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Some sites really do have an “era,” a sort of golden age where all the content just had that magic touch that got people interested and invested. One such ecosystem was (or perhaps still is, for diehard fans) Tumblr.
The “Tumblr is Life” Facebook group is dedicated to sharing the best posts and memes from that very special part of the internet. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to add your own thoughts, experiences and stories in the comments below.
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Tumblr opened in 2007, founded by David Karp as a fusion of the classic blog and new short-form posting culture. What distinguished Tumblr early on was the ease and flexibility of use, nobody wrote about it just being for words or pictures, but rather a stream-of-consciousness dashboard where one could quickly post text, GIFs, quotes, songs, links, and "reblog" one another in a constantly mutating conversation.
Unlike most social sites, Tumblr encouraged anonymity, creativity, and untrammeled expression. You didn't have to use your real name, friend your real friends, or even add a profile photo. That freedom made it irresistibly appealing, especially to teenagers and young adults not represented anywhere else online.
By the early 2010s, Tumblr was a chaotic cultural universe. It became a haven for fandom communities, whether you were hooked on Doctor Who, Supernatural, One Direction, or Sherlock, Tumblr gave you a community where you could gather, scream into the void, and produce fanfiction, fan art, meta, and jokes so obscure it'd only be funny to the most hardcore. But it was never just about fandom.
#9
AnSi Bae 6 months ago
"when my cat got deadly sick she refused to eat a single thing and it had been days but when i started crying she ate just a little bit, and upon seeing how happy it made me, kept doing it whenever she could. now whenever im sad or crying she finds wherever i am with a mouthful of food and eats the pieces one by one, every time looking up at me making sure i was watching her eat it all because she knew it made me happy. and it DOES make me happy" (<-- that's my favorite internet cat story/meme, so wholesome)
Tumblr became an influential arena for explorations of identity, especially for queer teenagers, neurodivergent users, and people of color who discovered greater support and community there than they ever had offline. Social justice, mental health, and gender identity discussions thrived on the site well before they became popular culture subjects elsewhere.
#12
Meanwhile, Tumblr was strange. Splendidly strange. It was its own kind of humor, its own form of etiquette, its own language. You could scroll by a serious depression post and get to view a GIF of a raccoon pilfering cat food immediately afterward. There were entire pages of cursed images, surrealist memes, and photoshopped text posts with remarks that built up like an improv exercise gone off the rails. And all of it, down to your blog's color, your cursor icon, whether it autoplayed music, was customizable. No two blogs were ever the same.
#15
Yahoo acquired Tumblr in 2013 for $1.1 billion with dreams of tapping into its massive, youth-skewing user base. But the takeover was a tipping point. Advertisers just couldn't quite get to Tumblr's users, who actively resisted commercialization. Users openly mocked brand accounts, and monetization efforts were largely cringeworthy. Then the tipping point: in December 2018, Tumblr announced a blanket ban on adult content under the pressure of Apple and in response to the threat of illegal images on the site. The ban was implemented hurriedly and bungled, tumblr's AI image-detecting technology infamously marked anything from Renaissance masterpieces to pictures of knees as "explicit."
#18
The backlash was immediate. Artists, queer communities, and long-time users who relied on Tumblr as an avenue of expression were suddenly excluded or pushed away. Traffic plummeted by far. To most, it felt the soul of the platform had been ripped out.
Ownership changed again, first to Verizon (which owned Yahoo), then to Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, in 2019. On Automattic's watch, Tumblr stabilized somewhat and even regained some of its quirky personality. It added new features like "Communities" and tried to build a more positive moderation community, but the user base is small and muted compared to its earlier incarnation.
Despite all that, Tumblr still exists. In fact, one of the reasons it's been so enduringly popular is that it never did fit into the influencer-weighted, algorithmic design of other social media. You can't get as easily viral. There are no follower public counts or verification checkmarks. Users still share weird jokes, niche obsessions, all-caps emotional rants, and crudely cropped 2007 screencaps. Classic posts get re-posted, sometimes captioned "do you love the color of the sky," "yearbook of the internet," or simply "peak Tumblr."
#27
Gabby Ghoul 6 months ago
He should put down blank canvas, have the cat walk through paint, and then sell the paw prints on the canvas as "cat art." I'd buy it.
While TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter (formerly X) dominate the mainstream, Tumblr persists like a stubborn, cozy, haunted house whose every room is decorated by its former inhabitant. It's not for everyone, but for those who've liked it, it's less a place and more of a mood, a scent, a muddle of in-jokes that continue to pop up like ghosts. In an age obsessed with being up-to-date, Tumblr thrives in virtue of its perpetual crassness. It is no longer the center of the internet, but one of its odder and most charming niches.
#34
Orange Mum 6 months ago
If this would have been a government initiative, it would have cost at least 12 million dollars
#41
FreeTheUnicorn 6 months ago
Cheaper to get a month's worth of regular birth control.pills. the actual number (2-5 and how far apart your should take them) depends on which pill you have but they can be used as emergency contraception. Plan B you only get one incident's worth and it is obvious abortion was the intention. If you "just got mixed up with your daily pills ", there's no way to prosecute, and there won't be anything of note on any medical records, because having dialy pills waiting for when you want to start them is legal.
#47
April Pickett 6 months ago
I talk to my cats all the time, and they answer. I had a Siamese (Ralph), and we'd get into it about something he had done. I'd fuss at him, and he'd answer me; this would continue for a few minutes. I never won an argument with him. He always had the last meow, sitting in the hallway with his back turned to me.
#49
The Big Bad 6 months ago
Next thing you know he's wearing her clothes, laying in her bed, just waiting for someone to bring him cookies and wine. I know it's not a wolf, but close enough.
#52
Geoffrey Scott 6 months ago
Principal had a kid in his office due to disruption, and asked him to sort out some things he needed arranged. Principal left, and came back and every..single..one (there were about a hundred)was sorted by shape and color and lined up. IMO that kid had a future in logistics, principal agreed.
#57
The Big Bad 6 months ago
I thought myself to cut hair and I just took some sewing lessons. Next is some handy 'man' work. My dad only thought my brothers the things I would "get a husband for" :'). F**k that. I'm going to hang up my own lamps.
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April Pickett 6 months ago
If you don't like cats, and come to my house, she will be all over you sniffing, nudging, and sitting by you. She knows you don't like cats, so she will do these things to try to get you to leave.
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#71
Luke Branwen 6 months ago
I also feel sorry for Netflix-era kids because they won't experience shows properly = 30 episodes per season released WEEKLY. Those "shows" with 8 episodes released all at once ain't "shows" anymore in my book. Those are 8-hour movies split into several parts.
#76
Robert Millar 6 months ago
They've been singing the "Hole in my bucket" song and Henry has the axe.
#77
Uncle Panda 6 months ago
I'm ready for my props for keeping the entire state of Idaho 100% iceberg-free for yet another day.
#78
detective miller's hat 6 months ago
This made me think of the time my cousin and I were in the airport waiting to board our flight, but it was delayed for an hour so we started playing hide and seek in the waiting area. By the end of the hour, we were playing hide and seek with an entire football (soccer) team whose flight to London was also delayed. We were all in our early 20s.
#79
April Pickett 6 months ago
Well, you moved in, now you can move out, or you could have your neighbor teach you about bees.
#88
#92
Luke Branwen 6 months ago
"Flying through the air at speeds of Fast™" is such a great and purely Tumblr-y phrase.
#94
Helena 6 months ago
Really? From my experience it was 'quit crying or I'll give you something to cry about'. mom ready my diary so many times I came up with my own cypher/language. She could also swing a mean yardstick. And I've been responsible for my little sister since I was 4. I may need to look into this therapy stuff
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#99
Crystalwitch60 6 months ago
Smeghead ffs what is wrong with u you disgusting inhuman !! This is. Little girl battling cancer ffs ! How vile are you ! Go crawl back I. To mummies basement n learn some dam empathy ! oh n GET A LIFE TROLL
#104
Judy Reynolds 6 months ago
Hope she makes sure the park is not sprayed with weed killers! And I use dandelion leaves in my salads.
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Luke Branwen 6 months ago
Hunter Schafer is stunning. All trans people are stunning. Happy Pride! 🏳️⚧️
#120
kissmychakram 6 months ago
My grandfather became Big G when my niece, his great-granddaughter was born. He loved it. My BIL is Poppy to his grandchildren.
#122
Morris McGurk 6 months ago
I live in Australia, so I basically already do this, minus the mansion.
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What do you think ?
General Anaesthesia 6 months ago
"Tumblr is life" scraped from Faecesbook, run through BP's primitive censorship filters, attributed to Justin Sandberg and posted.
Lene 5 months ago
I'm still on tumblr and I don't understand why ppl think it's dìed down in any way. It is there and thriving. Tumblr is doing just fine, thank you very much, and I think that more ppl should join. Just to have more nice blogs/people to follow. (Sure, there are bad stuff on tumblr as well, but at least we can swear there all we want. Lol)
Robert Beveridge 6 months ago
Tumblr WAS life. I'm amazed it even still exists after the p**n ban.
General Anaesthesia 6 months ago
"Tumblr is life" scraped from Faecesbook, run through BP's primitive censorship filters, attributed to Justin Sandberg and posted.
Lene 5 months ago
I'm still on tumblr and I don't understand why ppl think it's dìed down in any way. It is there and thriving. Tumblr is doing just fine, thank you very much, and I think that more ppl should join. Just to have more nice blogs/people to follow. (Sure, there are bad stuff on tumblr as well, but at least we can swear there all we want. Lol)
Robert Beveridge 6 months ago
Tumblr WAS life. I'm amazed it even still exists after the p**n ban.
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