YAE

I’m going to speaking as someone who spent a lot of time on the app as opposed to someone with a background in data analysis studying it.

People like to throw around the word cultural reset as a joke, but as it is being talked about more, Tumblr is definitely an unironic example. Coined by Rose McGowan, “the internet has used the term to define any moment that they feel has influenced the zeitgeist and changed pop culture as we know it.” (ABC. May 16, 2020)

Tumblr was not the most common most popular app when I was in high school, but those years 2012-2016 saw the most use and the then subversive, “out of pocket”, meme creating blog posts helped shape our generations sense of humor. For those who were active on it, it shaped our personal style, help garner comfort in our identities, our views in society, and if you were in the right (or in this case left) side of tumblr, even politics.

Being in Texas during that time, having a tumblr meant you were accepted in or even considered apart of the alternative crowd. I had a friend who helped me come up with the username “subversive-cheerleader” which was absolutely pretentious sounding unless you knew me personally. If you did know me, the username was almost an inside joke. Thats the kind of community tumblr users nurtured; that community is how it was able to impact fashion trends for teenagers during that time. Fandoms, popular users, and the escapism mentally behind most of the aesthetic blogs created mini subcultures which created macro and micro trends.

Anything that had a common worldwide utilitarian usage like oversize jackets and some kind of hosiery, which already popular but were not Tumblr specific at the time, became signifiers that you were a part of some group depending on how you wore it. Soft grunge girls wore tights with Jeffrey Campbell heels and bold matte lipstick, but the girls who followed Acacia Brinkley or Slutfactory closely wore knee high socks with high wasted shorts and crop tops. I was in both categories 😂

These are outfits I made on Polyvore during the same years I was very active on tumblr

I had four blogs.

One to collect writing inspiration,

One for grungy and grimey alternative pictures

One for memes, activism, and girly filler photos

And one for what I like to call “nature escapism”🌳

Today, I see a lot of similarities in the Tumblr mindset shift onto TikTok and Pinterest. TikTok has their subsets for discussing fashion, art, politics, and culture, but visually Pinterest displays it verbatim.

Tumblr was away for me too put all of my likes and interests into their own universes. Separating them into blogs helped me find ways to often merge trends together to create unique street style looks or outfits to go to school. From a fashion perspective, it helped me see why I don’t have to choose one aesthetic to define my entire identity.