I love the internet. I've spent quite a bit of my life scrounging around the far-flung reaches of the web, and I like to think that I've learned quite a bit. I know where to find the best themes for your Tumblr, which Subreddits to avoid, how to navigate 4chan without losing (too much) of my soul. These websites are all beautiful and useful and incredibly good things, each one full of diverse communities and sub-cultures. But nothing is without its problems. Just as no place is a Utopia, no website is perfect. So let me reveal a little about these websites.

Tumblr has developed a strong identity of being for young, progressive, (mostly) females. One can create their own blog/account, follow any number of other blogs, and begin posting their own thoughts, reblogging other posts, or posting links from other websites. These blogs tend to be very personal to each individual, with the "about" sections of a typical Tumblr including information such as gender/pronouns, age, location (in vague terms), and interests. These blogs become like semi-hidden facebook profiles, sometimes being used for posts or shares that one wouldn't want their grandmother or close family to see. This ability to be personal but discrete is part of why the website also has a particularly strong LBTQA+ following. This mixture of personal, yet discrete, plus the anonymity of the internet (Never a good thing) leads to a perfect storm of bullying, threats, and doxxing (revealing personal information on the internet).
It has been said that the five pillars of Tumblr are "Pornography, Memes, Aesthetics, social justice, and fandoms."

1. Bullying To The Breaking Point

Tumblrs tend to be unique and personal to each person who runs them, becoming as close to the blogger as a facebook profile, and just as identifying. Users sometimes post selfies, personal rants, or otherwise use the platform as an outlet for frustration. These are all wonderful uses for the website. However, the platform is incredibly poor at preventing cyber-bullying, and in some ways accidentally promotes the behavior, thanks to how it allows anonymous users to attack those that put their identity front and center.

In 2015, Artist Paige Paz began to recieve unpleasant messages about the art she posted on her Tumblr. The artist drew fan-art of a variety of characters, putting her own flair on the creations. She gained some popularity for her art, which is by all means well made. However, she garnered hate for posting drawings of: what she felt one My Little Pony character would look like as a Native American, A thinner version of a more voluptuous character, and a now deleted drawing of a character with long blond hair instead of an afro. Once she posted these, she began to see the more hateful side of Tumblr. Paz received death threats, some posts and comments demanded she kill herself, all for the sake of "political correctness." Surely, some of her art could be at the very least "misguided" or uninformed, looking at the use of stereotypical Native American dress. But seeing as Paz was bullied into attempting suicide and leaving a note on her blog informing the public of it, one should hopefully realize that the offense taken had gone too far. Luckily, Paz is alive and well today, and still producing art. Hopefully she can avoid the toxic heart Tumblr-brand social justice.

2. Callout culture

Perhaps one of the most effective articles I've read on this particular topic is here. In short, Callout culture is a developing side of pseudo-social justice in which a person marked as "politically incorrect" or otherwise a bad person will have everthing they've said, done, or posted on the internet dragged out and laid out for other users to see. It has grown to be considered either lazy activism, or toxic finger pointing. Most of the time, the posts made on Tumblr are public, so anybody could have seen them at any time. But imagine having everything you've every said written out in front of you. It'd be quite a heft book, wouldn't it? Now imagine that every time you said something stupid, something offensive, or otherwise hurtful, was taken from that book and thrown at you. It would hurt. But when you say them over the course of weeks/months/years, they dissipate, they aren't important. But the growing method of calling out every last thing removes the benefit of time, compressing all of our bad deeds into posts that are implied to be proof that the person shown is a horrible human being, bereft of the ability to grow, learn, or apologize. There are many Tumblrs dedicated to this "justice," and it grows more and more popular on Tumblr in particular because of how so many users believe that they are doing the right thing, that they are pushing for social justice. Social justice and progress is laudable. Callout culture is none of those.

3. Tumblr Brand Social Justice

The past issues have related rather directly to this issue, but it deserves to be a post of its own. Now, social justice is a good thing. One can see social inequalities and injustices with just a short look at the news. However, Tumblr has fostered a twisted sense of entitlement in relation to social justice. Many on the website believe that they are the deciders of what is "acceptable" and "unacceptable" for people to do. Last summer, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts hosted "Kimono Wednesdays" to provide a deeper experience with Monet's "La Japonaise." The painting depicts his wife in a blonde wig, wearing a kimono, and the BMFA events were intended to attract visitors with a tactile experience to accompany the visual one. The Painting itself is believed to have been satirizing the offensive "orientalism" that many European artists partook in at the time. But many (largely white) Tumblr users took it upon themselves to criticize the entire museum for its offense - though few Japanese or Japanese Americans themselves took issue with it. Perhaps the events were - as many Tumblrites would put it - "problematic." but the discussion on Tumblr never got past being outraged. The discussion could have entered whether or not these visitors were being educated about the history of the Kimono in and outside of Japan. But they would rather callout the problems they see without putting any effort or conversation.

The Tumblr brand Social Justice is radical, often joking or making comments about killing all men (Perhaps facetiously, perhaps not). It often disregards an accomplishment just because a man is the one doing it. Regardless of their own race, they will often post or comment on "cultural appropriation" without considering the enjoyment that so many people get out of sharing their culture, especially when we live in an era where so many cultures are dying off, or being lost forever.

There is nothing wrong with being politically correct, or pursuing an environment where there is no need to hide who you are. Tumblr provides an incredible space where one can be a part of a community that they love and identify with. This should be a good thing. But as of today, Tumblr is populated by people who have no solid direction or goals for justice, resulting in petty attacks, uninformed judgement, and cruel actions against anyone perceived as being against them. I love my Tumblr, but I don't have much love for what Tumblr is becoming.