reasons why tumblr remains the Superior Social Media™
there are no influencers. there's no audience. no one is earning money from posting. we're all just doing it for the love of the game.
there's no shitty AI feature being shoved down your throat every time you open the app. no chatbot, no pop-up asking you if you want to drastically transform the picture you're about to post, no captions suggestions, no AI overview in the search feature.
no doomscrolling. there are barely any videos on here anyway and the ones you see, you just watch them and move on. you're not tempted to keep scrolling till eternity.
you curate your own feed. there is an algorithm (i think) but it's not as invasive as other apps.
you don't have to share any of your personal information. there's no two-factor authentication.
there are ads but they're not as unavoidable and obnoxious as other apps. yes, some of these ads are AI slop and i hate them but they're definitely easier to avoid imo.
this website is about community. referring back to my first point, since there are no influencers, there is no hierarchy. it's a playground rather than a stage show. the fun comes from participation, not mindless consumption.
and on that note, some of the most iconic memes have originated on tumblr because of this community aspect. the joke would be way less funny if it was just one person saying the joke and everyone else laughing. the fun comes from the "yes, and" from everyone else.
yes, shitty people still exist here but the website itself doesn't push toxicity to the forefront. if you open the comment section of any instagram post or reel, the comment with the most replies are often displayed first. why? because those are the controversial/problematic ones. tumblr doesn't have that. if you see a toxic comment, that's just a coincidence, not tumblr trying to make you engage in an argument.
the layout is simple and fairly easy to navigate. they're not changing things up every few months so that when you try to go to chats, you accidentally click on a fucking AI feature. i know some other people have complained about changes in the tumblr layout but i find it a lot less offensive than other apps.
it's a tribute to the early internet, especially the blog aspect. how many blogging websites still exist? how many social media apps allow you to decorate and modify your profile outside of profile pic, header and description? tumblr just feels more alive and less corporate. of course there's a corporation behind it, but it's not some asshole billionaire trying to shove generative AI down your throat and take all your money.
feel free to add on! i feel like we need to appreciate this hellsite (affectionate) a lot more in these trying times
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