism (@NoToFeminism) November 13, 2014

i don’t need fesimes i believe in TRADITIONAL VALUES like men being men, women being women, and people ignoring domestic violence

— WomanAgainstFeminism (@NoToFeminism) November 6, 2014

I don’t need femismm it makes sense we warn WOMEN not to get too drunk in public because men never do anything violent or bad when drunk!!!

— WomanAgainstFeminism (@NoToFeminism) November 5, 2014

This comic, from dorkly.com, makes a point about what often happens when women reveal their gender on Xbox Live… and the consequences of misunderstanding what the male players are trying to tell them. It still comes up on my Tumblr dashboard every once in a while. 

Check out the feminism tag on Tumblr, and you’ll start to get a sense of the opposing views people have on Tumblr feminists and what being a “feminist” is actually about. Let me know where you stand on this topic!

Raising Awareness: The Positive Side of Social Justice on Tumblr

When I first joined Tumblr, I expected to find a lot of posts related to my favorite TV shows, movies, and books, and I did. But I, like this Tumblr user, also ended up gaining awareness of extremely significant social issues as a result of “social justice bloggers.“ While this term has both positive and negative connotations on Tumblr, in this post I’m going to focus on the positive side.

Although not all Tumblr posts are 100% accurate, and not all online sources can be trusted, several social justice posts have simply made me more aware that certain issues exist when I would not have known about them otherwise. Here is a good example of one social issue those with disabilities face:

The picture leads to a post by Tumblr user neecygrace. Neecygrace’s friend has an invisible illness, or one which is not physically noticeable. This is one of around 30 handwritten notes this user’s friend has received. The writer of the note believed the friend was misusing a handicapped sign simply because the writer could not see any obvious visible handicaps when the woman left her car, such as a wheelchair or a crutch. But invisible illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis, are not obvious handicaps. This post was one which educated me on invisible illness, something I had never thought about before.

This somewhat humorous post was taken from the YouTube channel College Humor. Tumblr user jonsnowflakes posted a link to their video “Diet Racism:”

The video is presented in a humorous light, but it is a critical commentary on the more subtle forms of racism in our culture today. This video has over 100,000 notes on Tumblr. Jonsnowflakes’ posted the video and added that “Collegehumors’ new video is on point as always.”

The official Huffington Post Tumblr page also recognizes Tumblr’s attitude toward raising awareness of social issues. The page used GIFs from a video sponsored by FCKH8 to advocate for awareness of racism today, particularly in respect to the issues in Ferguson. Click the post to see the full version with GIFs.

This post is a good example of a news organization using Tumblr’s unique features (such as GIFs) to promote one of their stories as well as recognizing the topics Tumblr users generally care about. Posts updating users on the current situation in Ferguson continue to appear today, a few months after the events occurred.

There are several other examples of Tumblr users positively raising awareness of social issues such as cultural appropriation, feminism, and sexuality. These topics will be discussed in later posts. While social justice bloggers often go too far, as discussed in one of my earlier posts, I do know that I have learned a lot about societal issues from browsing Tumblr of which I would have remained ignorant had I never joined the site.

It’s Time for a Revolution: Staff Changed the Tumblr Layout (Again)

When I was on Facebook throughout middle and high school, every few months there would be some huge update which would completely change the layout and style of the site. One of the biggest changes was the addition of Facebook’s timeline in September of 2011. When the changes were implemented, everyone went crazy. The people I followed on Facebook hated the change, and it took a long time to get used to it.

This happens on Tumblr as well. One of the running jokes in the past year or so was that, every time the staff made a minor change, Tumblr would rally for the real change they needed: improving the video player, which took a ridiculously long time to buffer videos. Recently, the video player was changed, but Tumblr still isn’t satisfied; the new player starts videos automatically, much like Facebook’s video player, although you need to click for sound.

The most recent change came last Thursday, October 30. Here’s an example of what the new layout looks like:

I scrolled down my dash, but one of the differences is that the top bar now stays on the page as you scroll. On that Thursday, the staff sent out a post explaining the “li’l” changes they had made:

The post from staff.tumblr.com

This article explains one of the main problems with the wider posts: user’s graphic images are now distorted and most of them have to be updated, which takes a lot of work. The sticky header is more of an irritation which users will likely grow accustomed to very soon, just as Facebook users eventually got used to the timeline feature.

However, other Tumblr users have taken advantage of the fact that they can now make the background of posts the same color as Tumblr’s background rather than have a white border around it. I’ve included some examples below. You can still click the links for the original posts, but unfortunately they are best appreciated on one’s dashboard. Let me know if you see any more examples of these great new posts!

It’s good to know that even an awful layout change won’t affect Tumblr users’ sense of humor. If you’re curious about what Tumblr looked like in previous years, check out the screenshots on this post. 

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!!