FORGOTTEN HISTORY: The worst of tumblr - Caught on Camera

Part of the appeal of Tumblr was its key differences with other social media. Instead of focusing on the individual person, the focus revolved around fandoms, art, memes, and discussions. One’s personality plays a part in what one creates, but the anonymity did allow for more freeform content. 

It’s not surprising that many artists, actors, and musicians all had Tumblr accounts at some point, before, during, and after fame. Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and even Ryan Reynolds have and perhaps still are allegedly Tumblr users. While one does not have to stay anonymous on Tumblr, it no doubt adds to the appeal. 

While still quite popular, or at least recognizable, Tumblr is still a pretty niche platform compared to giants like Twitter or Facebook. While this might mean less revenue for its owners, the flip side is more focused content and a more consistent demographic. The vast majority of its users were teens and college students, with at least half of its active user base being younger than 25. 

Unlike many other social networking sites, Tumblr users are surprisingly prolific, as many do make their own content. In 2019, there would be over 21 million posts made a day, despite only approximately 30 million active users at that time. Compared to Facebook or Instagram, where the majority of users almost never post anything, it’s still a vibrant community, if somewhat reduced over the last few years. 

This reduction in content and usage came about in 2018 when adult content was banned in an attempt to make the platform more marketable. This, predictably, backfired, as more adult-style content was quite popular. The anonymity and relative freedom of content originally made Tumblr a haven for people exploring their sexuality and researching others’ experiences. 

While many assume that the rapid reduction in usage following the adult content ban indicated that much of Tumblr content was not for children, statistically, only approximately 22% of its traffic was specifically for this sort of content. Many left the platform in protest, not so much because they needed it for adult content, but because they did not like the direction it was going.