The Impact of Tumblr

[strangesistas_writings]

 I never realized it but Tumblr had the strange of affect of causing me to self-censor. I find myself wanting to post a lot more writing related stuff here than I ever did on Tumblr, like fic snippets and deleted scenes, etc....I guess that's due to the performative nature of soc_media. It's really strange because I don't care all that much about follower counts. Like I notice when people unfollow and I'm always a bit curious, but I'm never actually bothered. Knowing however that the goal of Tumblr was to maintain an audience of sorts however prompted me to consider what that audience wanted to see and would see vs what I wanted to share. And it's weird because in all the time I posted there I was never fully aware of it as self-censorship or performing.

Is anyone else having this kind of feeling or thought?

Comments

[hebethen]

I've seen a mix of opinions on this -- some people saying that they feel like they have to self-edit more on DW to post only higher-quality Content(TM), other people saying they feel freer to say what they think because it's harder to drum up large-scale harassment compared to Tumblr. The first group/reasoning basically seems like the opposite of your experience! I wonder what underlies the difference -- different personalities, different social circles, life experiences...?

[strangesistas_writings]

I'm one of the fandom olds so I was on Tumblr long before the anti' harassment campaigns started. Though once the anti campaigns started I was somewhat affected by them in my posting habits for a short period but then once I realized the insanity of various anti campaigns I started very actively posting all kinds of stuff out of spite. I was bullied and shamed a lot as kid so seeing people use shame against their fellow fans now really pisses me off.

Livejournal always felt like I had been invited to someone else's home and that I was inviting them to mine and I think Dreamwidth has a similar feel. I've never been one to have a perfect home or worry about keeping it super neat for guests as long as it was comfortable for them. Whereas Tumblr always felt like I was in the public square with everyone else and not only did I need to be on point, but also my thinking was that none of the people are interested in my rough unpolished writing so my dashboard was for other as much as it was for myself.

It is somewhat fascinating to me that people would have the opposite reaction. I wonder why. Like what are the differences in perception that make people feel one way over another.

[hebethen]

Oh, I like your home vs. public square analogy. Actually, that might explain the difference! Or at least illuminate it? Speechifying in a public square vs. relaxing in the privacy of one's home is one way to reckon with the divide, but also -- and I don't think this is necessarily mutually exclusive -- transiently passing through a public square without investing vs. wanting to actively curate your surroundings at home.

[strangesistas_writings]

Yes! There is definitely a transient element to the Tumblr experience. Very often I'd start to comment and then think no one cares and just move on or worry that someone would care too much and just move on. So I never wanted to post unless it felt important. Basically I never felt the need to invest in Tumblr and rarely felt that Tumblr needed me.

Here though I already feel invested and while I don't feel hypervisible I also don't feel invisible if that makes sense. I suspect for the people who feel everything must be neat and polished they probably feel invested already and visible in a way that you simply weren't on Tumblr.

[gold_pen_leaps]

I think it's because of Dreamwidth's format. You can't really find out what I'm saying as easily as on Tumblr, and I think that's a good thing.

[strangesistas_writings]

That's definitely a major part of it. The sense of having more control over what we post and who can see it makes a big difference.

[lilladyeva]

I know I found myself too shy to post most things on Tumblr. I mostly reblogged or did a few art pieces, but I've put more of my stuff on here than I ever did on Tumblr.

[strangesistas_writings]

I never really felt shy it just felt either pointless or in some instance I didn't want the drama. Either way, the outcome was the same a more passive contribution and an atmosphere that felt heavily prohibitive.

[lilladyeva]

Tumblr really did feel like shouting into the void sometimes.