Today is my last day at Tumblr.
For the past three years I have gotten out of bed, hopped on a train, walked through a frosted glass door with a “t” logo on it, and lived a dream that never stopped coming true. Tumblr is filled with the most intelligent, passionate, creative, and dedicated people, and getting to surround myself with that all day for such a long period of time has been a privilege I’m not sure I could have ever earned. I’m sincerely going to miss it, but I have to continue forging my own story and living my best life.
The most impressive thing about the people at Tumblr is that nobody here is just punching the clock. Every single person cares about the product and the community. It’s infectious. Even people who come to Tumblr just for the technology or opportunity have found immense joy in creating and sustaining a platform that gives a voice to millions of people around the world. You might expect that sort of dedication in something of high ideals like space exploration or cancer research. But to see it in a whimsical platform for creative expression that treats celebrities, nobodies, minorities, the marginalized, the downtrodden, and the downright absurd as equals is incredible. And why shouldn’t that be a high ideal? Anyone can come to Tumblr to have a voice and tell their story. It’s a service that this ever-divisive world needs more and more.
Of course, Tumblr is never perfect. Nothing created for millions of people will be universally loved. But I can tell you that everyone at Tumblr genuinely cares. They read feedback from the community and really do take it to heart. And when you do that, you become well acquainted with the popular meme of hating Tumblr for the changes that they make. I get it. It’s edgy, it’s cathartic to complain. But remember, there are real humans on the other side reading your feedback, taking it to heart, and tossing in the dark at 3AM trying to figure out how to make Tumblr better, how to improve one little thing for millions of people, how to make someone they’ll never meet happy. These people love and use Tumblr just as much as you do, and they’ll continue to work tirelessly to make it better.
So as I move out of Tumblr and on to new and exciting challenges, I want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank everyone at Tumblr. You may know them as “Tumblr Staff,” the meme, the unfeeling monolith of little foresight or regard. But I have known them all as individuals, and their obsession with Tumblr and their dedication to making it better and better transcends any concept of working at Tumblr as a job. It is a faith. And it’s one that I’ll never lose, even after they take my badge and gun at the end of the day.
And now, back to shitposting. It’s been incredible, Tumblr, and I’m so honored to have been a part of it.
