Senior government and politics major
“I’m learning as much on Tumblr as I do in my classes most days.” This phrase, written in Ezra Fishman’s Jan. 31 column, speaks to my problem with Tumblr. On a good day, the average Tumblr post is only misinformed. On a bad day, it’s lying and manipulative — and self-rightously so.
It’s not a good first step, I think, to use my first column for The Diamondback to argue with another columnist. But what my brief stint on Tumblr taught me was that dissent is crucial.
First, let me explain how Tumblr works. Much like on Twitter, Tumblr users aim to absorb large swaths of the community into their list of “followers.” As Fishman wrote, this can often be an extremely beneficial system in which unknown artists can become incredibly popular and develop a fan base on their own merit. Users can relay other users’ posts, known as reblogging, to their own set of followers, creating something like a Internet-powered megaphone.
But of course, with great power comes great stupidity. Tumblr favors quick, interesting posts over well-researched ones, and who can argue with a post when 30,000 other Tumblr users have passed it on?
My personal favorite is the massive spread of an image of a policeman standing in profile, holding a rifle for some ceremonial purpose. The deep scar on his cheek rips at everyone’s heartstrings. We all feel patriotic. Reblog, or the Internet will never talk to you again.
It’s a picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker from The Dark Knight.
There’s no pretense of objectivity on Tumblr. And that’s rightfully so — it’s a space for people to express their interests and build a walled garden full of only the things that interest them. Rather than wasting time on a trusted news site full of boring, factual, well-researched news, Tumblr users can set up a personal newspaper using their “dashboard,” which only includes the best news for them. Done right, a user’s dashboard will be equal parts beautiful, original artwork, music by undiscovered performers, meaningful photography, and microblogged headlines from a variety of news sources.
Done wrong, Tumblr becomes damagingly biased in a way that is not casually harmful. Almost everyone on Tumblr is engaged in the pursuit of popularity in the form of followers and reblogs. So naturally, if you post a popular opinion, you are more likely to get more followers and more reblogs. If you post an unpopular opinion, the inverse is true. So begins the polarization of Tumblr, which in my experience generally favors the left, with pockets of extreme liberalism that tend to dominate any controversial topic. Popular users determine what is true by passing forward only the posts that they agree with. If you don’t agree with the hive mind, you begin to lose the microblogging “game.”
Thus, the inevitable demonization of outsiders occurs. People who disagree are censored or verbally attacked. Discussions on social issues aren’t so much “discussions” as online hugboxes, because the mechanics of Tumblr make it so. There are no corrections and no way of stopping a popular post once it’s gained traction. Every discussion becomes a feedback loop hurtling further and further into insanity.
So if you want to learn from an unreliable source, stick to Wikipedia. There are things to learn on Tumblr if you look in the right places, but if you drink the proverbial Kool-Aid, you’ll go blind.
Emma Atlas is a junior government and politics and journalism major. She can be reached at eatlasdbk@gmail.com.
