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06/01/2024: One Year of Being a Tumblrina

(Warning: This blog mentions politics, current events, the Israel-Hamas war, harassment, TERFs, swearing and depression. Please take care before reading on.)

Today marks the one year anniversary since I made a Tumblr account. For the longest, I never bother making one during the “Golden Age” of Tumblr (early to mid-2010s’), where you can safely post fan art of your favorite characters and shipping and not get trashed on by others due to how bad your drawing is. It’s where you can connect with one another over sharing similar interests. It was home of the “SuperWholock” fandom, where everyone was shipping the main characters from three different series with one and another. Same thing with Marvel characters, back when people used to like the movies!

It’s was also the place where the LGBT activism and the social justice movement took off, in which they became mainstream; for better or worst. It was thanks to them, I think this is when most people started to support the LGBT community after decades of struggles. It also caused them to become supportive of same-sex marriage and I think it’s one of the reasons why America finally legalized same-sex marriage in June 2015.

And do you want to know the best part? You can be anonymous on Tumblr, where you can post your fandom things and not get embarrassed by your family and friends if you tried to post it on Facebook! Don’t know why I never made a Tumblr account when I was in high school (where the Golden Age took place) and decided to stick with Facebook instead of all things!

But I know that around 2014 (or 2013 when Yahoo! bought the site); Tumblr started to change for the worst. They had hosted a convention that year known as DashCon, which was a shit show and made Tumblr the laughing stock of the Internet. The disastrous event is what caused the SuperWholock fandom to die out, people in other fandoms started to fight against each other by calling them out for whatever hot take they had and for everyone else who remained on the site, they became snarky over everything that’s going on the hellsite.

Around the same time, the social justice movement started to get backlash from various websites for being a Soapbox Sadie and giving them the term “social justice warrior”. Then Tumblr start making questionable updates to the site, which caused backlash against the users for being unhelpful. Then 4 years later, Tumblr end up banning all adult content of the site in order to keep the iOS store from banning their app. This later drove at least 40% of their users (who were mostly members of the LGBT community and porn artists) away from the site!

Even after Yahoo! sold Tumblr to Automattic in 2019, the hellsite refused to die. While having no porn sucked, the users who still stayed on continue to make memes and posts based on their fandoms and current events.

Then something happened in late 2022. People fled Twitter and came to Tumblr thanks to Elon Musk taking over the microblog site and turned it into trash. And for some of former Tweeters, they liked that despite the porn ban, Tumblr remained the same. No algorithm or Trump loving idiots on the Home page. Just people reblogging memes and fan art. Then somewhere in 2023, Tumblr allowed nudity again (in art form only), which brought some artists back.

Around the same time Tumblr allowed nudity again, Reddit made a controversial choice of pricing API codes, which cost most 3rd party apps to shut down, making many mad. Not wanting to use the terrible Reddit app, some people (like me) came over to Tumblr. Funny thing is, unlike the people who came to Tumblr from Twitter, the users on Tumblr (or Tumblrinas that some liked to call themselves), were kinder to the former Redditors than the Tweeters (who some were toxic and was the reason Tumblr went downhill after 2014) as both Reddit and Tumblr are similar as they are based on connecting with each other based on interests and being anonymous.

As the former Redditors found out from being on Tumblr, the fandom is so much nicer there compared to the fandom on Reddit as they don’t have to worry about their posts getting deleted by the mods because they didn’t like it for some reason. They also realized that Tumblr is very queer and female heavy, compared to the mostly straight, manly Reddit that they’re used to. So no more getting creepy, unwanted messages from those who just want to “talk”, which then it turns scary if you reject their advances, where they start stalking you and sending you death messages. If you tried to report them to the mod or the upper staff of Reddit, they may or may not respond based on how bad the situation is.

Here on Tumblr, you don’t have to rely on a mod on whenever you want someone who is sending you those threatening messages to be gone. You can just block them yourself and call it a day. Don’t see that too often on Reddit. It was that and the other reasons that I mention above, is one of the reasons why former Redditors now prefer Tumblr over anything else (well almost…)!

When I first made my account, I quickly put a profile picture up to prove that I’m not a porn bot, which is (and still is) a huge issue on Tumblr. I made my blog page look nice and pink (since it’s my favorite color). Then I start following and liking posts based on the interests and the some of the fandoms that I was in. But for some reason, I was too scared to post or reblog any of the posts that I liked due to the fear of getting picked on.

I blamed my bad experiences of posting fan art on Reddit, where I either get some mean comments on some of my fan art or worst: I get no up votes at all! I never liked the karma system that Reddit had, which makes me hesitant on posting and even commenting there as I might say or post something that will make someone mad and down vote my comment or post! On Tumblr, it doesn’t matter if your fan art don’t get any votes, at least you won’t be down voted for having “meh” drawing skills.

As for the fandom, it’s not as toxic compared to 2014 as the more problematic users left the site after the porn ban in 2018. As for the fandom I engaged, they were mainly small and (mostly) drama free. I managed to get brave about liking and reblogging stuff related to autism as I was too scared to do it when I was on Instagram as there were people following me from high school and university and they didn’t know that I was autistic. It was the same thing with some of the fandom that I like such as Danagronpa, anime and video games. By being anonymous (it’s where my username, Pizzacat Delights came from!), I can reblog to my heart content and not have to worry about someone I know seeing my posts and judge me on liking some of them!

Then one month after joining Tumblr, the Actor’s Strike happened (which took place around the same time as the Writer’s Strike) and I made a post that everyone should not complain if their favorite shows and movies get delayed because of the strikes. Instead, they should rely on watching old things and even support the strikers in hope they can continue to write their favorite things when they get paid better (which is one of the few reasons why they went on the strike). I end up getting tons of likes and reblogs as people agreed with me, which made me feel good about myself as I would never post that on Reddit (hell, or even on Twitter)! I think I even gain new followers because of the post (along with my first post, apologizing for not reblogging sooner due to my shyness and anxiety from being on Reddit). It was then I feel like I was at “home” and that I would never go back to Reddit ever again!

Well, that what I thought it would be the case.

Eventually, I found an app where it made Reddit more tolerable on mobile, but the downside is that I have to use the mobile browser in order for the app to work. So, I end up going back to Reddit after 2 months and even then, I prefer posting on Tumblr due to having better experience of reblogging and posting my interests without getting trashed on.

But despite the highs of being on Tumblr, there were plenty of lows of being on Tumblr. Of course you recall me saying this was where the social justice movement took off, right? Yeah, Tumblr is very left-leaning site. You see reblogs of the people you follow on the Following section of the Home page, hating cops, capitalism, conservatives, how their government works, etc. And that some of the users are voicing their complaints that their government hates them for being queer, POC and disabled.

Because they think the system is against them, some of the users ask everyone (if they can) to crowd fund them so they have money to pay their rent, to eat and get their medication. And that some are homeless because their families are toxic and won’t support them for who they are. Stuff, like that made me sad for them as like them: I’m a queer, POC and disabled. So I should be suffering like them too based on their posts! Even though I live in a comfortable home and that I have a supportive family, which makes me feel like I’m one of the lucky ones there. Knowing that makes me feel guilty about myself and I sometimes wondering if I’m doing this right.

Then some of the reblogs they have are based on the current events, which can be depressing and even horrible for some. Like 17 days after I joined Tumblr, a poorly made submersible that was travelling to see the wreck of the Titanic, exploded and killed 5 people inside. Tumblrinas made tons of dark memes and jokes about the explosion as the event shouldn’t happen in the first place. Since most of the victims were billionaires, they said it was for the best that they die a painful death as this was they hate billionaires and this was the best schadenfreude that they have seen yet.

While I agree that the victims shouldn’t done the tour on the Titanic, I kind of feel bad for one of the victims, a 19 year-old son of one of the billionaires, as it was rumored that he was forced to go with his dad. So the trip was a death sentence for the teen as everyone was making jokes and memes about his pending death, which kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Despite that, I end up reblog a few memes and posts on the situation.

Another big event that happened in Tumblr was the death of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, which happened later that year. It was where many, many people I followed celebrated his death as it was the best thing that happened since Hitler died! In my honest option, I didn’t know who he was and why this was a huge deal. So I read a few news articles, a Wikipedia page and an r/OutoftheLoop post on him.

This man is a fucking WAR CRIMINAL who was responsible for causing over 4 million deaths in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Chile, Argentina and more! The fact I didn’t know about who he was and what he did until the day I saw the announcement of his death on Tumblr, made me feel ashamed of myself as he’s literally reason why the world sucks and how what he did still affects us to this day!

But still, seeing people celebrating people’s death, no matter how evil they are, made me feel sick. That just might be a “me thing” and that I might be sensitive to this type of news thanks to my autism and anxiety.

Then one of the worst events that I saw on Tumblr was when the Israel-Hamas war first broke out in October 2023. There were people actually cheering that Israel was getting attacked by the Hamas terrorist group for all the years they treated the Palestinians! I got sick from reading the posts where many justified the attacks and wished for the death and the suffering of the Israelis, who took the Palestinians’ home and land from them. Then there people who scold those cheering in the comments for the attack as some might know someone who lives in Israel and is worry about their safety. It was thanks to those posts, I have to stay away from the Following section for a while for my mental health as this was too much for me to handle.

While I stayed away, I started using the blocked tags in order to keep me from seeing various reblogs that Israel is an evil country and it needs to disappear; that the Palestinians are dying, that you need to give them your money to pay for them to get medical supplies for Gazan hospitals and to buy them eSims, in order to call their loved ones and tell everyone that it’s (rightfully) America’s fault for allowing this to happen as they are responsible for supporting Israel and handing them weapons, which they used to bomb and kill innocent Palestinians and their children.

Of course, now whenever I go to the Following section to see blogs and reblogs, I see the blocked tags of the Israel-Hamas war and other depressing news where by reading them, makes me feel sad that the world sucks and that I’m forever doomed. Like I get it why you reblog it for awareness. But seeing 5 reblogs on the same, depressing article; in a row? I think it’s enough to bring my mood down for the rest of the day!

Then over a month ago, I read a depressing blog that the reason why President Biden has delayed banning menthol cigarettes is because… he doesn’t want to lose black voters. People in the comments bashed him for taking profit over health and even accused him of committing genocide of the Palestinians! Now, there’s some news sources that are worried that he might ACTUALLY lose the reelection because most of the people who voted for him in 2020 (the young and POC), won’t vote for him again because he refused to call for cease-fire and that he keeps handing Israel weapons. The very same weapons that the country will use to wipe out the Palestinians in order to “stop” the Hamas from reforming!

It was after reading and (guiltily) reblogging it, I took an evening walk when I something hit me: I was mentally draining myself from being there. I knew that this year is the Election year, which is already looking as bad as both the 2016 Election and the 2020 Election. Then there’s the fear of misinformation about the election getting spread online and I know that Tumblr isn’t safe from it either.

The fact that there’s people who won’t vote for Biden because of that Tumblr post, scares me. Even if the Israel-Hamas war ends right before Election Day, I fear that they won’t forgive him and won’t vote for him because of his handling of the war. Some might even plan to stay home and not vote on Election Day because they hate him for killing the Palestinians and refusing to support ceasefire! I think on my reblog to that post, I mention that I’ll vote for 3rd party (which is basically throwing away your vote in America); even this means Trump wins REELECTION.

Yes. The same man who many (including my family) don’t want back and that he’ll cause more Palestinians to die; compared to what Biden is doing right now if the war hasn’t end by then! I’m worried that there will be most posts like that in the future and it’ll be 10 times WORST! And plus, Trump is a fucking criminal, who just recently plead guilty of giving hush money to a porn star in order for her to be quiet about the things he did to her, which would keep him from winning the 2016 Election. Look, I don’t like what Biden’s doing in Gaza as much of everyone else on Tumblr (and surprisingly on Neocities) and that I’m trying to support the Palestinians as much as I can; but do we really want a criminal like Trump, as our president again? I don’t know and I’m worried that Trump’s going to win reelection anyways, despite of the conviction!

Because of that post I saw in late April and fearing what type of misinformation will spread on Tumblr in the upcoming months, I’ll be staying away from the Following section of my Home page for a bit longer. Even if I keep blocking tags related to the news and the election, it’s still going to pop up undetected. It might even stay that way until the end of the year, when Trump loses again and I don’t have to worry about my life being at risk. Especially if Trump regains control of the White House since I’m a bisexual woman and he (and the Republicans) are planning to outlaw LGBT people from existing! Of course, I already have plans to stay away from most of social media 2-3 weeks before Election Day for the reason that I mention above.

But sadly early this year, I already had to get off Tumblr not once, but TWICE due to how mentally draining it was! The first one was back in January when a LPer (Let's Player) I used to follow on YouTube, was accused of sexual harassment on Twitter and it somehow got on Tumblr when I saw a post from someone in the #actually autistic tag (as the LPer in question is autistic) to boycott their friends for what they did, even though they have no part of it! It was that post, that led me to my first meltdown in 8 months and I later forced myself to get off for a week in order to recover. I mention that event in one of my blogs and how even though the LPer later cleared their name on some the things they're accused of; I still won’t get over it thanks to that one post.

The second time was a month later when the CEO of Tumblr, was outed as a TERF for getting into a fight with a trans woman, who called him out for not doing his job as she was getting death threats from transphobic users on Tumblr and wasn’t getting any support from him or the @staff on banning them. Afterwards, he end up BANNING her for “threating him”, which made many trans and nonbinary people angry and caused them to flee Tumblr in disgust!

This one hit here a bit too close as 5 people I follow, announced that they were fleeing Tumblr for that exact reason. All 5 of them were either trans or nonbinary. Then seeing the negative posts and comments on the situation and wondered how long until other members of the queer community is next, I had to hop off of Tumblr once more for mental reasons. I wrote a blog here over the event and even made a Cohost account while waiting for things on Tumblr to cool down.

Around the same time the CEO was attacking trans people, Tumblr made a deal with two AI companies to allow them to train their AI models on the Tumblrinas’ posts. This manage to scare artists, writers and anyone who are against AI as its’ known for stealing people’s stuff and making it look worse. While Tumblr added an option to opt out third-party sharing, it won’t matter if the person reblogging your stuff, doesn’t opt out, which means AI will use your stuff anyways! I think this will discourage people from posting their stuff on Tumblr thanks to the AIs and might even leave the hellsite for AI-free sites. Especially me, since I occasionally post fan art and fanfics on my Tumblr. Now I have to think twice on posting my stuff and hope to God that the person who reblogged my stuff has opt out third-party sharing!

Then once in a full moon, there are rumors that Tumblr are doing things which will cause the hellsite to shut down, scaring those who have nowhere else on the Internet to go. One of them was took place late last year when Tumblr announced that they’re reducing the @staff team to a skeleton closet. For some, it’s a step closer to a dead site. Fortunately, the CEO (the same one who later came out as a TERF) shut down those rumors as they did this improve the quality of the site. Despite that, this caused people to make other accounts elsewhere, just in case the day of Tumblr’s death happens. This is why I made a Neocities account in the first not only as a secondary account from Tumblr, but I also got inspired by seeing the #Neocities posts on Tumblr!

Even though the political standing and whatever the hell the CEO is doing, mentally drains me, at least it’s better being on Tumblr than being on Reddit or even Twitter (which gets worst and worst each day). I like that the fandom there are nice, where they encouraged everyone to reblog their fan arts and writings. I also like that I learn various things from some of the posts on Tumblr (even some are political and depressing), where I gain more knowledge from reading them.

At the end, I’ll be sticking to the hellsite for a while until the CEO does something that will cause everyone to leave again, just like when they banned porn in 2018 or the site eventually shut down for some reason. When the day I have to leave Tumblr, I’ll come stay here on Neocities, where everyone is (mostly) nice here along with Cohost (if it doesn’t get shut down due to lack of funding) and even Reddit too (as long THEY don’t do anything that’ll cause everyone to flee the site…FOR GOOD)! Update: On 9/9/2024, Cohost announced that they're going to shut down at the end of the year due to lack of funds! So there goes my Tumblr alternative...

While I’m sad that I missed out on being on Tumblr during the Golden Age; at same time, it’s probably better to get on it now as an adult than as a teenager due to having a better understanding how the world works. Which for some, it’s probably for the best.