Tumblr? I hardly know her!
I have decided to log back onto this website that was the guardrails of my adolescence. Embarassing enough as it is to say, it absolutely formed me into the nearly 24 year old I am today. I want to post some musings into the ether, as I'm sure there are very few old acquintances here. I wanted a place to share my opinions since I no longer have an english class to write abhorrently long essays about how much Sylvia Plath's husband hated her and how many of my teenage opinions are correct.
I do have to credit the discourse on this website for really challenging my thought process and confronting my 12 year old brain with social issues that would give generations previous a migraine instantly (re: telling grandad about he/him lesbians if I don't get a switch for christmas). Being a fully formed adult with a job and all that craic, I have realised in this new internet and world is becoming impossible to navigate without sacrificing some part of emotional or mental sanity. Tumblr really taught me that I am going to see SO many opinions at once, so many arguments and so many things to have in mind at all times. I think it was a big warm-up for today's web-scape.
People always say that the news is only bad news. I still don't know if I believe that to be true. What I do believe is that news isn't news anymore. Attention has been monetised and monopolised by short-form content and clickbait and crap. There's plenty of videos analysing that which do a much better job of explaining that than me. But because of the nature of how money has to be made nowadays, facts really do not matter anymore. Opinions and algorithms rule. I mean you see what happened to twitter, all because of one mans neurotic ego a gargantuan platform has completely had all integrity ripped away to become a fascist propaganda machine that Goebbels could only DREAM of.
A large part of why I came back here was the difference I could see across my socials. I follow mostly the same people and same content across the board, always have. However I find the bubbles* I have been put into to keep me engaged in content have ended up not showing me the actual reflection of the majority of people's opinions. That also could just be due to the fact that most people (particularly during and after Covid), got thrown into their own social media bubbles that have further instilled their thoughts and opinions with 0 outside influence and challenging. The bubbles I am in show me left leaning pro-palestine, anti-capitalist, pro LGBTQ+, pro immigration etc. Yet I know for a fact that it's not by any good nature I am being shown this or that it necessarily is the truth/ sentiment held by majority of people, it is purely because it is keeping my engagement. Same goes for people who are going to be on the complete opposite end of that spectrum. *(bubbles referring to the social media circles showing only the content you subscribe to/ engage in. Not just social media either, also google results, youtube, etc all based on cookies and user history all that jazz).
On twitter however, that bubble does not exist because it is used as such a weapon by the far-right and the (quite frankly) losers. It is not hidden by any means that they do not want left content there. Fair enough says you. I am weirdly thankful for this. Twitter does NOT show you things you want to see. It pretty much does the exact fucking opposite because it has a goal of pushing a rhetoric and is created with a goal in mind; profit and chaos by any means necessary. Sounds dramatic, but because of this it has remained as one of the only places to have your opinions challenged and tested. Unfortunately, your opinion is getting challenged by some of the most rock-dumb, unempathetic psycho Nazis on the planet. I do believe it is necessary to see this and understand what and where the lunatics are saying/ coming from and the pipeline that they go down. Not necessarily to engage and try changing their minds (as I think we all know most are past the point of return) but to steel ourselves. To be able to mentally diffuse yourself and keep your opinions rock-solid.
The issue with this: mental despair lmao. It is absolutely soul crushing to see seemingly 1000s of people not caring/ actively hoping for your demise. The only actual antidote to this is touching grass. For Real. Demonstrating, going outside and talking to people. Meeting people at conventions, bars, parks, fleamarkets, the back of a police van. Whatever works. Ultimately going outside and being around people, not just your friends. Only then do you see that the majority of people are not bad at all. Same opinions may not be shared, but that vitriol that exists on a keyboard simply does not exist to the scale it seems in real life. Is it still more people than one would like who are right leaning, pro israel, anti trans, racist etc? Yes. But the problem also goes for their side. They are sucked into this cycle and also don't go outside at all, and are now worse than the "tumblr tweens" of days gone by fighting over nonsense ships and flags.
This hollowing of centrist people and governments is a HUGE symptom of fascism and is one of the biggest precursors for it. Fascism is entirely rooted in Nationalism and passion. It preys on the division. Read "the Anoatomy of Fascism" by Robert O Paxton for much much more. I just think the only thing we can do for sanity and longevity/ results is action. Demonstrations and meet-ups, fundraisers and club nights. Hang out outside for a bit and you do see that people generally are much nicer that on the screen. It gives your brain a little bit of relief.
Basically, the discourse I was involved in on tumblr helps me today to just get the fuck off the internet and get outside. My opinions got pretty set and stable during those years and I am very grateful that I know how to fight for myself and I don't get sucked into the wrong side because of the bubble I am in. The internet is a different place now but at least I'm an adult with shit to do. I feel very bad for the kids nowadays and I hope they have some sort of safe space in this cacophany of opinions and awful people.
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