In her 2023 article for Wired, Elizabeth Minkel writes that one of the biggest charms of Tumblr is that it's like an improv space. Users on the platform seem to interact in a "yes, and" kind of way: one user posts a story and another comments with beautifully done art. If you're familiar with the Goncharov meme, you know that some Tumblr users even invent movies and others just go along with it.
At the moment, Tumblr is like a safe refuge for some. No crazy billionaire CEOs, no rampant misinformation; just art, vibes, and (silly)posting. Minkel discusses that the owners should perhaps stop trying to make Tumblr for everyone and trying to attract more users and focus on making it for those who want to be there.
"Internet person" and expert in online communities Allegra Rosenberg agrees: "Tumblr can be difficult to navigate for the inexperienced, ridden with parasitic beliefs and dangerous memes. You can easily get lost in the tags, sucked into toxic subcultures," she writes.
"[But] the creativity of Tumblr visible from second-hand glimpses on other platforms is only the tip of an iceberg that encompasses enormous amounts of perpetual creative energy, generated by the affordances of the platform's much-loved functions, traditions, and communities," Rosenberg says, defending the platform.
