Tumblr is an online blogging community mostly visited and used by teenagers and younger adults. It’s a place to go to express yourself and relief stress from the day with people who are much like you. You get to surround yourself with these people by “following” their blogs; when one “follows” someone they will be notified on their own dashboard, which is sort of a news feed, whenever the blog is updated. The most frequent types of blogs you will find are ones with nothing but pictures. There are many different types of blogs- fashion, “hipster” ( people who value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter), grunge, funny, art, etc. My blog however, was one that couldn’t really fit into a category for it was simply a representation of myself and I, as a unique individual, am too complex to be labeled.
Over time I gained a substantial amount of followers, people who liked and were interested in who I am. I would follow many of these people because we were all so alike. Each one felt like a new friend I was making but I got to see the best parts of them. With seeing the inner psyche of each follower and person you follow, comes a sort of responsibility to be there when a fellow tumblr-er was upset.
Because it’s the internet, there is a lot less of a wall being put up by many of its users. People will be as honest as they can because there’s an illusion that one isn’t really talking to anyone. So, from time to time, there will be a post about how someone is having suicidal thoughts, and on the post, there will be comments from other bloggers praising and loving the person, begging them to please be happy and continue living. It’s always something that’s absolutely beautiful to see because you’re reminded of the type of community that you’re a part of. A place to laugh, cry, and support one another, similar to a church youth group.
For some time I was only gaining followers, until one day I looked at my follower count and saw that I had lost one. Most people see something like that and brush it off, but I saw it, like I was losing a friend. Someone who had made me laugh and think deeply. Someone I would’ve been there for. The worst part about it was, that they just quit on me. By un-following me they said that they didn’t want to be there and they had no desire to be either. It made me reflect on the relationships I have with actual people; people from school and church, people who I call my friends. Upon reflecting, I realized that this wasn’t the last time I would have someone walk out of my life. This would happen time and time again and I would just have to move on because more people will come along. But no matter how many people I have close to me in my life, I only need me to be happy with me. As long as I care about myself, I know I’ll be okay.
