Hi!! I hope everyone has been having a good week! I've been following this blog for a really long time, pretty much since I got into K-pop as a shawol years ago. I'm a student anthropologist currently taking a sociocultural anthro course and am doing research on the culture of Tumblr. May I ask, what are your thoughts on Tumblr and the Tumblr K-pop community? Thank you!!
Ok *clears throat* (get ready for a long post.) In this essay I will...
This is a loaded question lol! As someone who studies socio-cultural psychology, there is a lot to unpack. In a nut shell I'd say that there are many things that still need to be addressed on this site. Things like the obvious hate culture, racist culture, the child p*rnagraphy, the obsessive culture, anti-women, and the anti-lgtb just to name a few. I know you find that through out the internet as a whole, but this space could be made safer than what it is. This site wants to act like it is watching for "hurtful" things that they deem intolerable, but they miss the mark so much that they are tagging innocent people's blogs and ignoring blatant nastiness on others. But I still say it's better than the bird app lol! If used as intended, it's a good place for people to make and personalize their own space to create, find people who are interested in the same things or just want a more laid back feel.
The Kpop community has its ups and downs too, just like any other fan based community. When people just come together to appreciate good music and have fun interactions with each other and the idols, the Tumblr Kpop community is a lot of fun. Of course we know that people are going to be people. The problem for me is the anit-black and obsessive nature of it. Also the fans who get mad at other fans who really don't want to make Kpop a full time job. Or the ones who want to put down other groups to try bring attention to their own favs. Or those who try to sweep their problematic idols behavior under the rug or make excuses for them, the age judgment and I can't tell you the amount of backlash I have received because I don't deal with shipping. So yeah tumblr Kpop has its issues. But to me, it's still better than the toxicity, and cancel culture you find on the bird app.
Could it be better, yes. They really need to address more issues than what I have listed. We would be here for days if I went in deep. I hope I have answered your question in some small part. If you don't mind, I will open this up to everyone else who may be able to cover more than I have, or go more in depth to the topics I have brought up. Thank you so much for your ask! I enjoyed it!
-Admin Sam