#Navigating the Instagram Algorithm

[kaaya149]

Navigating the Instagram Algorithm

As digital marketing professionals, we must grasp the Instagram algorithm despite its changing conditions. The Instagram Algorithm determines the content displayed on the platform and the sequence in which posts are shown to users. The Instagram Algorithm has undergone significant changes throughout the years, playing a role in guiding brands and influencers on how they should plan their content to increase engagement and visibility.

[finsterkiibo]

i know you dont know me/dont remember me whatsoever but i followed you on insta and when i switched to tumblr about a year ago i felt bad that i couldnt find you here and now that youre here im so happy to have found you again :))))) i love how you draw kiibo and seeing him again filled me with such joy, keep on being awesome!

AWHHH READING THIS JUST PUT THE BIGGEST SMILE ON MY FACE THANK YOU SO MUCH!?!?!!! ;; always so so happy to share more kiibos across the internet AHHH i cant believe i hadn’t done it sooner!!! tumblr has been so welcoming to my clueless ass, i have no idea what I’m doing, and yet!!! it’s been so fun!! so glad to be able to share my art with you again!!!!

[hrrtshape]

emma, even tho im not religious.. when ppl say u are god of ur reality, idk i just cant take it srs without feeling like i have a god complex. I'm aware of my powers but still like, idk it feels weird

it's not a god complex. it's a frontal-lobe reboot. it's a wake up girliepop we're not living in the npc timeline anymore

it's not about thinking you're jesus with a nose ring and a pinterest board. it's about epistemology. about ontology. about rejecting the late-capitalist ontology of lack, of striving, of "earn it and maybe you'll get it if you do your 45 affirmations per day and sacrifice a goat on your vision board." no. it's i said so. it's decree as ontology.

it's freud x kant x girlhood delusion x the dial-up tone of quantum physics. you dont manifest a ferrari with your left boob. and even then you could if you so declared you could

being god of your reality isn't about ego. it's about structure. it's about authorship. you are not inside the book. you are the pen

and if that sounds scary it's because it is. being god means every assumption is law. it means you can't keep pretending causality works like a boomer sitcom where if you "do the right thing" the laugh track will carry you to success. it means no one's coming to save you. no algorithm and no parent and no government and no vibe shift. just you and your assumptions and the jagged gears of the reality engine you didn't know you were coding

this isn't "you are god" because you do mirror affirmations in a hair towel and listen to megatron.mp3 while crying over an sp.

this is "you are god" because your nervous system IIIIISSSSSSSSSS the stage manager of your life. every neuron is a set designer. every belief is a production cue.

reality doesn't respond. it instantiates. you're not manifesting, you're selecting. cmon !!! ! ! ! !! !!

timeline navigation, stein's multivers, planck's constant, collapse of the waveform. i'm not saying it's not sexy, i'm saying it's physics.

you don't need to deserve it. you don't need to believe it in the instagram-coach way. you're god because you already are.

you're god in the same way gravity just is. it's not a reward. it's not a kink. it's not a delusion. it's default. period zip end of

and if it feels too big, good !!!!!!!! if it doesn't scare you, you didn't get it. this isn't about you being special. it's about you being central.

and if that makes you dizzy, sit down. drink water. and then assume your chair is made of sapphires and your water is wine and everyone who doubted you is currently living in a timeline where they get paper cuts from fake money

i'm not saying "have a god complex." i'm saying own your ontology. pay for your thunder fair and square

[bucketbueckers]

I'D RATHER PRETEND

CHAPTER THREE

tags: @angryflowerwitch @avvwritesstufff @melpthatsme @rebecca-woso @bueckersg1rl @l0verl4ne @clouded-whispers @dolliest-thena @katemartinlvr @numberonepartyanth3m @glamourdaya @pbbucks @unadulteratedcyclepaper @paiges-1vur wc: 7.3k notes: same shit, different chapter, masterlist, content warnings, place name backstory stuff. not my favorite chap but lots of paige & tess content so hopefully that makes up for it being boring af 😸 hope we enjoy 🫶

‘Prepare for Take Off! Tess Kennedy and Paige Bueckers Share Sweet Goodbye in Crowded Airport’

Tess Kennedy and Paige Bueckers have been a trending topic ever since Wednesday morning when fans speculated that Bueckers flew out to support Kennedy during her ACL recovery. In that time, Kennedy and Bueckers have shared a total of five pictures to their Instagram stories, each becoming more and more obvious as to who they are spending time with. Kennedy’s most recent story included a photo of her injured leg in the lap of (you guessed it!) a faceless individual, though just a half hour later, both Kennedy and Bueckers were pictured together at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

Onlookers said that Bueckers and Kennedy were attached at the hip, all smiles as they navigated the busy airport. Before Bueckers boarded the plane back to Connecticut, she and Kennedy shared a sweet hug before they pulled away. One commenter said that they seemed to share a few words, then Bueckers was off. Another commenter noted a sort of sadness etched on Kennedy’s face as she lingered. She seemed to be deep in thought. While, obviously, we are not in the business of being mind-readers, it is clear that Kennedy had some strong feelings about Bueckers leaving. In the short three days they have been seen together, their bond is evident, and fans are anxiously awaiting their next interaction.

-Penelope Lancaster, Bleacher Report

MAY 6, 2023

Tess is nursing a cup of half-melted ice when the FaceTime call from Paige comes through. It’s nearly startling – she’d been scrolling TikTok for the past hour, trying to distract herself from literally everything. It was difficult at first. Her feed was mostly basketball related things and huge think pieces about her and Paige – people seemed to think that Paige was saving her, which was ridiculous. It took about thirty minutes and countless refreshing, but she’s sure she successfully factory reset her algorithm. She was seventeen parts into a pirated movie and it was nearing the good part when Paige’s contact photo took over her screen.

She accepts the call, forgetting to control her face. “Hey! Woah, who pissed in your Cheerios?”

Paige’s voice flows through her airpods and Tess corrects her scowl, popping another ice cube in her mouth. “You did. I was watching Hidden Figures on TikTok and you interrupted me.”

Paige’s brows furrow dramatically. Tess takes the moment to study her screen, noting the headboard behind Paige and the dim lighting. She’s wearing a pair of glasses that sit low on the bridge of her nose, and judging by the blanket furled around her exposed shoulders, Paige must have just rolled into bed. “My bad, jus’ thought you would wanna talk to your girlfriend or sum’ after a really long plane ride.”

“It was like, four hours,” Tess states, rolling her eyes, though there’s a lingering fondness.

The blonde hums, shifting. “Try four hours and one minute. I sat next to this old guy and he snored the entire time. Like, I had my airpods in and everything and here comes Thomas the fucking train engine and shit. And in case that wasn’t bad enough, none of my teammates could pick me up so I got an Uber home and the driver just kept yapping about how South Carolina destroyed UConn’s last year.” 

Tess nearly chokes on an ice cube as she laughs, much to Paige’s chagrin. “Yeah? How’d that make you feel?”

Paige narrows her eyes at her. “Stop gloating.”

“I’m not!”

Paige waves her hand, kissing her teeth before refocusing. “What’s with the ice cubes?” she asks.

For a moment, Tess considers playing it off. She doesn’t want Paige to think of her any differently if she admits the truth about it. She was slowly getting used to feeling guilt all the time, but she was wholly unprepared for the amount of shame weighing her down. Thinking about the fact she drank herself into an alcohol dependence – not addiction; she is not addicted and that’s a hill she’s willing to die on! – is humiliating. Tess would never lord anyone else’s struggle over their head, but it’s different with her. She’s still not sure how to give herself the same grace and compassion she’d give others. Her Uncle Gio had his fair share of alcohol issues, though he was also a war veteran; Tess understands why he’d turn to drinking, but how could their issues ever compare?

She recalls the promise she made to Kam and Bree, to herself, to Paige before she boarded the plane. She gave Paige her word that she wouldn’t do this alone, so she sinks into her pillows and confesses. “The ice cubes distract me from, you know, wanting to drink. Feels like it kills the urge a little bit – I don’t know. It’s probably fucking up my teeth, but better those than my brain and my liver, right?” She tries to mask the discomfort with a laugh, but it sounds dry coming out of her mouth.

Paige’s eyes soften. “Whatever works, right?” she says. “As long as you ain’t replacin’ it with like, chain smoking?”

Tess rolls her eyes, appreciative of the sentiment, but also Paige’s humorous approach as it takes some of the pressure off. “No chain smoking here,” she vows.

The blonde is silent for a moment. “When’d they start?” she prods. “The urges. If you wanna talk about it.”

Tess contemplates her words for a moment. Paige has given her an out, but at this point, she’s not sure if she wants to use it. “Thursday night. Couldn’t sleep at all. I wanted to drink so bad. So I stayed up, ate ice, and watched TV. I was honestly in the trenches but you know…that happens when you drink for a month straight and then suddenly stop.” When she glances down at her phone screen, Paige’s eyes are laser-focused on her, absorbing every word. Tess cracks a small smile. “My first therapy appointment is on Monday, so I’ll see what my therapist suggests. I’m pretty sure the urges will be here to stay for a couple weeks. Sounds more like a fact of life than anything else, I guess, but if push comes to shove, I’ll get Kam to tie me to the bed so I can’t run away.” Paige smirks and Tess rolls her eyes. “Chill!”

“I wasn’t even gonna say nothin’!” Paige exclaims. Tess shakes her eyes, though she can’t keep the smile off her face. “For what it’s worth, ‘m proud of you for, you know…thuggin’ it out.”

Tess grins. “‘Thugging it out?’” she asks in disbelief.

“I’m being genuine,” Paige says with an eye roll. “I’on know what you’re going through besides the knee. I understand that it’s not easy, though. Everyone thinks I’m like, your knight in shining armor or some bullshit, but you don't need me. Yeah, you got me and I’m here to support you, no matter what. But I’m not saving you or anything. You’re doing that yourself. And I think that’s really cool.”

Tess chuckles, trying to ignore just how touching Paige’s words were. “Don’t get sentimental on me now.” She wipes the tear beading at her waterline, and when she glances down, Paige is smiling at her.

“Alright,” she concedes. “I won’t say anything nice ever again.”

“You?” Tess mocks. “Saying nice things?”

“Fuck off,” Paige says. Her words lack heat and her smile brightens. She runs a hand across her jaw, as if deep in thought. “So, about the airport.” Tess raises a brow in what she hopes is nonchalance, trying to keep her nerves at bay. She’s been trying to push it deep into the recesses of her mind, but it’s clear Paige has other plans. “Was it…okay? Like I didn’t make you uncomfortable or nothin’?”

“Paige,” Tess deadpans, smile widening in amusement, but it does little to hide the flush on her cheeks. “It was a hug.”

Paige scratches the back of her neck. “I mean…it – nevermind, forget it,” she says, her voice trailing off.

“It what?”

Paige shakes her head, pushing her glasses further up her nose. “Nothing, don’t worry,” she says, flashing an easy grin, but something in her expression betrays her image of comfort. “Just checking in with you, s’all. Wanna make sure we’re selling the story, yeah?”

Right. The story. Reminding herself that this was all fake is somehow the only thing on Tess’s mind, but she still manages to forget about it at the worst moments. Trying to mask the foreign feeling burning a hole in her gut, she hums. “I think we’re doing a good job. Have you seen those articles on Bleacher Report?”

Paige nods, the tension on her face dissolving. “A couple, yeah.” Her smile turns smug. “D’you actually look sad when I boarded?”

Tess throws her head back with a heavy sigh. “Paige–”

“C’mon, you don’t gotta hide it,” she says teasingly. “Coulda chased me, begged me to stay, all that cheesy romcom shit.”

“Chase you?” Tess guffaws. “First of all, with whose knee?” Paige snorts, tilting her head as if to say, touche. “Second of all, I don’t chase. I have too much self-respect for that.”

“Yeah?” Paige asks, a laugh bubbling in her throat.

Tess narrows her eyes. “I’m hanging up on you.”

“You won’t.” Tess raises a brow, pressing the red end call button. The silence hardly lasts three seconds before Paige is calling back. Tess answers with a shit-eating grin. “Don’t do that shit to me again,” Paige says, indignant.

“Who’s chasing now?” Tess asks smugly. 

Paige rubs the back of her neck again, having the decency to look caught, but she smiles at Tess regardless. “I’mma let you go take a nap,” she declares. “Let you sleep off this attitude.” Tess shakes her head, but her smile turns fond. “Call me after your appointment tomorrow, okay? Lemme know how it goes…if you feel up to it.”

Tess’s face softens. “Sure.” Tess bites her lip in contemplation. Before she has the chance to chicken out, she clears her throat. “Um, I just wanted to say thank you. For….” Tess’s voice trails off, unable to put to words how much Paige’s support has kept her sane for the past few days.

The lighting in Paige’s room is dim, but Tess can distinctly see the way her smile reaches her eyes, the way she understands what Tess is trying to say. “No need to thank me,” Paige says. “Just focus on getting better.”

Tess flashes one last quiet smile. “I will.” With a final farewell, the line clicks dead, and Tess leans back on her bed, releasing a long sigh.

Fuck.

MAY 8, 2023

Sunday passes by in a blur and Tess finds herself awake at 6am Monday morning. Sunday was chill – with nothing better to do, she spent the day (to no one’s surprise) binging more TV and working through some of Craig’s recommended independent PT exercises. She even treated herself to a solid hour outdoors, which, as popular opinion suggests, actually does wonders for your mental health.

She tries her best to ignore the intrusive thoughts at the back of her mind, urging her to go back on her promises. They become less and less appealing as the hours tick by. Sleep slowly becomes easier, though she’s unsure if she should attribute it to finally taking care of her leg or losing the fog that used to cloud her brain.

Just a week ago, Tess was rolling into bed at dawn, well past drunk and in body shuddering pain. Now, she’s on her sixth day of sobriety and genuine rehabbing, and she holds a different kind of hope for the future that she’d never felt before. There’s a small part of her that’s terrified to feel too positive about the days ahead of her considering it’s hardly been a full week, but she can’t help but feel like things are finally shaping up. And at this point, the only thing standing between her and that positive future she can’t stop thinking about is literally her.

Deciding to put a little extra effort in on Monday morning, she forgoes her usual sweatpants and opts for leggings. Between her brace and her knee, she wasn’t quite ready for jeans, but she figured leggings were at least a step up. Tess fully commits to her skin care, fixes her hair in a simple half-up half-down style, and even sends a sweet ‘good morning’ text to the team group chat – although Tessa, her almost-name twin, immediately responds and tells her to ‘take her ass back to bed.’ Tess sends the middle finger emoji and decides they are never seeing her be kind again.

She eats breakfast with Kamilla and Bree, who wish her luck for PT and her first therapy appointment. When she checks her phone for the time, she finds a couple of messages from Paige, which immediately warms her chest.

Morning Tess 🫶 Sent you a lil gift for PT It’s prolly outside your door Be nice to Craig and your therapist

Confused, although she feels inexplicably touched, she slides on her shoes, grabs her crutches, and with a final goodbye to Kam and Bree, exits their apartment. She’s careful when opening and closing the door so she doesn’t damage whatever Paige has sent. A grin slowly spreads across her face when she sees that it’s a cup of coffee tucked into a Starbucks bag. She snags a quick picture of it before carefully leaning down to pick it up. She sends the photo to Paige, leaning against the wall.

so this is actually insane

Just looking out for the people who gotta deal with you No more cranky Tess

did you order yourself something too since you’re ‘dealing with me’

Yeah lol

The selfie comes quickly – a photo of Paige with her lips wrapped around a straw in a coffee cup. She’s throwing up a peace sign for the camera and her face has an obviously smug expression. Tess can’t help the slight flush she feels, so she opts for reacting to the photo with a thumbs-down emoji.

have i mentioned how insane you are

You could start by saying “Thanks for the coffee” or something like that Wait you can post it on your story I didn’t even think about that

i feel like this was your plan all along

It wasn’t Swear I did it out of the kindness of my heart

somehow you just made it even more unbelievable

Believe what you want I got you coffee Post it on your story, be nice to people, and call me later

so bossy

Learned from the best Talk to you soon 🤩

Tess rolls her eyes, but she can’t keep the stupid ass grin off of her face as she swaps over to Instagram and shares the picture to her story. She ponders the caption for an embarrassing amount of time before writing, ‘845 miles away but still sending shit to my door.’ She hits post and slides her phone back into her pocket before walking to the trainer’s office for her PT.

When she arrives, Craig greets her warmly and they get right into it. He takes her brace off and unwraps her knee. Then, he leads her through some of their typical knee exercises, pausing in between for a cooldown where she ices her knee as he explains what their new recovery timeline should look like. As long as she does what she needs to, she likely won’t need her crutches anymore after two and a half more weeks of good behavior. In a couple months, her PT will change course entirely. They’ll begin introducing hydrotherapy and strength building exercises. For the past few days, she’s been working on the range of motion ones, so she’ll end up alternating and mixing the two somewhere down the line. Come February, she should be cleared for full contact practice. If all goes well by March, she should be able to play in full just in time for the last few days of the tournament season.

PT wraps up and Craig rewraps her knee, tightening her brace around it and sending her off with a kind smile and words of encouragement for her therapy session. Given that the university’s counseling center was across campus and Tess was not fucking with that walk, Amaya made arrangements for the psychologist to meet Tess in the athletic facility since she’d be there already for PT. She checks her phone for the room number that Amaya sent her (dutifully ignoring the Instagram notification reading ‘Paige liked your story!’) and makes her way down the hall to the office room.

Tess opens the door to find a shorter woman shuffling papers around on a desk. She looks up as the basketball player walks in, immediately flashing a beaming smile and sticking her hand out for Tess to shake. “Hey! You must be Tess.”

Tess shifts her weight, shaking her hand and returning a quiet smile. The psychologist has wavy, chestnut brown hair and kind brown eyes that have been softened by the passage of time. The crow’s feet and laugh lines on her face provide Tess with a sense of security, reminding her of a distant aunt who used to liven up the room. “Guilty as charged.”

“I’m Dr. Flanigan, but Yvette is just fine. Please, have a seat.” Tess pulls out the chair, slowly lowering herself into it, cautious of her knee. Yvette motions to the adjacent chair. “Would you want to prop your leg up? It might be more comfortable for you that way.”

Tess hesitates, but the comforting expression on Yvette’s face has her worries washing away. “Sure, please,” she says, and the older woman nods as she adjusts the chair and helps lift Tess’s leg to the elevated position. Almost instantly, some of the tension leaves her body and Tess sighs in relief.

“Perfect,” Yvette says, mostly to herself. She takes a seat in her own chair and begins looking through a couple of papers. “So, I see you’ve had quite the month.” Her words aren’t judgmental, just humorous, and Tess can’t help her snicker.

“Something like that,” she agrees.

“But you’re here now,” Yvette muses, sliding a pair of glasses onto the bridge of her nose. “That’s the hard part, isn’t it? Opening yourself up to receive help, putting aside your pride for long enough to realize you need help. I’m proud that you’re taking these steps.”

“Didn’t have much of a choice,” Tess jokes.

“You did,” Yvette says gently. Her eyes sparkle. “Your team gave you an ultimatum, but you could have said no, right? But here you are. It’s early, but you’ve already made so much progress in terms of rehabilitation. Can you share what your mental state has been like since Wednesday?”

Tess pauses to think about her words. Yvette doesn’t push her. Tess releases a breath of air, shifting, before responding. “I’ve been kinda all over the place, I guess. I mean, it was a complete 180 – I showed up to the meeting hungover and by the end of the day, I’d done PT, cried a couple of times, but like, my mind was also clearer… in a way? When I was doing what I was doing, sure, I was conscious of my own destruction, but sitting in front of a bunch of other people and having them tell you that you’re destroying yourself was different. It put things into perspective. Then…around Thursday night, the urge to drink started hitting, so I spent the entire night eating ice cubes and losing my mind.” She glances at Yvette, whose head cocks. “Um, losing it figuratively. It was really hard but I don’t think I was actively crashing out.”

“Perhaps the feeling was more like a battle with yourself for control?” Yvette asks kindly.

Tess opens her mouth, puzzled, then closes it. Damn. Yvette is good at her job. “Exactly like that,” Tess admits. “My body wanted it, but I didn’t want it. I felt like I was being pulled in two different directions – the pull was so strong. I sat for hours convincing myself that I knew what my body needed and not the other way around.”

“That’s a huge part of understanding and processing alcohol dependence,” the psychologist says. “The mentality. Treatment doesn’t always require medication – one of the most common ‘treatments’ is cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps people change unhelpful thinking patterns and reactions. A popular approach is what we call the recognize-avoid-cope method. Recognize your triggers, whether external or internal; avoid tempting situations, and cope with the triggers you can’t avoid.

“So, our two types of triggers – external and internal,” Yvette continues, and Tess listens to her every word. “External refers to your environment. Perhaps a person, place, thing, or time of day. You said your urge manifested at night time?” Tess nods. “For people who drank mostly at night, night time could be an external trigger. Your body gets used to drinking at this certain time, right? Internal triggers can be tricky. Many people struggle with identifying where they come from because they appear to come out of nowhere. However, these triggers can be set off by fleeting thoughts, responses to feelings. I believe in your case, an internal trigger could be a pain response from your knee, yes?”

Tess flushes. “I feel like you’re in my head,” she admits, drawing a laugh from Yvette. Some of the tension diffuses.

“Now that we know what to look for when we face that urge to drink, we can address it appropriately,” Yvette says. “It’s difficult to avoid internal triggers, so we just have to cope with them. Avoiding external triggers are more obvious. You may benefit from avoiding a bar or the liquor section in the grocery store, but you can’t avoid night time. This is where coping comes in. For you, chewing ice cubes was an effective distraction – perhaps one your dentist won’t agree with –” Tess chuckles, “– but it’s that idea that we want to work with. I struggled with alcohol dependence when I was your age. Meditation and yoga helped me out a lot, although those may not work for you considering your knee injury. The good thing is there’s a lot of healthy alternatives. Work on a hobby, talk to someone, take a hot shower – if it works for you and it’s not harmful, then it’s a good method! Remember, it’s all mental – if you feel the urge, challenge it. Find the error in your thinking and replace it. Remind yourself why you’re making this change to not drink. Ride it out. Urges are normal, but they’re temporary; they will pass.”

Yvette’s words leave Tess in a contemplative silence. Tess doesn’t think this first session was supposed to be anything revolutionary – Yvette literally just told her something she could have figured out from a Google search, but the psychologist's words just hit a little different. It’s similar to how she knew she was hurting herself after her injury but hearing it from Amaya, Diana, and Coach Staley rerouted the wiring in her brain.

Yvette gazes at her, calculating, before offering a small smile, like she understands that her words have hit home. She shuffles around her papers again. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to discuss your mental health history and your anxiety medication?”

That, Tess could answer without feeling like her world is going to flip upside down. She and Yvette discuss lighter topics for the remainder of their session, such as how long she’s been taking lexapro regularly, what it was like when she fell off schedule before and after her surgery, and previous psychiatric history. Yvette suggests other coping mechanisms for regulating her anxiety. Prior to the injury, Tess’s main source of relief was basketball; now, she has to figure out what else she could do with her life that doesn’t include sports.

Feeling as though a weight is lifted off her shoulders, Tess thanks Yvette for her time. Yvette sends her off with another gentle smile – and on her walk back to her apartment, Tess can’t help but feel like she’s on the right track.

Tess calls Paige later that day after she’s finally settled into bed. After some light stretches, she presses an ice pack to her knee as she waits for Paige to pick up her call. She doesn’t wait too long before the line clicks through and Paige’s face fills her screen. The blonde is laying in bed, her hair in a bun, presumably, but Tess’s eyes catch on the headset she wears and the familiar frame of glasses. She can see the reflection of the TV through her lenses and Tess raises a brow. “Bad time?” she asks, thinking Paige may be occupied.

“Nah, ‘course not,” she says. “Gimme a sec – I’ll hide in a bush.”

Tess laughs, hearing the slight clicking of a controller before Paige turns her attention to her fully. Tess didn’t grow up with siblings, but she did have many cousins with whom she was very close with – if there was one thing she learned, they rarely paused or stopped playing their games unless it was an emergency or their mother was yelling. “What are you playing?”

“Fortnite,” Paige admits shamelessly.

“So, she flirts like a twelve-year-old and plays games meant for one,” Tess muses.

Paige rolls her eyes. “Shut up, it’s fun. You play?”

“Nope,” Tess says. “Never got the appeal.”

“Dude,” the blonde says in near disbelief. “I got to put you on. Wait, do you even have a PS5?” 

“Do you think I do?” she asks. “I’ve done literally nothing but basketball for almost fifteen years.”

“Gotta fix that,” Paige sighs. “Buy one and hop on Fortnite with me. Boom, new hobby and I get a duo.” The blonde grins at her through the screen, excited at the prospect, and Tess finds herself more accepting of the thought the more she thinks about it. Tess opens Amazon, scrolling through the console options and accessories, and Paige notes her sudden silence. “Wait, are you actually gonna get one?”

Tess shrugs a shoulder, smiling slightly. “I mean, might as well, right? I do need a new hobby and I don’t have a lot of options.” She adds the console to her cart as well as a controller, not giving it a second thought before she’s checking out. “Should be here tomorrow.”

Paige pumps her arm in the air, cheering. Tess can’t help but grin at her excitement. “You won’t regret this. Trust. We’re gonna run Fortnite like the navy.” Tess rolls her eyes good-naturedly as Paige adjusts her phone, flashing another smile. “So, what’s up with you? How was PT and therapy?”

Tess hums. “PT was the same as always. Still a little early to tell, but Craig says if everything goes according to plan, I should hopefully be back in time for the last month of games. Thinking about playing again is literally the only thing keeping my head on straight, so I just have to get my shit together for, what, ten or eleven more months? Easy peasy.”

“You’ll be back on the court before you know it,” Paige says confidently. “Do what you gotta do, but don’t lie just so you can play earlier. Don’t fuck yourself up.”

“Careful, Paige – keep saying nice things and I’ll think you care about me.”

“In your dreams,” the blonde says with a smirk. “Just want you at 100% when we play y’all in March Madness. I won’t have as much fun if I gotta drop 30 on Kamilla instead of you.”

Tess rolls her eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”

“Sharks.”

“Shit.”

“Sharks!”

“Sharks – god dammit.”

Paige grins gleefully as they both dissolve into fits of laughter. As she calms, she can’t help but stare at Paige, at the way her face scrunches and the unfiltered joy that permeates her expression. Tess hates how she softens ever so slightly, how any conversation with Paige is enough to collapse the walls she spent so long building. Tess has always been a little caustic, perhaps blunt to a fault, too sarcastic and so uncomfortable in showing affection. But there’s something about Paige that rounds out those edges. She feels like she can be honest; although vulnerability is still a difficult task, she finds that stomaching the thought is a little easier when Paige smiles at her. “So, therapy?” the blonde repeats, her tone light but not pushing her.

Her words drag Tess out of her thoughts. She shakes her head, as if trying to break the thoughts apart. “It was…informative.”

“Yeah?” Paige asks, interested. When Tess looks back at her screen, she can see the slight furrow in Paige’s brow, the look of concentration. Tess averts her eyes, feeling her face burn.

She hums, gathering her thoughts. “Basically, I just have to rethink my approach to drinking. Like, recognizing triggers and either just avoiding or coping with them. I do think I have to find something other than the ice. I bit into a chunk weird earlier and almost cried cause I thought I broke my tooth.” Paige snorts. “Not funny.” She raises her hands, grinning, and Tess sighs. “Being emotionally vulnerable is exhausting. I wish I could go play basketball and ignore most of my feelings.”

“Well, not to mansplain, but–”

“I know, I can’t actually avoid them,” Tess grumbles. Paige laughs again, and the sound is infectious enough that Tess can’t help but smile. “It’s barely been a week but I feel like…okay again. Is that a weird thing to say?”

“Nah, I get it,” Paige says. “You will be okay, though. You just need to believe it.”

Tess nods, leaning back in her bed and picking mindlessly at a loose thread on her blanket. “I think I do. Like, it doesn’t feel like the end anymore. I know that I need to put in a lot of work, but at this point, it’s a new opportunity to compete, but against myself, right? I can do that.”

“You can,” Paige affirms. “And you will.” She speaks so casually, as if Tess’s recovery is something that is already gone and past. Like it’s more truth than manifestation. When Tess smiles, Paige adds in a softer voice, “I know you can.”

“...Thanks, Paige,” is all Tess can muster. She tries not to think about it too much – Paige is so close to being fully healed from her own ACL tear. She, more than anyone else in Tess’s life currently, knows what that process is like, how the mental anguish affects you, how debilitating the pain is most days. Paige knows what it’s like to survive that. The sheer confidence, the belief that Tess can survive it means more to her than Paige will probably ever know. “Your turn, though. How’s, uh, Storrs?”

Paige shoots her a scandalized look. “You say that like Columbia is any cooler.”

Tess laughs. “Well, it’s no Brooklyn – but you know damn well that UConn is the only reason why Storrs has any relevance.”

“I’m startin’ to wonder if there’s anything you like about me,” Paige grumbles.

“I like it when you’re quiet,” Tess says.

“You called me!”

“I like it when you say the sweetest things,” Tess continues, purposefully ignoring Paige. “Like when you say I’m full of sharks or when you said we were star-crossed lovers because Caitlin broke my ankles.”

Paige huffs, trying – and failing – to hide the frown on her face. “You should not be talking about other women when you’re on the phone with your girlfriend. That’s like, relationship rule number one.”

Tess stares at her before erupting into laughter despite the warm, foreign feeling in her stomach. “Are you jealous?”

Paige rolls her eyes, but she angles her phone so Tess can’t see the flush creeping up her neck. “Chill. I’m jus’ saying – wait until that lady from Bleacher Report hears that you’re steppin’ out on me.”

Tess can’t hide her amusement. “You’re impossible, you know that?”

Paige seems to forget about her earlier words as she grins proudly. “Been told a time or two,” she chirps.

The South Carolinian guard shakes her head fondly. “Okay, for real. What’s new with you?”

Paige shrugs. “Nothing much, but me and the team’s getting together later tonight ‘cause everyone’s heading home for the summer at some point this week. I’m flying back to Minnesota Thursday morning. You goin’ home, or…?”

“Haven’t thought about it much, honestly,” Tess admits. “My mom called on Sunday and asked if I was, but I’m nervous about flying with the knee and I’d feel bad having my parents drive down twelve hours just to pick me up. I could easily do Zoom or some shit with my therapist, but I feel like I really need good and consistent PT, so I’m not sure if I’d want to leave Craig.”

Paige raises a brow. “You live in Brooklyn, right? That’s where the Liberty is. I saw Sabrina in your comments – you could see if she could get you in touch with their physio.”

Tess laughs, mostly out of shock and because of the absurdity of the offer. “Do you really think I could cold call Sabrina Ionescu and be like, ‘hey, my knee’s fucked, I was wondering if you could see if your team physio would be willing to take over my rehab while I’m home?’”

“Uh, yeah?” Paige says like it’s obvious, her face contorting in confusion. “Have you not been online? Anytime Sabrina’s asked about college athletes or the future of the W, she’s always gassing you up. She might be in love with you, lowkey.”

“You better not be bullshitting me,” Tess says, opening her browser and Googling as Paige huffs dramatically. “You think she’d leave her man for me?”

“Rule number two, Tess Alessandra,” Paige reminds her. “No seeing other people on the DL. And you thought I couldn’t handle it.”

Hundreds of articles appear on her screen. Tess feels something tighten in her chest, even as she jokingly retorts, “It’s Sabrina Ionescu – I couldn’t pass that up.” She opens the first article, eyes scanning the headline as it reads, “Sabrina Ionescu On Tess Kennedy: ‘The Perfect NCAA Shooting Guard.’” Tess’s eyes nearly bulge out of her head, her shock only growing the more she reads.

“D’you seriously not know?” Paige asks curiously.

“No,” Tess answers, and it was the truth. “I stay far away from most basketball reporting and social media. Draft discussions always make me nervous and people always look for a story where there isn’t one. I’m here to hoop, not for someone to debate whether or not I’m the second coming of basketball Jesus.” She reads more, feeling both pleasantly surprised but also touched by how many kind things Sabrina Ionescu had to say about her – it was one thing for her to reach out after her ACL tear, but it’s incredibly flattering to know that she’s had someone like Sabrina in her corner all this time and she never knew it. “Do you really think they could do that?” Tess asks again, referring to their physio situation. “Like, they’re in preseason right now. I feel like their physio needs to focus on making sure their team doesn’t tear their ACLs.”

She watches Paige shrug through the screen, a tender sort of smile on her face. “Doesn’t hurt to ask, right? Plus, I got Husky connections – I can get Stewie to put in a good word.”

“You need to chill, I’m being so for real right now,” Tess says, narrowing her eyes. “You do not need to talk to Stewie for me.”

Paige is quiet for a moment, as if fully grasping what Tess is saying. “I won’t if you don’t really want me to,” she says after a lot of contemplation. “Don’t wanna fight your battles for you, but you know…if I can help, just lemme know.”

“I appreciate that,” Tess says, her voice a lot softer. “I’ll think about it.”

The blonde grins again. “No pressure.”

“So, excited to see your family?”

Paige leans back against her headboard, her grin turning fond. “You have no idea. I feel like Drew grows so much while I’m gone. He’s my little brother. Or was. He’s like a medium brother now.”

Tess can’t help but laugh at Paige’s words. “Yeah? Was he the one who put you on Fortnite?” she teases.

“You act like I can’t make choices for myself,” Paige says indignantly. “I actually put him on.”

“You see how that’s like, worse, right?”

Paige glares at her dramatically, but Tess can easily see the amused smile on her face. “You’re a D1 hater. It’s insane.”

“Been told a time or two,” she says, mirroring Paige’s earlier words, and they both dissolve into fits of laughter. “Do you–”

She’s cut off by the sound of a knock at Paige’s door. The blonde pulls off one airpod, turning to look at whoever’s walking in. “Hey, Lili and I are going to the store to pick up some stuff for tonight – you wanna come?” Tess is unable to place the voice, which doesn’t surprise her, but she watches the hesitation flash across Paige’s face. “Ohhh, are you on the phone with your lady friend?”

“Lady friend is crazy work,” Paige grumbles, which causes Tess to laugh. Paige glances at her screen again, as if studying Tess’s face for a reaction.

“Go hang out with your friends,” she tells her, knowing Paige is the only one who can hear. “Don’t let them think I’m the obsessive girlfriend who doesn’t let you hang out with other people.”

“If the shoe fits,” the blonde teases. Tess rolls her eyes at Paige’s smirk and she feels something simultaneously soften and break apart inside of her. That’s an issue to face another day. “I’ll text you later, okay? Make good choices.”

“Always,” Tess says innocently. Paige’s smirk melts into something more tender before she bids Tess one last goodbye and ends the FaceTime call. Tess exhales, staring at her phone screen, where her and Paige’s earlier text conversation remains. It all feels a little fast, but she can’t deny that she feels so incredibly comfortable with Paige. Sure, she and Paige bicker a lot, but she knows it’s all in good fun and she enjoys their banter and how Paige keeps her guessing. It’s the same way she is on the basketball court, but Tess recognizes something different in their little game: Paige’s slight acquiesce, the natural pauses in any of their conversations where Paige seems like she’s seeing Tess in a different way, understanding her in a way that’s beyond surface level. 

It’s a double edged sword. Being known is terrifying. From a basketball perspective, the understanding that comes with knowing your opponent’s every move manifests in quick interceptions, knowing how to guard them on their favorite wing. On a personal level, being known opens you up to those same vulnerabilities. By now, she knows Paige better than that and she trusts that Paige wouldn't go out of her way to hurt her, but it’s hard to escape the thought that by letting Paige into her life and under her skin, she’s effectively arming her with her insecurities and shortcomings.

But at the same time, she’s letting Paige in, and it’s new and scary because nobody outside of Kamilla has ever wanted to look further. Tess has probably curated that issue herself — she keeps her teammates close enough that they’re privy to only 75% of her; that last 25%, each and every ugly thought or feeling or trait she’s ever had is kept so far away from them and Tess herself. Now, between her knee, her therapy and PT, and the whole situation of having to be Paige’s fake girlfriend, she’s suddenly faced with having to show someone a lot more than 75%. And it’s fucking frightening because Paige is getting to know Tess at her worst; although she doesn’t exactly have the option to run, she’s trying to be closer to Tess despite it all. Tess has spent so much of her life being afraid of the day the mirror would shatter and she would have to face the parts of herself she didn’t like. Knowing that she’s still here now, learning to love the girl in between the fractures, and that Paige has a heart big enough to not be offended by the scrapes and the nicks and the lacerations that come with handling something sharp and broken, fills her with an amalgamation of feelings. She’s hopeful, but she’s fearful and hesitant; she’s confused but so incredibly grateful. 

So, she takes Paige’s advice and reaches out to Sabrina on Instagram. Tess isn’t alone in this. Between her teammates, her friends, her trainers and coaches and mentors, and now the women in the league, there’s so many people in her life that want to help her succeed if only they’d let her. Sabrina’s response comes 15 minutes later — she’d actually been in the trainer’s office getting her wrist checked out when she got her text. Sabrina said their head athletic trainer, Theresa, would be more than happy to take over her her PT while she’s back in Brooklyn, but obviously they would have to work around the Liberty’s game schedule. They would still be able to upkeep Tess’s three times a week requirement, and honestly, that was good enough for her.

Sabrina’s next message came in after Tess said her thank-you’s, reading:

No problem at all! Super proud of your progress and I can’t wait to see you on the court again. Let me know whenever you’re cleared, I would love to shoot around with you sometime

She decides she’d text Paige later, maybe let her know she was right if she felt like listening to her endless gloating. But she smiles as she texts her mom, telling her that she’s got another trainer lined up if she and her dad would be able to make the drive down to South Carolina. 

We’ll be there about noon tomorrow to pick you up, piccola, no drive is too far

Then, feeling both hopeful and excited, she texts Amaya to let her know she’s going home for the summer but that she’ll maintain her PT and therapy sessions, to which Amaya responds with a simple thumbs up emoji that makes Tess immediately regret her thoughtful message. She lets Kamilla and Bree know she’s going and they remind her they’re both a call away if she needs anything. Tess packs most of her things before settling back into bed to relax. 

She texts Paige later that night, shortly after midnight when she should have been well in bed, but she was struggling to sleep. Her thoughts were racing, but they were more positive than anything. She was excited to see her parents; she hadn’t really talked to them since her surgery. They had a lot to catch up on. She was anticipating the arrival of her Playstation, feeling unnaturally stoked to play Fortnite of all things, though a smaller part of her that she was slowly coming around to knew she just enjoyed her time with Paige, anyway. Unable to sleep, she writes:

you can say i told you so now the liberty’s trainer will take over my PT

I told you so Does this mean you won’t be gaming with me?

ill see if i can fit you into my schedule me and sabrina are super tight now 🤞

Don’t play with me.

don’t worry paigey you’re still my one and only

Better be Have a safe drive tomorrow 🫶

Tess sends back a single heart emoji, putting her phone on its charger and staring up at the ceiling. After a beat, a slow smile spreads across her face, and she can't help but think that she's making the right decision by letting Paige in.

[mikaylathenerd5]

The Code We Carry + Masterlist

What happens when one wild night crashes your carefully coded life?

Meet Isla Sage Navarro, a brilliant Afro Latina AI researcher at Georgia Tech, juggling groundbreaking algorithms, academic pressure, and the weight of being the first in her field. Her life is a high-stakes balancing act—until a steamy night with a stranger flips her world upside down. Enter Roman Reigns, former NFL star turned coach, whose intense eyes and guarded heart are as dangerous as his past.

One night. One secret. One life-changing collision.

When their paths cross again, Isla’s carrying more than her career dreams—she’s pregnant, and Roman’s the father. Now, with viral photos, nosy colleagues, and a high-profile project tying them together, they’re forced to navigate a minefield of attraction, ambition, and secrets. Will they crash and burn, or build something unbreakable?

💻 Why You Should Check It Out:

Slow-burn romance with all the tension

A fierce WOC lead owning her space in STEM

Found family vibes with Isla’s cousin Camila stealing scenes

Atlanta’s vibrant energy as the backdrop

Drama, heart, and just enough spice to keep you hooked

Chapter 1 ৹ Chapter 2 ৹ Chapter 3 ৹ Chapter 4 (Coming Soon)

Extras ✨🏈

Instagram Visuals

Open (Passionate) - Fluff

Coach Roman - (Headcanon)

[utmv-fg]

UTMV Fighting Game Progress Update #1 - 4.13.25

A ton tbh, but not a ton to show off.

Game development just takes a long time to get out from under the boring stuff, and I haven't had a lot of time to get through an extra long boring part. I've been very busy and very tired, but I'm still cramming in a couple hours to work on this whenever I can sit up at my computer and concentrate.

The other main reason it's taking a while is because I've realized the most effective way for me to learn Game Maker is to take some of the video tutorials out there and write them down into a searchable document, making notes on what each part does to make sure I understand.

And by that, I mean doing this--

--for 20 lessons worth of material. Maybe more.

Which isn't as impossible a task as it sounds. I think the repetition really is teaching me the steps and vocabulary I'll need to navigate programming on my own. Plus, this might be proof that I'm less likely to fall victim to programming fatigue.

I've already followed an actual video tutorial with Game Maker itself (I made an extremely sloppy platformer where Frisk goomba stomps a bunch of Ink clones), but that's not quite enough to etch anything lasting into the adhd putty that is my brain.

Once all the studying is done, I'll hopefully have enough building blocks and forum post tips to stumble my way through a proof of concept build. (And I have a pretty funny idea for cutting down on sprite drawing time, involving Muybridge plates.)

I know I haven't been doing as much of the cool and fun parts of game making like sprite art, UI design, story writing, and feature development. But to be honest, it just doesn't feel like the right thing to be focusing on until I can get basic game functionality off the ground. I've watched way too many projects collapse in my day because the sprinkles outweighed the cake.

HOWEVER! I accidentally let my instagram algorithm know that I like weird industrial/improvised/custom instrument music, and now I'm swimming in it. You can check that out in the MUSIC REF/INSPO doc if you like.

Also here's the tutorial I was using if you, too, would like to lose your mind learning GMVL. It's a little outdated, but it's got some really helpful stuff in it.

Slyddar's Gamemaker DND Platformer Tutorial

I'm gonna keep the doc I'm using to study in a non-shared folder for now, only because I can't decide if it'll divert people away from his actual videos. It wouldn't be right, considering that I'd be lost without this dude in the first place. But maybe I'll change my mind. It could be more of a companion guide. I dunno.

Anyway, seeya later!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Maxwell Tani at Semafor:

Soon after Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty turned his attention to sports. The campaign needed to introduce Harris quickly to people who aren’t obsessed with politics. Sports is perhaps America’s last remaining monoculture, and Flaherty and the Harris team decided to book her on sports shows and podcasts. But one by one, the biggest personalities and shows politely turned them down. “Sports and culture have sort of merged together, and as sports and culture became more publicly and sort of natively associated with this Trump-conservative set of values, it got more complicated for athletes to come out in favor of us,” Flaherty, 33, told me in an interview last week. “It got more complicated for sports personalities to take us on their shows because they didn’t want to ‘do politics.’” “That’s not to say Steph Curry and Steve Kerr and LeBron [James] and all them coming out wasn’t impactful or important,” he said. “It was more impactful because it had gotten so much harder. But certainly the culture that has been associated with heavy sports-watching has become associated with right-wing culture in a way that makes it harder for us to reach people.”

Flaherty declined to say who turned Harris down, but she didn’t appear on key shows hosted by sports figures sympathetic to Democrats, like Colin Cowherd, Bill Simmons, or the Kelce brothers. (As Semafor first reported at the time, Harris did appear on All The Smoke, a popular but more niche basketball podcast, and NFL hall-of-famer Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast.) The campaign’s failure to completely crack the sports sphere was, to Flaherty, ominous, and part of a larger trend in which some influencers who had felt comfortable engaging with the Biden White House, demurred when asked to help Harris make her case to their followers. “When it’s not cool to talk about politics,” he said, “you’re kind of afraid of the audience.” “Campaigns, in many ways, are last-mile marketers that exist on terrain that is set by culture, and the institutions by which Democrats have historically had the ability to influence culture are losing relevance,” he said. “You don’t get a national eight-point shift to the right without losing hold of culture.”

[...] Flaherty was also paying close attention to how the race was being run on the Republican side. Donald Trump was leaning into new podcasts, and his opponents were tapping a large network of right-leaning and conservative personalities to amplify their message.

Then, he acknowledged that the Republican Party had done a better job building up its alternative digital media ecosystem with podcasters, YouTube streamers, and friendly pundits. But he argued that the then-Biden campaign would overcome those obstacles by better navigating the “personalized internet,” by which sophisticated algorithms feed Americans highly specific information tailored to their tastes and online behavior. Speaking with me again last week, Flaherty said that remained their theory of the case the entire time. The campaign knew from the beginning that the race was going to come down to voters who do not pay attention to politics or mainstream news and instead get their information from people on YouTube, their friends’ Instagram stories, or links or memes dropped in a group chat. This firstly meant a shift in paid advertising from previous campaigns. Instead of just blanketing the airwaves in the battleground states, the campaign also invested heavily in ads on YouTube, recognizing the rapid growth in streaming. That’s where, the campaign’s data showed, many of Harris’ key voters were spending their time.

More importantly, this meant building out a strategy focused more on podcast appearances and interviews with influencers than on traditional media. Flaherty said the campaign skipped opportunities to talk to the major legacy news outlets because of Harris’ extremely limited time and its survey data, which showed that their audiences overwhelmingly supported Harris already. “There’s just no value — with respect to my colleagues in the mainstream press — in a general election, to speaking to the New York Times or speaking to the Washington Post, because those [readers] are already with us,” Flaherty said. Flaherty isn’t dismissive of television and other legacy media. “One of the most important moments of the campaign for the vice president was her interview with Bret Baier. That was a huge fundraising moment. It was a huge social moment,” he said.

“When Trump did the McDonald’s thing, it was smart, because it was a thing that obviously drove television coverage, but it also drove social media engagement too,” he said. “And those things often happen in tandem, but they don’t always, and so it was the sweet spot. It drove traditional coverage and nontraditional media. I don’t think TV is dead. It’s still probably the most important thing, but it’s the literal TV and what’s on it that matters.” As the campaign wore on, though, Flaherty said he realized their failure to gain traction in certain corners of media reflected a deeper problem — one that wasn’t solved when Harris replaced Biden on the ticket. The Harris campaign, representing what many voters saw as an embodiment of the status quo, was running contrary not just to ideological distrust of establishment figures but to media trends. The media successes of 2024 were independent, nontraditional online personalities who themselves were avatars of the rewards of going up against the Establishment.

Rob Flaherty, Kamala Harris’s digital campaign chief, told Semafor’s Maxwell Tani that the Democrats’ loss of hold on the culture played a big role into Donald Trump’s win.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

On the first day without X, many Brazilians say they feel disconnected from the world

The blocking of social media platform X in Brazil divided users and politicians over the legitimacy of the ban, and many Brazilians on Saturday had difficulty and doubts over navigating other social media in its absence.

The shutdown of Elon Musk’s platform started early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on both the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country, missing a deadline imposed by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. The blockade marks an escalation in a monthslong feud between Musk and de Moraes over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation.

Brazil is one of the biggest markets for X, with tens of millions of users.

“I’ve got the feeling that I have no idea what’s happening in the world right now. Bizarre,” entertainment writer and heavy X user Chico Barney wrote on Threads. Threads is a text-based app developed by Instagram that Barney was using as an alternative. “This Threads algorithm is like an all-you-can-eat restaurant where the waiter keeps serving things I would never order.”

Bluesky, a social media platform that was launched last year as an alternative to X and other more established sites, has seen a large influx of Brazilians in the past couple of days. The company said Friday it has seen about 200,000 new users from Brazil sign up during that time, and the number “continues to grow by the minute.” Brazilian users are also setting records for activities such as follows and likes, Bluesky said.

Continue reading.

[binhwantstoeatoreo]

Week 3: Digital Community: Tumblr Case Study

Gen Z is mourning the un-filtered public sphere of 2014 Tumblr

If you’ve spent any time on TikTok over the past few years, chances are you’ve stumbled into the wistful world of 2014-2016 nostalgia. ‘Tumblr Girls’ by G-Eazy is trending again, King Kylie era with jet-black nails and electric blue hair photos, Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die and Ultraviolence lyrics dripping with melancholy, the glorification of cigarettes and poetic sadness, and those moody GIFs of brooding white girls paired with angst captions about how life is just one big existential crisis.

It’s a full-blown revival of Tumblr’s golden age, when this aesthetic reigned supreme, and Gen Z has welcomed it back like a long-lost comfort blanket. Case in point: a girl doing a cover of Sky Ferreira’s Everything is Embarrassing, with messy hair and off-the-shoulder flannel look, sent the comments spiraling into a collective wave of 2014 Tumblr nostalgia (@reme, 2025).

As of 2021, on TikTok, the hashtag #2014tumblr boasts 83.9 million views, while its counterpart #tumblr2014 has garnered 51.9 million views (Navlakha, 2021). But what does this resurgence mean for a generation raised on fast-paced TikToks and Snapchat notifications? And what does it have to do with the public sphere of Tumblr?

Tumblr as a Public Sphere

Jürgen Habermas’ concept of the public sphere describes a space where individuals gather to exchange ideas outside traditional power structures (Çela, 2015, p. 195). While social media platforms often claim to foster such spaces, their algorithm-driven nature frequently distorts participation, privileging virality over authenticity (Yin, 2024, p. 10-14). This creates a tension between the ideals of a public sphere and the realities of social media's algorithmic governance (Dahlberg, 2007, p. 52)​. Social media platforms grapple with the challenge of distinguishing genuine user profiles from counterfeit accounts (Mahammed et al., 2023, p. 1).

In contrast, Tumblr operated as a counterpublic, a concept described by Warner (2002) as an alternative space where marginalized groups construct their own discourses outside dominant institutions. Byron et al. (2019, p. 2242) apply this idea to Tumblr, highlighting how queer youth used the platform for identity exploration and indirect yet meaningful connections. Tumblr thrived as a platform where users did not need verification badges or massive followings to have a voice; instead, all that was required was internet access and a willingness to share unfiltered thoughts. Unlike social media sites such as Twitter or Instagram, which often prioritize personal branding and follower counts, Tumblr fostered a culture of anonymity and authenticity, allowing individuals to engage without revealing their real identities.

For many LGBTQIA+ users, Tumblr wasn’t just a blogging site—it was a lifeline. Queer youth engaged with the platform far more than other social media, finding a space for identity exploration and connection (Robards & Byron, 2017). According to Byron et al. (2019, p. 2242), young LGBTQIA+ used Tumblr to navigate their identities, often in ways that were indirect and anonymous yet profoundly meaningful​. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, where visibility depends on engagement metrics, Tumblr enabled queer self-expression without the pressure of personal branding. The platform’s unfiltered, pseudonymous culture allowed young people to explore gender, sexuality, and mental health in ways that mainstream social media often stigmatized or ignored.

The Politics of Aesthetic and Self-Expression

The 2014 Tumblr aesthetic isn’t just about nostalgia—it’s a whole mood, a rebellion, and a contradiction all at once. It was a space where people rejected the glossy perfection of Instagram and Facebook, opting instead for something raw, messy, and deeply personal. But here’s the thing: even rebellion has its own aesthetic rules. Tumblr’s vibe might have been anti-mainstream, but it still had a way of shaping how people expressed themselves.

Take the #bodypositive movement, for example. At first, Tumblr was the go-to place for people who wanted to push back against traditional beauty standards. It gave users—especially marginalized ones—a space to celebrate diverse bodies, challenge unrealistic ideals, and embrace self-love in ways that mainstream media didn’t allow. But, as Reif et al. (2022, p. 5-6) point out, even in this “empowering” space, certain aesthetics started taking over. A lot of the content still followed a specific look—filtered but “effortless,” curated but “authentic.” So while Tumblr helped redefine beauty, it also reinforced new versions of what was acceptable​.

And that’s exactly the paradox of the 2014 Tumblr aesthetic itself. It was all about being different, but in a way that still fit a certain visual and emotional mold. The black-and-white photos of girls smoking in oversized sweaters, in wired earphones listening to Arctic Monkey, cryptic text posts about sadness—these weren’t just random; they became an entire brand. As Goldberg (2022) notes, Tumblr had a way of romanticizing self-destruction. It made heartbreak poetic. It turned depression into an aesthetic. It blurred the line between genuine self-expression and performance.

This whole push-and-pull dynamic also played out in the way people curated their identities online. As Byron et al., (2019, p. 2246) explain, even in supposedly free and unfiltered spaces like Tumblr, certain norms always emerge​. People were crafting their own personas through carefully chosen images, quotes, and blog themes, but they were still following an unspoken rulebook.

Final thoughts

Today, Gen Z is attempting to reclaim that balance, by recreating Tumblr’s unpolished aesthetics on TikTok while navigating a vastly different digital landscape. In a way, this nostalgia is an act of rebellion against the hyper-curated, brand-saturated digital spaces we’ve grown used to. The irony, of course, is that Tumblr’s once-anonymous culture is now mediated through platforms that prioritize personal branding. Yet the fact that users are reviving this era suggests a persistent desire for a public sphere where self-expression isn’t dictated by corporate algorithms.

References:

@reme. (2025). everything is embarrassing. TikTok. https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSM8fg1Qf/

Byron, P., Robards, B., Hanckel, B., Vivienne, S., & Churchill, B. (2019). “Hey, I’m Having These Experiences”: Tumblr Use and Young People’s Queer (Dis)connections. International Journal of Communication, 13, 2242. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338593649_Hey_I

Çela, E. (2015). Social Media as a New Form of Public Sphere. European Journal of Social Sciences Education and Research, 4(1), 195. https://doi.org/10.26417/ejser.v4i1.p195-200

Dahlberg, L. (2007). The Internet, deliberative democracy, and power: Radicalizing the public sphere. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 3(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.3.1.47_1

Goldberg, A. (2022, February 2). What the Return of 2014 Tumblr Means For Body Image. Teen Vogue. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-the-return-of-2014-tumblr-means-for-body-image

Mahammed, N., Klouche, B., Saidi, I., Khaldi, M., & Fahsi, M. (2023). Bio-inspired algorithms for effective social media profile authenticity verification (p. 1). https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3694/paper13.pdf

Navlakha, M. (2021, October 26). TikTok is reviving the 2014 Tumblr-era aesthetic. Mashable SEA | Latest Entertainment & Trending . https://sea.mashable.com/life/18022/tiktok-is-reviving-the-2014-tumblr-era-aesthetic

Reif, A., Miller, I., & Taddicken, M. (2022). “Love the Skin You‘re In”: An Analysis of Women’s Self-Presentation and User Reactions to Selfies Using the Tumblr Hashtag #bodypositive. Mass Communication and Society, 26(6), 5–6. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2022.2138442

Robards, B., & Byron, P. (2017, May 29). There’s something queer about Tumblr. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/theres-something-queer-about-tumblr-73520

Warner, M. (2021). Publics and Counterpublics. Zone Book. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1qgnqj8

Yin, H. (2024). From Virality to Engagement: Examining the Transformative Impact of Social Media, Short Video Platforms, and Live Streaming on Information Dissemination and Audience Behavior in the Digital Age. Advances in Social Behavior Research, 14(1), 10–14. https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7102/2024.18644

[tricksterringmaster]

(Hope this doesn't come off as rude)

But I think what can help you get your post seen better is if you add LOTS of tags, LOTS of it.

It does better on the algorithm.

And your art is beautiful, and I'm so jealous of it (in a good way). I know it's hard, but don't doubt yourself! It's a built-up, and I KNOW you'll get where you want to be; your art is too good.

It's not rude! But it's also not how these algorithms exactly work these days.

I have three main social media rn: Tumblr, Twitter (X), Instagram.

On Tumblr algorithm isn't that big of a thing. People also use tags for search and blog navigation, so overdoing tags isn't usually a good thing. Especially bad thing is to use "theme-related" tags which are not depicted on the images itself. It happens a lot in Marauders fandom these days, and, I kid you not, I know a lot of people who feel fuming anger about it. Overdoing tags for tumblr is just not a good thing.

On Twitter you just can't really use many tags physically, and tbh people rarely use them overall. Twitter rec algorithm is more about searching similar words to your interests and looking how much engagement these posts gets. The higher engagement, the more chances that your art will be seen by people outside of your immediate circle.

On Instagram tags kinda lost their usefullness with time. They are not the best thing for search, I think you can follow tags, but quite often these recs get overwhelmed by something else (esp fucking reels). Also afaik Instagram's algorithm became more SEO-like, so it's more about using key words in descriptions of your posts. But generally you still won't get on explore page without people sharing, commenting, liking and saving.

Platforms generally want more engagement, because they want you to stay as much as you can, as long as you can. And if your post isn't engaging, then for the algorithms it's garbage. The only way to show the algorithms that your post is worthy being shown and recommended is engagement, but here is my regular problem - my art rarely is.

I'm glad that you like my art!

But also it happens quite often that people come, like all of my art and then go away without a single reblog. I go to their page and see more popular artists of the same characters/ships reblogged, and not old art, but recent art, so it's not a queue thing. What else can I think in these instances rather than my art just isn't good enough, not worthy of being saved and kept and shared?

I see people praising artists for "finally doing a thing" which I've been doing for almost two years. What else can I think if not that I will never be good enough to get the same praise? Especially because it happens for the second time in four years in two different fandoms, I feel like it's me who is the problem.

It's just absolutely devastating to pour your heart, your limited free time, your love into something, into sharing it, into promoting it one way or another and then seeing how someone wings it in a couple of months without having to suffer all of these additional movements and becomes a fucking star.

I just feel like something finally broke in me in the last couple of months. Because what is the point of trying and hoping, when it just always brings you nowhere while others can appear and get more love than you can even realistically imagine.

I'm really glad that you like my art, but at this point I'm not sure I'm in any way one of these artists who are exactly worthy of any jealousy, good or bad.

[lexiepaprika]

i have this pet theory that a big contributing factor to the current spread of misinformation and discord within the gyaru community is the incessant demand for content production

aspiring (or practicing) gyaru influencers and content creators are compelled to post almost daily to satisfy the algorithm. which is a pressure that prioritizes quantity over quality/accuracy/depth of research

additionally the expectation to come up with new and exciting content at that rate can easily lead to misrepresentation (intentional or not)

unlike in offline spaces where subcultural growth is more gradual and organic, digital platforms like TikTok or Instagram accelerate this growth to a disorienting rate which makes any shifts in the subculture feel abrupt and like they’re threatening its perceived authenticity

and then we find ourselves in a cycle of misinformation. and now baby gals are learning from unreliable sources and then, in turn, feed the misinformation machine

historically, gyaru functioned as a physical “living” subculture where newcomers had access to guidance from more experienced gyaru (older sister gals or charisma shop clerks) however with the decline of the in-person gyaru community many baby gals lack access to such mentorship and are left to navigate the subculture independently. this absence of direct community guidance contributes to more misinformation

[delightfulfanblaze]

Engagement Over Reach: Why Interaction Matters More than Numbers on Social Platforms

Introduction

In the bustling world of social media, brands constantly grapple with the challenge of capturing attention while maintaining relevance. The age-old debate of engagement versus reach often surfaces as marketers strive to determine what Social Media Marketing Dublin truly matters in their campaigns. Is it merely about accumulating a vast number of followers and likes or fostering meaningful interactions with your audience? As businesses navigate this complex landscape, understanding the importance of engagement over sheer numbers becomes paramount. This article explores why interaction is more significant than reach and how Dublin's vibrant social media marketing scene can help brands thrive.

Engagement Over Reach: Why Interaction Matters More than Numbers on Social Platforms

When examining the metrics that define social media success, engagement stands out as a crucial indicator of a brand's effectiveness. While reach may indicate how many eyes have seen your content, it does not guarantee that those viewers are interested or invested in your message. Engagement, on the other hand, reflects genuine interest through likes, comments, shares, and other forms of interaction.

Understanding Engagement Metrics

Before diving deeper into why engagement matters more than reach, it's essential to understand the various metrics that define engagement:

Likes: A quick acknowledgment from users that they appreciate your content. Comments: A direct form of interaction where users express their thoughts or feelings about your post. Shares: When users share your content with their networks, it amplifies your message beyond initial reach. Click-Through Rates (CTR): Measures how often people click on links within your posts to learn more or make a purchase. The Pitfalls of Focusing Solely on Reach

Misleading Success Indicators

A large follower count may seem impressive but does not equate to success. Brands can possess thousands of followers while struggling with low engagement rates. Focusing solely on reach can lead marketers to overlook the quality of their audience.

Lack of Authenticity

When brands chase numbers without nurturing relationships, they risk appearing insincere. Users today value authenticity over hollow metrics; they want to connect with real individuals behind brands.

Algorithm Limitations

Social platforms like Facebook and Instagram prioritize content based on user interactions rather than raw numbers. This means that even if you have a broad reach, if engagement is low, your visibility will dwindle.

Why Interaction Drives Brand Loyalty

Engagement fosters loyalty in several compelling ways:

Building Community

When brands actively engage with their audience through comments and messages, they create a sense of community. This connection encourages users to return and interact repeatedly.

Encouraging User-Generated Content

By engaging with followers, brands inspire them to create their own content related to the brand, amplifying organic growth.

Gathering Valuab

[anything-bitesized]

Are We Creating Ourselves, or Just Performing for the Algorithm?

Keywords: body image, aesthetic labor, social media culture, digital self

Social media platforms are saturated with flawless selfies, edited bodies, and carefully curated aesthetics that adhere to narrow and repetitive beauty ideals. These ideals often follow what are known as aesthetic templates - standardized styles, poses, and modifications that define what is considered “beautiful” in digital spaces. These templates are not merely about self-expression but function as codes to gain social validation through likes, followers, and visibility.

Maintaining an online presence that aligns with these trends requires what scholars define as aesthetic labor - the continuous effort people invest in altering their appearance, both physically and digitally, to fit within accepted norms (Dean, 2005). This kind of labor is especially prevalent in microcelebrity, where individuals brand themselves for online consumption, blurring the boundaries between personal identity and commercial persona (Senft, 2012). However, even beyond influencers, these pressures extend to ordinary users who need to conform to the same polished standards to feel seen.

Recent cases highlight the urgency of this issue. In early 2024, TikTok implemented restrictions on the use of beauty filters for teenagers after public concern that these filters were contributing to appearance-based anxiety and lowering self-esteem. The platform acknowledged that repeated exposure to altered faces could lead to mental health issues, especially among adolescents navigating their formative years online (Booth 2024). This follows earlier findings from Instagram’s internal research, which revealed that one in three teenage girls felt worse about their bodies after using the app, primarily due to comparison with filtered and idealized images (Gayle 2021).

Beyond mental health, the impact of aesthetic standards has manifested in real-world consequences. Hunt (2019) reported a rise in “Snapchat dysmorphia,” a term used to describe individuals seeking cosmetic procedures to resemble their filtered selfies. Surgeons have noted an increase in young patients requesting enhancements to achieve digital-like features - such as smooth skin, larger lips, or contoured faces - demonstrating how online beauty templates can shape offline body modification practices.

Filters are more widespread than ever before, prompting some individuals to pursue cosmetic enhancements like fillers, Botox, and other aesthetic treatments.

Social media’s preference for sexualized content further compounds this issue. The concept of pornification - the encouragement of users to present themselves in a sexualized manner to gain attention - is driven by algorithmic logic that rewards visibility and engagement with such imagery (Tyler & Quek, 2016). This results in users modifying not only their appearance but their behavior to match what platforms deem profitable or popular.

The emotional consequences of this environment are stark. The 2022 BBC documentary Disordered Eating by Zara McDermott explores the connection between social media and the rising rates of eating disorders among young people. It presents personal narratives and expert commentary to highlight how constant exposure to slim, idealized bodies fosters disordered eating habits and body dissatisfaction (BBC 2022). These stories reflect the psychological toll of aesthetic labor, where worth is measured against an unattainable ideal curated for digital approval.

Zara explores the rise in eating disorders and asks if social media is the problem.

The cycle of comparison, modification, and validation driven by social media algorithms transforms personal identity into a performance and bodies into commodities. The pressure to adhere to digital beauty norms erodes self-esteem and encourages both mental and physical alterations, raising critical questions about agency, authenticity, and well-being in the age of algorithmic aesthetics.

Reference list

BBC 2022, ‘Zara McDermott: “I considered deleting social media after learning impact on disordered eating”’, BBC Three, viewed 23 March 2025, https://www.bbc.com/bbcthree/article/88b8852b-79ec-4821-a7c3-01dd8bf3e245.

Booth, R 2024, ‘TikTok to block teenagers from beauty filters over mental health concerns’, The Guardian, viewed 23 March 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/26/tiktok-to-block-teenagers-from-beauty-filters-over-mental-health-concerns.

Gayle, D 2021, ‘Facebook aware of Instagram’s harmful effect on teenage girls, leak reveals’, The Guardian, viewed 23 March 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/14/facebook-aware-instagram-harmful-effect-teenage-girls-leak-reveals.

Hunt, E 2019, ‘Faking it: How Selfie Dysmorphia Is Driving People to Seek Surgery’, The Guardian, viewed 23 March 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jan/23/faking-it-how-selfie-dysmorphia-is-driving-people-to-seek-surgery.

Dean, D 2005, ‘Recruiting a self: Women performers and aesthetic labour’, Work, Employment & Society, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 761–774. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017005058061

Senft, TM 2012, ‘Microcelebrity and the branded self’, in Hartley, J, Burgess, J & Bruns, A (eds), A Companion to New Media Dynamics, Blackwell, UK.

Tyler, M & Quek, K 2016, ‘Conceptualizing pornographication’, Sexualization, Media, & Society, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2374623816648962

[madmaryholiday]

Oh, God, I had the grossest experience on Instagram today.

I was watching a young mother's videos about how ulcerative colitis necessitated the use of an ostomy bag and eventually the removal of her colon. This wasn't the gross part, obv. I was curious about how she was recovering and what her life was like.

However, right after I navigated back to my main feed, I suddenly got this advert about "ditch your WOKE razors!" And how this company's products "aren't for WOKE women. They're for MEN. CONSERVATIVE men!"

And I was like what the fuck? And marked it as irrelevant.

Then the next advert was....this:

What the fuck???

So I marked it as inappropriate.

THEN I got this one:

And I marked it as inappropriate and seriously considered deleting my account right there.

My best guess is that the videos about the lady with the ostomy bag triggered this flurry of gross adverts. Maybe ostomy bag = old man = conservative to the algorithm??? I know it's not a huge deal, but it genuinely disturbed me to be happily scrolling through the woke-est shit possible and then see THAT. And knowing that my entire history and follow list wasn't enough to overcome the immediate hard right turn the second I watched videos that might POSSIBLY indicate I was open to alt-right bullshit is just.

Ugh.

Luckily, it stopped after that, but I just feel...unclean. Because in between videos from disabled trans artists was a hysterical declaration that Christianity was being attacked by the big bad Left. It was just fucking GROSS.

[rottenbrainstuff]

Lmao I just love how algorithms are completely unable to properly judge anything

Lately I’ve been watching theme park documentaries because I think the hubris of some of the people in charge of these places is amazing and I absolutely love hearing stories of how they make big stupid plans that fail stupidly. With Disney especially it’s been fascinating to see how they don’t even attempt to hide their “charge more, offer less” strategy and I’m so curious to see how far they can take it before people finally stop going to these parks. Or if that will never happen - maybe they really can do whatever they want and people will still throw their money at it, because it’s not about the actual experience and value for money, it’s about the status. I dunno.

And Instagram is like: oh she’s watching theme park videos? And now it shows me a feed full of Disney influencers showing off their ridiculous overpriced food and plastic crap and their tips for how to navigate what honestly sounds like the worst most stressful vacation planning I’ve ever heard of and like. No. No. You don’t understand at all my friend. A big giant no thanks on that.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Hi all— I’ve got the flu, so the daily report will return tomorrow. But I figured I’d use my sick day to talk to you about something else that’s been on my mind: online censorship, the growing effort to control how and where we talk about abortion, and what it all means for Abortion, Every Day. Please read until the end, where there’s a poll for you to weigh in on!

We’re already seeing abortion rights disappear across social media: Instagram is blurring out posts with information about abortion pills and hiding telehealth providers like Aid Access from search results. TikTok is flagging or removing videos about abortion rights under the auspices of “community guideline” violations. And just yesterday, I shared how ‘community notes’ on X are being weaponized by conservatives to label abortion rights posts as misinformation. That’s to say nothing of how abortion content is buried by algorithms, or how pro-choice creators are shadowbanned. (I’ve experienced this myself lately—my TikTok views have suddenly and dramatically dropped off a cliff.) Abortion speech suppression is already here. It’s happening. But I’m even more worried about the attacks still to come, and what they mean for the newsletter.

In Texas—where anti-abortion activists often test their most extreme tactics first—lawmakers are pushing a bill that could impact the whole country. If SB 2880 passes, Texans could sue online companies that supposedly ‘aid and abet’ abortion: Instagram for allowing posts about where to get abortion pills, Venmo for facilitating payments from patients—or even Substack, for publishing a newsletter like this one. Republicans hope that by allowing any private citizen to sue, tech companies will decide it’s too costly and legally onerous to allow abortion-related content at all. Given how willing platforms already are to censor us, imagine how much faster they’ll fold under legal pressure. This is just one bill—but there are others, and they’re all telling us the same story: the future of online abortion speech is under threat. I don’t want to wait until it’s too late to act. I’m starting to think seriously, right now, about how Abortion, Every Day can navigate a country where online speech is regularly suppressed—or where sharing information about abortion puts Americans at risk of civil suits and criminal charges.

Abortion, Every Day, the pro-abortion rights Substack by Jessica Valenti, is preparing for the day that freedom of speech in support of abortion rights could be criminalized.