Late Gen X-ers had AIM, early Millennials had MySpace and Facebook and late Millennials, the ones who always refer to themselves as being "90s babies," had Tumblr. Was it wildly inappropriate to have a Tumblr at the age of 13? Considering the weird fanfiction and NSFW content produced on the site, heck yes. Did us tumblr kids turn out a little weird and cynical? Definitely, but we're really "culturally aware" young adults now. If you were, or still are, a Tumblr kid, here are some things you'll remember:
1. "Nice Shoelaces..."
If you don't understand this, leave now. (I'm kidding, but 2012 me would have been serious).
2. You thought you were a fantastic photographer and photo editor because you followed one photography blog that taught you about "bokeh" and the importance of exposure.
There was a point in time when people would beg me to edit their photos... we don't talk about that time.
3. You know the horror of "night blogging."
"CRAZY THINGS HAPPEN ON TUMBLR AFTER MIDNIGHT LOL OMG" roughly translates to "WE'RE ALL HYPED-UP ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND MOUNTAIN DEW."
4. You made yourself a "fangirl card."
I don't even know how to begin to explain this...
5. You let literally everyone know you were part of whatever fandom you were in at any possible moment.
Looking at you, my classic rock fandom "bbz."
6. You had, or wanted, Missing e.
Does this even exist anymore?
7. You nearly died when you found out about "alt + reblog."
Your reaction was probably similar to this:
8. You remember the fanfiction.
We made Tina's Erotic Friendfictions look like nursery rhymes.
9. You remember the pretentious "B&W" only blogs.
If you were that dedicated to reblogging and posting things that had no color, you deserve a gold star.
10. You thought you were "so different" and wanted to defect to England or America because you met people from other parts of the world.
We were the most cultured youngsters out there! ... If you hated me between the years of 2010 and 2013, I can totally understand.
11. When asked what sport you play, you'd say you "tumbl" and chuckle.
It's a sport okay!?!?!?!
12. You took part in many a key smash.
13. You spoke of your sorrows in the tags of a "." post.
The period was just the tip of an insane, adolescent iceberg.
14. Or if you weren't bold enough, you talked about your sadness under a "Read More."
15. You remember how we were so complicated that we had to say "GPOY" instead of "same" like we do now.
16. You had all the "ships" and "OTPs" in the world.
17. You used "~~~~" at every possible opportunity and sometimes, you would actually hit reblog alone so you could type "^This."
18. You would work for hours on your theme to make sure it showed your personality while also being minimalistic.
And eventually, you realized the only person who gave a dang about your theme was you.
19. You hated people with "autoplay" on their blogs.
20. You remember memes being macros.
Times were so much simpler.
21.You made contact with some of the first SJWs of mainstream internet.
Before commenting on a controversial post, your conscience would chime in with a:
22. You wanted an instant messenger or to bring back unlimited asks...
But you were basically done with Tumblr by the time IMs and "fan mail" came along.
23. You got genuinely offended by ghost followers.
Why even fool with following me if you're not going to do anything? Rude.
24. And you'd feel so disappointed when your selfies wouldn't get any notes.
Looking at all my mutuals...
25. You had to put "(.)com" in any links you sent in asks.
We were in the dark ages.
26. You called quality posts "koala tea" and filled your queue with them while you went on vacation.
27. You were told to kill yourself by an anon simply because you disagreed with someone.
28. You hated the post limit with a flaming passion.
EVERYTHING WENT TO CRAP WHEN YOU TOOK OVER, YAHOO.
29. You probably wanted to be Tumblr famous for having a nerdy/"soft grunge"/hipster blog.
But you came across as a music-obsessed weirdo instead.
30. You took part in glorification of being antisocial.
31. You had to block all the NSFW blogs who would follow you for no reason.
What was so intriguing about my Jimmy Page-loving, mudshark-referencing, TFIOS-obsessed blog???
32. And you remember the joys of accidentally following a blog that posted NSFW things...
How did you find out about these posts? Because your parents were sitting near you and dirty things would conveniently pop up on your dash.
33. After seeing something hilarious, you would say, or type, one of the following:
"I can't even," "I'm literally dying" or "What is air!?"
34. You kept your blog so secretive that even your close friends didn't know about your Tumblr.
And you'd nearly crap your pants when someone would say "so I heard about your blog..."
35.You used the "ovaries explosion" GIF anytime you saw a hot person.
36. You had a secret rant blog.
Where else were you going to let our your aggressions about your fandoms?
37. You played "Found the vegan!" on long posts.
38. And you always reblogged the photo of "Our Creator and Savior, David Karp."
39. And you made sure to reblog the more terrifying "reblog or your mom will die in 5465 seconds" posts.
I mean we were kind of obligated!?!?!?
40. You survived the multiple ship wars.
If you weren't involved, you probably hunkered down on your dash like:
41. Even if you didn't want to admit it, you were waiting for one of your original posts to go viral so you could achieve at least some sort of fame.
And finally
