Why the Youngsters Love Tumblr

“I’m what the kids call relatable.” This is the caption for a famous two-image comic of a cat found on the microblogging site Tumblr. Though its author claims that they created the comic very late at night, its caption does reflect Tumblr’s rising popularity; the site is more appealing to people in the 18-25 age group than Facebook. Why is a site concerning blogging, a relatively defunct aspect of the Internet, growing so quickly?Tumblr is a blogging website which was created by David Karp in 2006. Currently the site has over 215 million individual blogs, each tailored to the curator’s preferences. Similar to Instagram and Facebook, it provides users a steady stream of information provided by other accounts the user follows and allows them to contribute to the site by uploading content that they think would look good on their blogs. The site also doubles as a social networking forum; many bloggers connect with a few of their friends through their pages.The appeal in Tumblr lies in its function. In many ways, it is similar to other social media sites in that it allows its posters to upload, add and repost images and text that they like. Unlike other social media sites, its mechanics encourages its users to post content that the individual prefers and to add friends based on preference rather than real-life connections. In an online world where everyone, including teachers and parents, are on older, more universal websites, younger Internet users might be discouraged from posting content considered “unsuitable” for certain social media sites. Tumblr, as a blogging website, lets users create personas that may be drastically different from the image they maintain on other social networking outlets. It lets younger people detach from the expectations that other sites hold.Besides acting as a place for unbridled expression, Tumblr has become a platform for social justice and activism. In light of recent shootings in Ferguson and Baltimore, some of the bloggers on Tumblr began circulating the hashtag Black Lives Matter to bring awareness to hate crimes and police brutality. Some users on the site also voice their support for gender rights.The appeal of Tumblr as a mechanism for change may lie in the way that information is relayed. Gif sets, still images, and short text posts are the staples of Tumblr content, and people can say what they want in bite-sized pieces of text without the character limit that some sites have. Tumblr is also known for its quirky sense of humor; for every serious post that someone might share, there seems to be a post regarding a silly topic. When the weighty aspects of most social justice concerns are combined with Tumblr humor, it brings to light facets of the movement that might not have surfaced had it been dealt with more formally.As networking continues to go online, new media sites spring up to meet people’s needs. Tumblr, and its growing popularity, may be evidence of a type of networking that is starting to grow. As it and its users grow older, the website may need to change again to fit their needs. Only time will tell if kids will still call it relatable in the future.