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Launched fifteen years ago, Tumblr is now often viewed as one of these relics of the internet that make millennials nostalgic. Once prominent and innovative, it fell into the shadow of fellow social media giants, but it may not stay like this for long.
In fact, avid Tumblr fans have recently noticed a weird renaissance in their feeds that are getting weirdly active as if it was 2010 all over again. Astonishingly, Tumblr’s CEO Jeff D’Onofrio told The New Yorker that forty-eight per cent of its active users and sixty-one per cent of its new ones are Generation Z. To put it into perspective, this is the exact demographic that Facebook and Instagram are in fear of losing.
And while people are now (re)discovering the miscellaneous world of Tumblr, various posts shared on the platform both years ago and now get dug up into the bright light of social media. They end up on “The Weird Side Of Tumblr” Facebook page that shares the funniest, weirdest and most wholesome findings. Below we selected quite a few of the best for your entertainment, so pull your seat closer.
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Tumblr was launched around the same time as Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006), in 2007, so it was not always behind. In fact, it was built to be a simple social blogging platform, but its multimedia approach set it apart. It was about the time when users were getting their cell phones, so they could take a photo and upload it straight on their Tumblr.
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The appeal of Tumblr also had to do with the fact that users could design their own home pages; post text, images, gifs, or videos; and follow a feed of others doing the same. It became home to endless personalized moodboards that best reflect each user’s personality, whether by music, images or gifs.
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Little king trash mouth 2 years ago
We walked past a storefront today with mannequins in the window and my two year old was hysterically laughing- "look mommy they no have any heads!" Lol.
In 2018, the world changed for Tumblr. The passing of the federal SESTA-FOSTA law to ostensibly combat sex trafficking, and issues with Apple’s App Store and its provisions against apps containing adult content, led to Tumblr enacting a ban on NSFW content across the platform. This was followed by an uproar as Tumblr was home to many established communities devoted to real-life and illustrative erotica, so they spoke out against the restrictions.
But since the ban, media coverage of Tumblr focused on the decline of the website. For example, in 2019, Business Insider reported Tumblr’s unique monthly visitors had decreased by more than 20% in the year.
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Meanwhile, Allegra Rosenberg, a writer at Fansplaining, argues that reports of Tumblr’s death have been greatly exaggerated. “While Tumblr was certainly known in some circles for being a haven for NSFW content, that was certainly never all there was to it. For every user that decamped for greener, smuttier pastures when the ban was put into place, there was another user that simply shrugged their shoulders and kept on blogging,” she said.
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MacKenzie Moore 2 years ago
can I live here? just... in the picture please? I'm not asking for much...
Rosenberg argues that contrary to everyone’s expectations, “Tumblr users have stuck around en masse, making the kind of sardonic posts the platform’s long been known for, all the while feeling like survivors in a post-apocalyptic landscape. And if you know where to look, you can still spot new blogs being started by young teens, a constant injection of youthful activity into the platform.”
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Your Neighborhood Alien 2 years ago
Finally, some more backstory for the first pic! I keep seeing it on BP.
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MacKenzie Moore 2 years ago
and the bird would be the painting in the backround. also the annoying freind.
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Ellie Rosser 2 years ago
Grew up in Australia-thought they were a thing Disney made up. SO excited when I saw the first one in real life.
Grace Austin 2 years ago
What places do they not have fireflies (aka lightning bugs)?? It sounds like a lot of places, honestly 😂
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Hyde and Seek 2 years ago
Can confirm first time I saw one of these glowy f*****s, I stared at it like I just discovered the meaning of life (it's 42)
Jacqueline Pie Francis 2 years ago
Oh I hope everyone who has never seen fireflies gets to see them one night—in the summer, when there are a bunch of them, it’s magical. It’s even more magical if there is honeysuckle growing nearby, and night blooming jasmine.
Shauna Voigt 2 years ago
You literally describe my childhood. I can still smell the humid dusk air, fireflies, cherry popsicles, and honeysuckle of my summers.
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Snowfoxrox 2 years ago
Awww It's Ray!!! If your nice he'll tell you about the love of his life, Evangeline! <3
Sue User 2 years ago
Please don't downvote me. When we were kids my uncle taught us how to remove the glowy part ( without killing the bug ) . We would then paint ourselves. I thought it was okay that they got to live. Didn't know I was condemning them to a sexless life. I was ten
Sheila Stamey 2 years ago
We have a variety around here that will blink together, synchronized,to attract more females. It's like one shrub lights up ,then another bunch over here,almost like Christmas lights. But what's cool is if using the headlights on a car or even a flashlight ) torch) , you can get them to blink back to you. I pulled up in a place with my three kids and I noticed the fireflies were very active. So I told the kids to watch, that I could talk to the fireflies. I flashed the headlights on and off one two three, quickly, and everything went dark. I did it again. On my third blink blink. I got the most amazing synchronous light show! The whole area just lit up! I guess it takes a bit for them to get the pattern. But it was amazing. them my youngest asked me what I'd said to the fireflies I told him," I said hello. And they say hello back"
Alessa Gillespie 2 years ago
These were so common when I was a kid. I would freak out of excitement if I saw one now... But climate change is a hoax 🙄
Jessica Julian 2 years ago
Probably not, as they don't want to kill you...😁
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HarriMissesScotland 2 years ago
Our local hospital is run by 7th Day Adventists. In the Medical Records Office is a poster that said, " If God can light up a bug's butt, just think what he can do for you." I finally found a religion that can make me laugh, at least for a moment.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Same here in Maryland. Some years we have so many they look like those little flashing Christmas lights.
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Talon 2 years ago
I honestly can’t wait to see one myself, born and raised in Canada so I’m hoping one day I can travel somewhere with a field and lightning bugs and I can lay in the grass with them
HarriMissesScotland 2 years ago
I saw plenty in Nova Scotia and PEI. I used to see lightning bugs every night in Florida when I was a kid. If you are lucky, you might see them in the woods. One thing I will say about Canada, their mosquitos make Florida mosquitos look like gnats.
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Lady of the Mountains 2 years ago
.....wow, I kinda like that people get to be delightfully surprised though
Rabbit-Of-ill-Portent️ she/her 2 years ago
When I moved to Tennessee, I was (and still am) absolutely starry eyed over seeing these beauties
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
I hope I get a cool photo to post here to show my yard in mid-summer. My yard is an oasis of indigenous plants and no pesticides in a desert of overly manicured lawns. We get thousands of fireflies during their mating season, usually multiple types: orange, green, and blue lights. It's amazing. My daughter and I wander around the yard giggling like schoolgirls.
oddly_informed_raven 2 years ago
they should be coming out soon where I live.They're so pretty, one of the few bugs I'll let crawl on me
Tamra Stiffler 2 years ago
In June, at dusk, I'll sit outside and watch the entire yard light up with these little guys, and the bats start to come out, flitting around. It's really nice.
Raven Sheridan 2 years ago
Another Aussie here! Is Lightening Bug another name for a Firefly? Or are they different animals?
Tamra Stiffler 2 years ago
Nah, it's the same thing, Raven. I live in the US, and in some states they're called lightning bugs, and some folks call them fireflies.
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ZombieGirl 2 years ago
There used to be so many in my childhood, but I haven't seen one in decades! (Louisiana)
VolsFan39 2 years ago
Same here (Louisiana) and my son called them "blinker booty" bugs. Lol
Load More Replies... Kevin Garren 2 years ago
Lightning bugs light up to find a mate... so now when you see one in kid's animation like Princess and the Frog or that 2nd Tinker Bell movie, you know what's really up lol
Let’s All Just Try And Be Decent 2 years ago
I have never seen one in all my life in the UK - According to Google we have specific variety of them and they're pretty rare here. Also they only glow like a pale green. But nope, never seen one, was never sure if they were real or not honestly.
Jes.the.Mess 2 years ago (edited)
They don't live in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, or Southern California. At least I never saw them when I lived in those 4 places. Saw them irl when I lived in Virginia and was delighted. The locals were like *wut*
Salty Wild Hair 2 years ago
They are pretty magical when it starts to get dark and you look back towards the hiking trail you just finished and see them lit up. Its like they are saying "thanks for coming!"
Fran Morasco 2 years ago
The males light up and fly Around to impress the female lightning bug while the females sit in bushes checking them out
Jaybird3939 2 years ago
Northern CA. I have never seen one in my life! We only have boring, bitey bugs.
Mary Tonningsen 2 years ago
I'm 68 years old and still have never seen one in person. (I don't think they have them anywhere in California).
Demi Wabisabi 2 years ago
In the south they're called lightnin' bugs and I'm other places where they're indigenous they're called fireflies. Someone else might have already posted this, but I was too busy lamenting the cancellation of Firefly to scroll through the comments. I'm trying to regain my Serenity.
Demi Wabisabi 2 years ago
People in the south call them lightnin' bugs, but in the other places where they're indigenous they are called fireflies. Someone may have already made this comment, but I was too busy lamenting that they cancelled Firefly (the best space western ever made) to scroll through the comments. I'm trying to find my Serenity.
Dana Ondráčková 2 years ago
I remember laughing my a*s off at my sis dog who chased a lightbug, that Tiny mf turn its Light when the dog got too close And Light it up again a more further away
Joy Hunter 2 years ago
Different species of lightning bugs flash their lights on and off in different ways as courtship displays. Sometimes the males do them all at once
Lisa Valen 2 years ago
Sometimes called fireflies. But there are parts of this planet that never see snow too.
FreshGanesh 2 years ago
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-18b7d220cfffc003f773025acaaa647d
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MacKenzie Moore 2 years ago (edited)
inspirational. yet again, science side of tumbler has your back.
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MacKenzie Moore 2 years ago (edited)
fine. I won't. (2 seconds later) "hear me out guys, what about *scorpions*"
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Plenty Pineapples 2 years ago
I wonder if I should say it came out of the blue and then show myself out immediately
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Your Neighborhood Alien 2 years ago
What if there's some medical emergency going on inside of a locked room with a doorknob like this?
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Nadine Bamberger 2 years ago
I've been on this hellside for years and these posts are rather cute, tumblr- weird is a very different kind of beast lol
Nadine Bamberger 2 years ago
I've been on this hellside for years and these posts are rather cute, tumblr- weird is a very different kind of beast lol
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