(nostalgia) 1- Tumblr

I miss Tumblr.

I miss endlessly scrolling for hours upon hours.

I miss the aspect of discovery.

I miss linking with new people and making new friends from all over the world. 

I miss the unfiltered search bar. 

I miss seeing the same posts reappear over and over again. 

I miss it being completely free- a personality dumping ground. You could post and share whatever. Endless hours of exploration. Everyone I knew was using it- we’d connect, chat and talk endlessly about it at school. 

But now you hear nothing about it.

Tumblr is dead?

The death of Tumblr is said to be when the service decided to ban NSFW content- something which upset a huge portion of the user-base, and a key drawing point to the site. Users were able to explore their inner most desires and fetishes, connecting with other like-minded individuals. That section of the site was never really for me, but it was east to find, if you really wanted to.

Personally I believe Tumblr died long before that. 

For me Tumblr was a social phenomenon like Instagram and TikTok now, or Twitter and Facebook, Myspace and MSN Messenger. It was an online space where people were able to be whomever they wanted, connect with their friends outside of school and discover new things. As teenagers, it was a huge part of growing up and forming our early personalities, likes and dislikes. It helped shape the personalities of a generation. Me, and everyone else spent every waking hour scrolling, sharing, commenting and messaging. There were only so many people to meet and connect with at school. Outside of school was limited too. But online (Tumblr), it was so easy- you just had to check a posts activity log, access a profile and hit the follow button. Through Tumblr I was able to meet girls, discover new music, films, literature etcetera. I honestly feel I became the young adult I am today thanks to Tumblr. 

But, as for all generations, our generation soon became older and finished school- just with the blink of an eye we were saying goodbye to our teenage years, going to university, starting jobs and joining society. Suddenly our whole world widened. We don’t have enough time anymore to spend aimlessly scrolling online. We’ve already formed and shaped our likes and dislikes. Our avenues for meeting like minded people also widened, and we don’t need to rely on Tumblr anymore. We moved on, and got bored of newer social networking services. With the click of our fingers, Tumblr became a distant memory. 

Tumblr died because we grew up. 

Now it’s just a nostalgia trip. 

I can still remember the posts that showed up on my feed over and over again, hitting the share button every time. I remember signing up and making my first posts- writing about my favourite Pink Floyd album (Meddle). Silently thinking it might go ‘viral’ and be shared everywhere. I can still remember the names of girls I messaged and exchanged Skype with; I even exchanged written letters with one of them. I can still remember the smell of her perfume wafting out of the envelopes as I carefully opened them. If i scroll through my Facebook friends list there are still a few names from the ‘golden age’ of Tumblr. I remember controversy in my friend group caused by a post someone shared. I remember how we’d all complain about how much we hate Tumblr, yet we are all completely addicted. Maybe it’s just a part of getting older- wanting to cling onto the old times and stay young; but I do miss it. 

Of course it still exists. I just don’t dare to log in and make a new account. There’s no need. No point. What would I even do on there? Probably just logout just as quickly as I logged in. I don’t have the time to scroll, and scroll, and scroll all evening- nor the desire. I’ve already moved onto other services and got bored of them. Back then I could spend every living moment scrolling online; now I soon run out of things to do. 

It’s been replaced by work and adulthood. 

Just the nostalgia is enough for me.