Tumblr has a pretty bad reputation for being filled with weirdos who are way too invested in a particular group (fandom), for being a home to "Social Justice Warriors" (that’s a whole different post, for another time) and for laughing at things are not obviously funny.

For example, I love this:

This is the post that started my friendship with Susan.

Also, there’s this tendency to refer to yourself as garbage, trash, etc. That wouldn’t normally be funny but it just somehow is, like in this great Valentine:

There are tons of these, most of them hilarious, that crop up just in time for Valentine's Day.

And of course, who could forget those inexplicable memes that crop up and inevitably get pushed into mainstream pop-culture only to then be exploited by companies looking to “connect with the youth of today” or something:

This is a vintage 2013 meme, I'll have you know. I think later some random company tweeted it or something. I don't understand why.

Finally, here's a Vine that has circulated around Tumblr for a bit that literally never fails to make me gasp for breath because of how hard I'm laughing:

Comedic gold!

I think sometimes that being on Tumblr has completely ruined my sense of humor because I laugh at the most ridiculous things. And I was sure it made me a complete weirdo, outside of this place that's home to weirdos. But then I saw a post by Tumblr user inrealityadream that said:

They then went on to explain further, including some of the history behind Dadaism and some current events:

"In a way it could be a method of venting some of the frustration and hopelessness and dissatisfaction that tumblr’s userbase (largely, disenfranchised millennials) feels in the modern day. I can’t really speak for anyone else, but… at least from a US perspective, there’s plenty to be disillusioned about."

So according to them, and the more than 124,000 people who apparently agree:

"I can’t help but think that these factors (and more) could produce a similar mindset to the one that precipitated the first dada movement, so of COURSE we make nonsense jokes. it’s a coping mechanism for a world which doesn’t make any sense."

Then this lovely addition:

Word replacement extensions are both helpful and hilarious.

This post and others like it which defended the seemingly ridiculous and stupid humor that the "youth of today" enjoy as legitimate art and a response to anxiety about modern life urged along further discourse. I'll let you investigate a bit more on your own, but here's a helpful and funny post:

I'm sure it comes as a surprise to approximately no one that the Internet is a great tool for finding people and communities with whom you share interests. Tumblr is especially good at that when it comes to things like movies and TV shows and games. Also, studying, quasi-support groups for people struggling with a myriad of different issues, and dogs and plants!

But it's also a very helpful source of new information, and a great way to connect with some really great thinkers, who have interesting and important things to share.

Like this Vine, for example:

But really, I implore you all to check out some of the stuff that's being posted and shared by hundreds of thousands of people on this micro-blogging platform, and then ask yourself (and your friends and other Internet-friendly people), why it is that this humor is so prevalent and what does that mean?

Go laugh at it. Enjoy it. Maybe let it relieve you of some of that anxiety.

Have fun!