For better or for worse, Tumblr played an integral part in shaping millennial and Gen Z internet culture. Hipsters and rabid fans converged on one highly-inclusive, identity-driven micro-blogging platform. In recent years, however, Tumblr has been suffering through a long, painful flop era.
Like many others in the millennial-to-Gen-Z category, certain online communities helped shape my adolescent identity. Some pre-teens racked up hours on Poptropica, adopted scene girl personas on MySpace, or got an early start on Instagram, but I was a bonafide “Tumblrina.”
While many users loved the microblogging website for simply collecting aesthetically-pleasing images, I was part of the cohort that clung to communities known as fandoms for both mainstream and niche shows, books, games, and music. The culture on Tumblr was largely painted by the latter.
Whereas 4chan felt more like a space for right-of-center men, Tumblr was a safe haven for liberal, feminist women. Both communities seethed at the thought of one another. Both have fundamentally altered the course of modern politics. But only one is unquestionably to blame for the bewildering normalization of Marxist ideology that’s ravaging all mainstream institutions. Here’s how Tumblr rose to notoriety, reprogrammed the minds of many, and then took us all with it in its downfall.