How does Tumblr function as a Digital Community?
Social mediaâs primary benefit for users around the world is that it âalter[s] the nature of our connections, creations, and interactionsâ (Van Dijck 2013, p. 18) with others who we would know personally or not at all. Â Social media platforms have created a safe space for âniche communities to formâ (Kruse, Norris, Flinchum 2018, p. 65) and to express their ideas, opinions and values without judgement. Tumblr allows for groups of people to create online communities that are based around significant ideas or values in which they all share and thus makes it easy to block those who you do not want to associate/communicate with.
Furthermore, the idea that âsocial identity among members is an essential condition for considering a social group to be a community (Mousavi, Roper, Keeling 2017, p. 377) is relevant in this case, as Tumblr also enables users to create their own profiles and create an online identity and represent their opinions on a worldwide platform.
Tumblr has multiple features that many other social media platforms obtain in order to appeal to those audiences who âuse social media to share personal experiencesâ (Keller 2019, p. 4). This is demonstrated by the idea that, similar to popular social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, Tumblr allows anyone to post or comment on someone elseâs blog. This is because it is built around seven post types, being text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio and video, which allows users to easily share different forms of media on the same platform. Consequently, Tumblr makes it possible for people to âfoster a new sense of community and a new level of awarenessâ (Cross 2011, p. 7) in regard to serious subjects, such as social issues and politics, or even fun-loving things such as memes and gaming. An example of this is that there is a wide range of very small to very large sized political comments made regarding particular politicians, such as Donald Trump, either praising him or memes being made about him. Moreover, less serious subjects such as the game series âCall of Dutyâ is quite popular on Tumblr with memes being made, as well as short videos of gameplay, with thousands of people commenting on these posts and showing support for others. Therefore, Tumblr allows users to join groups and blogs that would personally identify with them and make them feel part of a real community on a digital format.
Cross, M, 2011,Bloggerati, Twitterati: how blogs and twitter are transforming popular culture, 1stedn, ABC-CLIO, Ebook Central (ProQuest)
Keller, J, 2019, ââOh, Sheâs a Tumblr Feministâ: Exploring the platform Vernacular of girls social media feministsâ, Social Media + Society, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 4
Kruse, LM, Norris, DR, Flinchum, JR, 2018, âSocial Media as a Public sphere? Politics on Social Mediaâ, The Sociological Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 65
Mousavi, S, Roper, S, Keeling, KA, 2017, âInterpreting social identity in online brand communities: Considering posters and lurkersâ, Psychology and Marketing, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 377
Van Dijck, J, 2013, The culture of connectivity: a critical history of social media, 1stedn, Oxford University Press, Ebook Central (ProQuest)