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I don't get Tumblr. There are a couple reasons for that. 1) I'm a thousand years old. 2) I'm not a vapid culture vampire incapable of expressing myself in anything other than rudimentary pictogram-like communication, and 3) I'm really old. And yet somehow, without my support, the rapidly growing micro-blogging platform is managing to get by. Around 13 million unique users a month make up about 7 million visits per week across all Tumblrs. To put that in perspective, those numbers place it in the top 10 social media websites in the world. More scientifically speaking, that's roughly a metric shit-ton of animated black and white tattooed-tits, cunnilingus .gifs and moody, urban sunset landscapes, shared back and forth over and over again.
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| fuck yeah Tumblr-ers! |
That micro-blogging modifier is important here to differentiate what Tumblring actually is, mostly because everyone who uses Tumblr has a tiny penis. But also because Tumblring is not blogging. I never thought I'd live to see a type of media that makes the increasingly archaic-seeming act of blogging actually seem high brow, but I suppose I shouldn't have underestimated the downward spiral of contemporary discourse rotating toilet-like into the cultural shitter.
The distinction is this: While blogs were the old boogey-man of the traditional media, in the way that they allowed millions of hacks like me to quote from other, actual news-gathering outlets' work, add a wry commentary, ????, then profit, (via the Gawkerization of the internet), the genius of Tumblr is that it streamlines the process, cutting out the actual step where you even need bother trying to add any value of your own. Instead you see something you like, reblog it yourself, then watch as the telephone-game like chain of successive re-blogs steams onward unto infinity. The result is something like this revolutionary contribution to the world of ideas/aesthetics below, to take an example from one Tumblr I recently stumbled on at random:
A fine picture of a wolf, sure. Handsome, majestic even. Who wouldn't want to host such an elegant piece of lupine photography on their own website? Never mind who took the photo, mind you -- that doesn't really matter in the Tumblr model (which I've talked about a lot recently). It's what follows that is the interesting part.
In three days time that one mostly unremarkable picture received 4,201 "notes." That means that thousands of other people saw the image posted on another Tumblr and decided, yeah, that's my shit right there, I need to get in on some of this, then re-posted it to their own specific Tumblr.
This one below got almost twice as many people to shuffle it onwards along the conveyor belt of digital refuse. I'm not even sure it's from the same Tumblr, after a while they all start to run into one another. That's exactly the problem.
This sort of thing is par for the course across the hundreds of Tumblrs I've looked at over the past couple years. What does any of it mean though? Well, TL;DR: kids are really, really stupid. Not surprisingly, the age of Tumblr users skews pretty young. 50% of them are between the ages of 12-24, a group that makes up only about 23% of overall internet use.
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Granted, the vast majority of people regardless of age have nothing of value to add to the cultural conversation, but considering the ascendancy of Tumblr culture, it's hard not to see it as actual, real time data on the further erosion of generational boorishness broadcast and re-broadcast millions of times a week.
It's the assumed curatorial persona of the typical Tumblr that makes the emptiness of it all the more glaring. What's the difference between re-blogging a stylized image you deem share-worthy and all the parents in my Facebook feed linking to old YouTube videos of Rolling Stones songs or pretty pictures of horses? Tumblr is simply the elevation of the "like" button to a system of aesthetic aspirations, but it comes with a ready-made set of artistic and design flourishes that render it stylish and artistic, and therefor easy to mistake as symbolically loaded. There's nothing to say about the photo you re-blogged, because the act of re-blogging says everything that needs to be said. And the message is assumed as understood. Instead of explaining why you like something, the new model is to simply declare it to be liked, the very act of which is a bold declaration of self. I think?
We are, as consumers, after all, simply a collection of preferences, but it seems to me we're increasingly incapable of explaining what those choices mean, while we lean on them to lend us our online persona, which is increasingly the only persona that matters.
We are, as consumers, after all, simply a collection of preferences, but it seems to me we're increasingly incapable of explaining what those choices mean, while we lean on them to lend us our online persona, which is increasingly the only persona that matters.
Never mind the crotchety old conservative types criticizing the Occupy movement as evidence of the laziness of the younger generation who expect jobs to be handed to them without actually doing any work. Their argument would be better served on the Tumblr generation, (of which there is a sizable overlap), who expect meaningful artistic expression to be handed to them, without ever having to actually do anything.
Tumblring is the act of doing nothing. There's zero effort required in maintaining the average Tumblr under the current status quo. As difficult as it may be for young people to understand, "I love lamp" isn't a philosophy, but that's essentially what they're saying every time they re-blog the same limited pool of stylish pictures their friends re-blogged and so on. It's the culmination of the sampling/information wants to be free culture, and Tumblrs are to blogs as DJs are to musicians -- but not even the good kind of DJ, because at least they manipulate the original content in some way.
Your Tumblr then is like a band t-shirt you can wear to class every day, only it has room enough for every band, and every film, and every predictable internet meme you've ever heard of all at once. It seems like you're making a statement about who you are, and what you are, when you curate your tastes online, but ultimately it ends up saying nothing at all besides that you're tuned into the same channel of static noise as the rest of your peers.
Your Tumblr then is like a band t-shirt you can wear to class every day, only it has room enough for every band, and every film, and every predictable internet meme you've ever heard of all at once. It seems like you're making a statement about who you are, and what you are, when you curate your tastes online, but ultimately it ends up saying nothing at all besides that you're tuned into the same channel of static noise as the rest of your peers.
I worry about what that means for our ability to express ourselves in the future, partly because I'm old, and the nature of being old is worrying about things like this, but also because being able to talk about what we like, and why we like things, (and more relevant to my interests, my we dislike things) without simply pushing a button that makes it so is what makes art and media culture so satisfying to enjoy.
Perhaps it's just a passing phase, something the kids will grow out of, but I'm not so sure. To paraphrase George Orwell (via Miranda July), if you want a vision of the future, picture a blogger posting the same retro film still back and forth. The same poop. Forever. ))<>((
Perhaps it's just a passing phase, something the kids will grow out of, but I'm not so sure. To paraphrase George Orwell (via Miranda July), if you want a vision of the future, picture a blogger posting the same retro film still back and forth. The same poop. Forever. ))<>((
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38 comments:
Great for porn though. Is it not the case that this is true?
Is it even though? That's what I hear lots of people saying, but why not go to an actual porn site for porn?
Have you read any Douglas Rushkoff? I think you'd like him.
don't think so. anything in particular?
I've been reading his blog and online articles for CNN about OWS among other things, but his new book "Program Or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age" is supposed to be really good, I need to pick it up asap. Very intelligent media theorist. Def worth following on Twitter too.
State Dept Tumblr fwiw http://statedept.tumblr.com/
I have a feeling the kids can really vibe to that layout.
Whoops. I didn't mean to be anonymous. I, Susan Zalkind, am the jerk behind the State Debt tumblr comment.
Yeah. Totally targeting the right age demo. SZ
How can you argue the value of this?
http://samepicofdavecoulier.tumblr.com/
How many times have you seen something and said "great idea, poor execution"? Tumblr allows people with a good idea to show that they have a good idea without screwing it up with their words.
Haha ok that Coulier one just got me to chuckle out loud in a cab.
My first experience with tumblr was a lot like my first experience with coke. Seemingly cool, exclusive, and ego-boosting but actually pretty mundane and repetitive. Granted, I'm a 23 year old and what the fuck do I know, but I think you made a really interesting point about means of expression/communication. It seems that alot of people in my generation grew up under the belief that the most valuable barometer of self-worth is how many people liked/acknowledged you. Nothing new(you've addressed this in the past), but social media has highlighted/exacerbated this about ourselves.
On the DJ topic, reminds me of when my brother, who DJs, would brag about his DJing skills. Never said anything specific about his unique way of DJing or what tracks he loved, or anything specific. Just talks about how many people recognize on various campuses. Anyways good post.
I think it really is good for a certain type of wack material. You can easily use the notes to a picture you like to find way more pictures that are stylistically related.
Something about the format also makes pages made by idiots look pretty sophisticated too. The old playboy model was naked women and stereo speaker reviews. Tumbler pages replace the stereo speaker review with some thin slice of music/hobby/fashion taste that you care about.
Love my tumblr account more than FB. Yes, I have porn, but I have Star Wars, Food, and general SciFi/Fantasy pics and gifs. I have actually spent time talking to some of the people I follow and reblog what I like.
@greg do kids do coke anymore? That validation from likes counts for oldz who blog too. No one you'd know.
@anon1 I do think the design aspect is pretty great looking, and you're right about the juxtaposition thing. Also you sound old (via playboy reference)
@anon2 glad it has worked out for you. I've actually met some really cool people through blogging myself, which is weird.
Holy fucking wall of text, O'Neil. Couldn't ya dumb it down and post pics of a dog licking his dick ersumshit? Oooh wait, you're a bit Irish, how about those clever Meanwhile in Ireland dealios with the passed out micks? I don't know how much longer I can continue to READ. Icky. Pics, pics, pics!!! Tumblr 4 lyfe El On.
Here is a hilarious Tumblr with all original content.....but I think I'm actually furthering your case that Tumblr is turning kids into idiots...not sure Bennet uses the Interweb, though
http://textsfrombennett.tumblr.com/page/2
heh. seemed funny for a minute, but my verdict is FAKE
...but it says its real, daddy! dunno, it made me laugh.....fake or copy-written, i don't know if i really care. aren't all teenagers performance artists these days? aren't all of their words fake anyway? ...you want to hit this?
Haha, true. Nothing is real. Pass that shit over.
all teenagers or people in their 30s writing teenaged characters
same thing.
I thought "texts from bennett" was going to be text messages from William Bennett, Conservative Pundit.
Although if you read the site that way, it still works.
Ha, I kind of wish it was from my tight broski J. Bennett http://crynowcrylater.blogspot.com
I think this is one of my favorite posts here ever, meaning I'm old too and I agree.
Thanks Kirsa, I appreciate that. Getting old isn't so bad I guess, at least we can smell bullshit a lot quicker.
reblogged this from PTSOTL
haha, please feel free.
this "article" makes my eye's bleed. not everyone on tumblr is the same. sure, there are a lot of people who post the same things, reblog stuff, etc, but there are also a lot of other people who post to blog, to spread the word of what they do (photographers, bands, promoters, writers, artist's, etc). this make's me think that you aren't open to listening to other's opinions, and it also make's you look like everything you write, is a fact and is right.
i'm 20, and i've been on tumblr since 2007, when it was new. back then, you're opinion would have been the total opposite. there are a lot of people who use tumblr to blog. it's a popular site, and you're going to get a lot of those "unoriginal, the same thing, posting what's popular" blogs, but a lot of people, like myself, post my own things. sure, i reblog stuff, but it's because it relates to me.
i would/could say a lot more, but i'll leave it at that.
Yes of course, there are plenty of worthy Tumblrs. I don't think they illustrate what makes "Tumrblr" Tumblr-y though, Liz.
PS, I followed your link. This is probably relevant to your interests:
https://putthatshitonthelist.com/2012/02/top-100-emo-songs-evar-via-boston.html
Spot fucking on. Spot on, good sir.
@Liz... he's not saying that people on Tumblr are bad. He's saying that the culture of just reblogging and not saying anything is frivolous and a vain waste of time. It is.
I spend hours creating music, writing poems, editing videos and I get about 60 "likes". Some kid tags "Lol, look at this" to someone else's work over and over and suddenly he has a book deal.
Precisely, Chris.
Tumblr is like wading through an undeveloped psyche with a strobe light.
Spot on about the lack of creativity. Combine it with the rampant narcissism that floods online culture these days, and you get the unoriginal trainwreck that is most tublr pages.
Don't forget the long hair and silly pants! Err wait, that was 30 years ago. My bad! Or is it 40 years ago? 50? Hmm. Damn them kids at the bar spending all their time dancing and swirling around! How dare they spend any free time what so ever.
Gee ... that's like 70 years back. I better quit while I'm ahead. Wouldn't want to be here all day and night teaching you about history.
And no, I don't use tumblr (you do) but you still piss me off. Maybe you should put down the book and pick up a dictionary.
ok, but what book?
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