For the past several days I have been exploring and participating in Tumblr - you might call it a blogging platform, a social network, or a social media site. I’m not sure you can really describe it as any, hence the coining of the term “tumblog” to describe it from within it’s own rank and file.
It’s been interesting. Although I didn’t set out to explore it as any kind of social experiment, it rapidly turned into one - primarily because the vast majority of the Tumblr population are under 25. Being a somewhat anonymous visitor in the crowd has been interesting, enlightening, inspirational, and yet sometimes disturbing.
Given the lack of comments in Tumblr, the system encourages people to just put stuff out there - to be provocative. The lack of interaction beyond “following”, or “liking” fellow Tumblrs encourages a sense of self rather than a sense of others - which perhaps explains the younger social graph.
I’m sure the psychologists and sociologists out there can speak at length about the transition that takes place in most of us - where our primary concerns become external rather than internal. I remember being painfully aware of social groups, and my exclusion from those which (quite erroneously, I might add) I longed to be a part of. I remember worrying how others would perceive me, how I might fit in better, or how I might impress.
As most of us become adults we leave that world behind. Suddenly others are dependent on us, and we become perhaps the least important of the things we concern ourselves with. Some make the transition more easily than others, and some never make it at all.
I was surprised, given the recent explosion in popularity of Facebook, to see the old social graph re-establish itself among ancient peer groups. As old school friends arrived en-masse they re-constructed the same structures that had existed in their teenage years. A few of us looked on, shaking our heads, and privately messaged each other in disbelief.
I’m getting side-tracked. Tumblr. It’s been really interesting. Where a blog such as this one provides a platform for a longer format - and the audience approach it with that expectation, Tumblr provides a platform for a somewhat shorter format. The shorter form encourages a level of conciseness - an honesty that perhaps we skirt around given the opportunity. It also encourages a richness of content that is not possible with shorter formats such as Twitter, or Facebook status updates.
I considered writing a summation of my experiences, but on reflection I really have nothing more to add. Tumblr is something that needs to be experienced rather than read about. While it could be described as superficial and shallow, it’s also hugely refreshing, interesting, and as I said earlier - inspirational. It’s also a wonderful insight into the coming generation - their art, their opinions, their concerns, and the infectious hope they hold for the future.