The fandom thing your talking about sadly exists everywhere. These days I see some nastier fandom related stuff happening on Reddit, Deviantart, and Twitter.
🍊orange fursona🧡
I still wonder how SJWs and the toxic fandom still survived for so long after the porn ban and how Wordpress bought the site for under 3 million dollars, which in my mind, is an undervalued price.
Edited by alnair20aug93 on Aug 17th 2019 at 10:04:05 PM
ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
The site doesn't seem to be great at making money, and isn't the best brand.
The porn ban didn't really fix anything. Even the pornbots are still there. And while some users were driven away, it was mostly just people who were positing actual porn and a fairly equal cross-section of everyone else.
Personally, the only ones still whining about "SJ Ws" in this day and age are alt-right shitheels and people associated with The Hashtag We Can't Name.
Its a word whose usage has gone from merely ugly to a snarl word by the worst people online.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I can confirm that. Used that buzzword unironically back in like 2014 to mid 2017 when it was cool to use it and there being people actually fitting that description. Using it ironically now upon realizing the people continuously using if unironically are just as bad, or rather worse, then the “SJ Ws” they demonize.
Seriously after going through way too many amateur critic Youtube channels who uses titles like “SJW”, “Woke” and (as of recently) “NPC” for complaining about shit they hate, it really clear that the guys don’t actually know shit. But hey that’s Youtube’s problem.
Tumblr’s problem is just the usual toxic sides of fandoms and regressive politics . . . oh wait that’s the same as Youtube’s problems, just more left leaning. Okay then money management . . . wait Youtube also have that problem. ALRIGHT THEN, not listening and constantly screwing over their aud- FUCK! Also Youtube.
. . . Okay then, both Tumblr and Youtube are trash sites. I guess I’ll stick with Newgrounds then. The worst thing about that site is its edgy humor.
Reddit is just as bad too. You can find everything bad pretty much on reddit.
I want to agree, but unfortunately I don’t use Reddit heavy enough to notice the shit end like I did with the other sites (sans Newgrounds).
I've found some decent communities on Tumblr, and some great essays on various works I'm interested in. But Tumblr, as a website, is just so terrible about so many things that I had to give up. The archive system is a joke, and the search function is worse. You want to find a specific post somebody wrote? Hope you saved a link, because otherwise you're never going to find it again. Even if you favorited it or reblogged it yourself, you're unlikely to find it again on your own archives.
The site is a Frankenstein patchwork that doesn't seem to have any idea what it actually wants to be. I hope that whatever replaces it has a place for fandom essays, but none of the ones I've seen (such as Newgrounds) seem to be making any effort to replicate that.
Agree. I even once started a blog dedicated to reviewing all of Marvel 2099 by order in storyline. I kind of lost interest in continuing it but do want to try again when I have the time.
But yeah the whole thing is a mess when it comes to archieving and linking.
Im not surprised. It was made ages ago and as it bloated in size it couldn't keep up.
Every accusation by the GOP is ALWAYS a confession.
...
One thing I don't like about Tumblr is that their mobile version is terrible. As in, their mobile site. It only scrolls so far and then tells you to download the app. If I'm just casually browsing without being logged into an account, why can't I use the website? No other website I've seen has this restriction of enforcing apps: it either has a mobile site and an app, or it just has an app.
The app is pretty trash anyway.
Takat Empress
I guess they are gonna rename the site, change the look, and remove anything "tumblr" about it to help get people into the site because as of now tumblr is a lost cause. Regardless of the porn stuff, the fact it drove away people means it hurt the brand as a whole. People won't come back unless it isn't the same-looking tumblr.
Mileena Madness
orbit
I've got what I think is a suitable re-haul of the Tumblr page ready if anyone wants to see? I'm not sure where to draft it. Do I edit the sandbox page, or...?
I'm just a dumbass who loves LOONA.
🍊orange fursona🧡
The Sandbox from your troper page, or Sandbox.Tumblr, either way.
orbit
Hello! I posted my re-haul of the Tumblr page on Tumblr's sandbox. Feel free to go there and tell me what you think of the page and what needs to be done before it can become official!
Here, I've compiled a list of cuts and alterations.
- Accentuate the Negative: The description of the trope from the old version of the page goes behind these notes for length's sake. This is a behavior that is Memetic Mutation (itself a YMMV) that not only didn't apply to the entirety of the site even at its most popular, but is also not descriptive of Tumblr alone—people still do that all over the web.
- Adorkable: note This describes people who have no explicit relation to the website, and furthermore describes fangirling that is a matter of taste and certainly not the broadest tastes out there. IIRC, Tumblr can't stand Benedict Cumberbatch these days.
- All Issues Are Political Issues: note This is, again, not applicable to the whole site or even a large portion of it, is not applicable to Tumblr by any greater margin than other sites, and indeed has become the subject of the mocking "in this essay I will—" meme.
- Anthropomorphic Personification: note Most Tumblr users would have no idea what you were talking about if you mentioned these. Incidences that become semi-popular on one section of the site shouldn't be troped unless it gets big enough that the whole site is aware of it. There are posts with hundreds of millions of notes—the only working link here has under 30,000.
- Arch-Enemy: Not pasting the trope description here because it's long, but the only one of them that's on the page right now that still even remotely applies is Facebook. Arch-Enemy situations like SomethingAwful and 4chan have long since faded, fandoms vs. hipsters was a conflict that lasted maybe 6 months and was mostly mocked, inter-fandom wars no longer happen, and meat eaters vs. vegans hardly qualifies.
- Ascended Meme: note While this was indeed incredibly popular on Tumblr, it wasn't the only site to have this phenomenon and most likely not the one that can claim credit for inspiring the ascension.
- Berserk Button:
- For most users, "We'll Be Back Shortly", and for others, the error page. This no longer applies as the site rarely if ever goes down.
- Do not make rape jokes; it will only end badly! This is a Berserk Button for the entire internet as a whole and long since has been.
- It is perfectly OK to blow off some steam and post about how much you vehemently hate something, but don't tag it. The fans of that thing who track the tag will see it and you will be ripped many new ones. This has largely become too contentious on the site for Berserk Button status due to how the search and tagging functions intertwine (and thus a post correctly tagged can end up in the fans' search anyway).
- Changes are never welcomed. Even if it's just a new button. True, but changes to the site have become less a Berserk Button and more of a never-ending nuisance.
- Know the difference between 'you're' and 'your'! The person who put this here owes me $20. This was a behavior that was widespread on the internet and was being mocked the whole internet over as early as 2012.
- Posting artwork without crediting the original artist ("sourcing"), and by extension, "editing" artwork (ie, "tweaking" them with graphics). Especially seen as a problem in fandoms of anime and Japanese games, where ignorant (or lazy) users often upload Japanese fanart without mentioning the artist, providing a link to their site, or putting links to the wrong source. This one might can stay, but it might be worth noting that it may have originated on the site, but it's a widespread criticism now.
- Two words: POST. LIMIT. I don't know why this is even here. Very few people blogged fast enough to reach post limit, and those that did just made sideblogs to get around it. Hardly Berserk Button material.
- The paid advertisements on Tumblr radar has, once again, inflamed the hearts of many. This one can stay with some adjustment. Tumblr has employed many tricks to get users to host their ads without their knowledge.
- As with all things, this has also been turned into a meme:
What you say about x?Hold my flower.Kick his ass, baby. I got yo flower. This belongs under Memetic Mutation.- Homophobia is very much hated on the site in general, which can be summed up with this quote:
- There are some hate blogs for celebrities in Tumblr, and as with the case of Miranda Cosgrove, will send angry hordes of jerks down the pipe. I don't even know what this one is talking about, but I have a very good feeling it doesn't fit either.
- Anything involving anorexia in a bright(...ish) light(headcanons, pro-ana blogs) is absolutely not welcome. Pro-ana movements have been almost eradicated, making this pretty much discredited.
- Cultural reappropriation, for a lot of SJWs. This includes wearing dreadlocks or bindis on white people. While the former have been worn by peoples from India all the way to Africa (and, by extention, the Caribbeans) and bindis are now worn throughout the entire Indian subcontinent regardless of age, sex, or creed, SJWs often point out that people from the cultures dreadlocks and bindis originated in face far harsher consequences (being deemed 'unprofessional' or prone to racist remarks) compared to white people doing it. Again, not a Berserk Button, and not any more prolific on Tumblr than anywhere else. The unironic use of "SJWs" here is also tasteless, especially if you're going to follow it up with a reason why they're right.
- Character Blog: The roleplaying community; to be more specific, there are ask blogs (either drawn, text, or cosplay) and rpers, which are split into independent rpers and members of a specific roleplay group. Probably older than most visitors think, but the majority of roleplayers are characters from newer series. You could just leave this at "the roleplay and askblog community" which took off on Tumblr due to the ease of format. Also "the majority of roleplayers are characters from newer series" ...I don't know what this is trying to say except "roleplayers kept up with new releases, isn't that nice". Axe it.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: note This was eventually phased out and replaced by "shitposting" as users grew older and sleeping patterns changed.
- Comically Missing the Point: note This style of humor goes beyond Tumblr and even beyond most blogging sites. For example, various Reddit forums aimed at exactly this type of humor.
- Cool Car: Lots of car porn. You could also find this on a car sales website. Hardly a trope applying to Tumblr.
- Cute Kitten: note See above. There isn't a single social media site on the web this doesn't apply to. At this point, I think it's fair to say that tropes like this belong on The Internet, and not the page for one specific site. Tumblr likes kittens because people in general like kittens!
- A Date With Rosie Palms: note This sort of trope is incredibly redundant. It's telling the reader that people on the internet masturbate, including on Tumblr, just in case they didn't know. Keep this sort of thing to fiction-related pages, please.
- Does Not Like Men: note The vocal minority described by this trope can be found anywhere on the web.
- Eagleland: note This has fallen out of favor with the Tumblr userbase for obvious reasons.
- Emo Teen: note This sort of thing should not be applied to real-life users. Most teens are emo at some point in their lives.
- Everybody Hates Mathematics: note A large chunk of most people hate mathematics. This is saying that the site is an example of a trope, instead of showing how the site provides an example of the trope.
- False Friend: note Troping real-life people is prohibited on the site for a reason. Especially if they are so small-time that it's likely a huge chunk of the userbase has no idea who they are.
- Fangirl: note This has died out over the years and was honestly no more or less notable on Tumblr than on any other site. The same goes double for Yaoi Fangirl in the indented example, which has experienced a strong pushback.
- Flame War: note I explained this one up under Berserk Button.
- Food Porn: This one can stay, I just can't really find a reason why a it's particularly notable part of the site.
- Foreign Culture Fetish: note This died out around the same time people stopped stanning Benedict Cumberbatch and Steven Moffat. You could add an Inversion, because people still really seem to hate France and the French language.
- Friendly War: note This has no reason to be here anymore. Most people in 2019 don't care what happened on Tumblr in 2012, and those that were there for it most likely want to forget it.
- Get Back in the Closet: note I don't want this added back because by the time this went down, most people that were upset about it were also pissed that it was necessary in the first place, since many of the userbase's calls to curb the porn bots fell on deaf ears until revenue was threatened. Many would also argue that it is impossible to welcome LGBT people into any space without also including discussions of sex, since this affects their lives so heavily. Regardless, it's a trope that in this case is highly YMMV even with context, so let's not put it back.
- A Good Name for a Rock Band: note Singular user examples like this don't help the reader understand what Tumblr is like.
- Gorn: This and the Goth entry should be removed because they can both be found in abundance all over the web, and Tumblr users tend to dislike the former.
- Hipster: note As described above in Arch-Enemy, this doesn't really apply anymore, hasn't for a while, and arguably never did. It's considered very tactless to call someone a hipster nowadays anyway.
- Hollywood Atheist: note Do not ever apply Hollywood tropes to real people. Hollywood tropes are about how the film industry portrays a concept erroneously, not how real life people handle their relationship with religion.
- Hurricane of Puns: note I guess this one can stay, but I can't really see why it's a notable part of the site.
- Hypocrite: note Truthfully I can admit to seeing and being annoyed by this exact behavior everyday—for example, the number of Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. stans who make the actor's and character's excuses—but the amount of people who similarly call out this exact attitude on the site means that it probably belongs on the YMMV page.
- Image Macro: note This entire trope is on its way to dead horse/discredited, and it certainly doesn't belong here. I joined Tumblr in 2012, but even back then the image macro popularity was sparse and dying out.
- Intentionally Awkward Title: note This doesn't really fit the description of the trope itself, so it doesn't belong.
- Link Blog: note Not only do I have no idea what this is referring to, but it's a ZeroContextExample. If it's added back, it should probably be in reference to the fact that finding a blog like this almost certainly means it's a virus bot.
- Mad Libs Catch Phrase: note While this was popular at one point, the 'fyeah' iteration can be said to be the single variant that has probably declined the most. People still do this, just not prolifically.
- Moe Anthropomorphism: note This conflict faded soon after 2010 and the blog linked here has been almost completely untouched since 2012, with one post in 2014 and two in 2016 and nothing since then.
- Moral Myopia: note This has become very difficult to find after the introduction of the ability to block anons, which doesn't allow you to see who you blocked.
- Perverse Sexual Lust / Rule 34: note For obvious reasons, this no longer applies, whether the userbase wants it to or not. Unless porn bots are being counted.
- Poke the Poodle: note This sort of humor can be found everywhere, but the real flaw is linking back to a single user's blog. Which is no longer active, by the way.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: note This is not only widespread over the internet, but was covered in Cute Kitten. Either that trope or this one should stay, but not both. Also, I asked several tumblr friends what they thought the official mascot of Tumblr was. Most said the site didn't have one, and one said it was Coppie.
- Self-Proclaimed Knight: note To paint the picture differently, a good reason for this trope's removal is that it simply can't claim credit to being a component of the site, a force of the site's culture, or an experience everyone on the site has at some point, because outside the one bully that I know ofopen me and people who hate him for it, nobody that I can find even remembers these Knight dudes exist. This is largely because anon hate and harassment gave way to callout culture.
- Serious Business: note I hope I don't need to explain why this no longer applies and, for a lot of the site, never did. Gifspam was left behind completely after Dashcon. Other examples of Serious Business will abound on other parts of the site, I'm sure, but as I wasn't able to find any, I didn't re-add it.
- Soapbox Sadie: I kept and simplified this one to account for how Tumblr changed.
- Stealth Parody: note This is generally no longer applicable. And even when it is, it's so obvious that it gets called for what it is quickly and then still doesn't qualify as Stealth.
- Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: note This specific trope is redundant with no punctuation is funnier. What isn't redundant is also covered under my alteration of Angrish, "crytyping".
- We All Live in America: Re-fitted to better portray modern Tumblr.
Edited by LunaSea on Sep 24th 2019 at 12:34:16 PM
I'm just a dumbass who loves LOONA.
🍊orange fursona🧡
Nice. While the descriptive in the Sandbox is informative, it's quite long though. My thoughts on the description is to make it long enough to be informative, and short enough to not make it into a Wall of Text, and to have a dash of humor in it.
Plus, some tropes on the list seems like a downer such as All for Nothing, which to me sounds more fitting to YMMV; when it should be addressed in a neutral manner.
But otherwise, it's a nice start for an improvement.
Edited by alnair20aug93 on Sep 24th 2019 at 4:16:19 PM
ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
orbit
To be quite honest I think the other Tumblr pages could use revamps or even cuts, too. Should I work on some drafts for them?
I'm just a dumbass who loves LOONA.
At the least, I don't think the Memes page is in any need of trimming or rewriting.
Don't know if this was posted here before, but according to this
NY Times article about the meteoric rise of child pornography on the Internet, Tumblr has been one of "the most problematic".
Here's the relevant section, which I feel warrants a trigger warning, as does the whole article, really:
A recent investigation in Polk County, Wis., that included an image of a man orally raping a young child stalled for over a year. The investigator retired before Tumblr responded to numerous emails requesting information.
In a 2016 Wisconsin case, Tumblr alerted a person who had uploaded explicit images that the account had been referred to the authorities, a practice that a former employee told The Times had been common for years. The tip allowed the man to destroy evidence on his electronic devices, the police said.
A spokeswoman for Verizon said that Tumblr prioritized time-sensitive cases, which delayed other responses. Since Verizon acquired the company in 2017, the spokeswoman said, its practice was not to alert users of police requests for data. Verizon recently sold Tumblr to the web development company Automattic.
Here's the Mel magazine article linked.
It's well known that Tumblr is slow at dealing with reported accounts for any reason, and definitely not helped by the fact that a lot of antis keep reporting as full of "child porn" the accounts of artists who draw fanart of two teenagers kissing or show support for the people who do to make it even harder to clean up the real thing.
Thats quite disturbing.
And probably why the platform just threw up their hands and banned all adult content. The bean counters probably decided prompt responses weren’t cost effective and the old method...did not work.
While I haven't seen any proof either way, I'm not convinced it's working; the automatic tagging system is awful, having the same 'way too many false positives' problem. It just feels like staff wants an easy solution rather than actually going through flagged posts manually.
> Considering how often I hear the term outside tumblr to mean "Anyone I disagree" with the term has become quite meaningless
Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who hates anyone who disagrees with me. For example, I don't like Ranma ½, but if you do, that's cool. I just don't like the people I had to deal with who read to deep into innocent things people say and browbeat people into silence about anything and everything, even assassinating their overall character—PEOPLE THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW OR NEVER TALKED TOO—because they didn't fit their fandom's spirit or something. Yeah, it was pretty bad and I got the hell out of there. If you guys like Tumblr, that's fine. More power to you.
Edited by TwilightPegasus on Aug 16th 2019 at 3:43:01 PM