so i’m tired of seeing clearly poorly informed people here turning on anon, hopping into people’s inboxes, and sending mean and hateful messages. it boggles my mind, truly, when someone thinks it’s a good idea to go on anon and send mean asks. and it hasn’t been just one or two occasional asks that we can brush off and move on from either (although those too, are completely uncalled for). it’s been repeatedly happening. perhaps you may not be aware but there’s actually a lot of better paths to take than anonymously sending hate! which is why i’m here today to educate some of y’all. it’s gonna be great. sit down, have a tea, eat a cookie, turn on some music, and learn a thing or two.
if you don’t like a certain blog/blogger, here’s a list of steps you can take!
unfollow! there’s actually a cute little button at the top right corner of every blog that you can use to do exactly that. click on it and do the thing. unfollowing means you will no longer get updates on your dash from that blog! amazing.
block! this one is like “unfollow” except upgraded! simply go to your blog settings and there will be a little section that says “blocked users”. you can add and remove users as you please! blocking means not only will you no longer see them on your dash, you won’t see them anywhere on the site! it’s like they don’t even exist! incredible.
don’t feel like using any of these solutions and still want to anonymously (or not anonymously) send nasty messages to someone simply because you are a mean and hateful person?
fuck off! this one is way easier than you think, i promise, just hear me out. take a couple deep breaths, remind yourself that you’re a better person than that, that someone can be really hurt by the words you say, that you are responsible for it even if you say them from behind a mask, and simply close the window. depending on your browser, this may mean clicking a little “x” or a little red circle on the top left corner of your window. if you’re on mobile that could mean simply leaving the blog or leaving the app entirely. it takes less than a second. good shit.
feel like none of the scenarios above apply to you? do you feel like your actions can be justified by the fact that the blogger you’re about to send hate to is known for being offensive/mean/abusive/etc.? did they insult you/your friend/a celebrity (group)/a fandom/etc.? do you feel like you’re doing the right thing by getting back at them? well i got a good one for you too!
report! this one is used for the bloggers that you know for a fact have openly said or done some awful things themselves. you can do this when you think that a certain user has been negatively contributing to the community and/or breaking tumblr community rules. instead of creating another version of them in yourself by sending nasty messages to them, simply report them. tumblr staff may not always be the best but you should let them handle those people instead. just because you are angry/upset now does not mean you have to personally attack anyone.
if you really feel like you have to make contact with them, try to have a civilized, constructive conversation. when that still doesn’t work, you can use any combination of the mentioned solutions to get the result that works best for you, whether that means unfollowing, blocking, reporting, fucking off, or all of the above. they’re all way cooler, better options. nobody will get hurt, nobody will care, and everybody will be on their merry fucking way.
this has been a motherfucking psa. have a lovely day you all.
