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Tumblr Overview

Tumblr launched in February 2007 by web designer David Karp. He had taken an interest in the ‘tumbleblogs’ circulating around the internet which were a collection of links, quotes, photos, videos, dialogue, and short text. After a year of waiting for a tumble blogging site to emerge, he had decided to make his own and thus, the birth of Tumblr. The site had gained major popularity and traction, reaching 75,000 users within the first two weeks (Institution Co.). Over the years, Tumblr had flourished and became one of the top hubs for community-building, countless subcultures, and social networking.

As of February 2021, Tumblr is home to 518.7 million blogs (Finances Online). The site allows for widely accessible and easily digestible posts that can be reshared and liked across the globe, including statistics of users’ usage and interactions. Byron attributes Tumblr’s popularity to how its “ blogs are typically anonymous or pseudonymous” which “affords a greater sense of privacy and…is less likely than other popular social media platforms to bring one’s existing friendships and communities into a shared space” (Byron, 2243). Although social media platforms such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter existed, Tumblr paved the way for curating online identities because of blogs’ widespread ability for anybody anywhere to share their thoughts and build an audience of strangers as opposed to family members and friends. Additionally, one of Karp’s main focuses was the freedom of creativity and self-expression which allowed for vast opportunities to communicate such as sharing articles, links, pictures, or videos without much censorship. With endless opportunities, niche communities and interests were formed and flourished; Multiple conversations were being had about favorite musicians, artists, fashion, and writers. Tumblr attracted deviant and stigmatized communities which began a heavy discussion on teen mental health. It enabled people to share taboo experiences which were often absent in social groups outside the site. This gave birth to the infamous “Sad Girl” subculture of the 2010s.

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Deviant & Stigmatized Communities:

As a result of the lack of censorship and range of opportunities to converse, Tumblr attracted deviant and stigmatized communities which began a heavy discussion on teen mental health. Tumblr has been a creative and personal space for groups, especially women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ members as a result of its accessibility to connect with others. The site offers a safe space for trans and gender diverse self-representations compared with dominant platforms like Facebook and Instagram. It enabled people to share taboo experiences which were often absent in social groups outside the site—turning it into a crucial resource for connections and learning from queer and gender-diverse peers. The indirect yet vulnerable interactions and discussions of mental health, physical health, gender and sexualities were mainly for self-disclosure, anonymous support, and bearing witness rather than soliciting advice or health information. Below, Byron’s participants recount their experiences on Tumblr:

Charlie: (19, trans male, queer, urban) “Knowing there were other people who were this sexuality or they were also transgender, that was a really big thing for me to be able to see—that there were other people that were also figuring themselves out sexuality wise. That was a nice thing for 15-year-old me to find out about..” (Byron, 2245).

Casey: (20, agender, bisexual, rural) “I actually learned about agender and all the other genders from Tumblr. Before that, all I really knew was there are men and there are women, and that’s it. So I engage with the community on Tumblr with nonbinary people and trans people quite a bit..” (Byron, 2245).

Tumblr became one of the first digital spaces for subcultures to exist and form—creating a community of deviant and stigmatized individuals that could provide support and learn from each other. Essentially, Tumblr was primarily a resource for youth to go to in order to find people like them who could relate to their experiences, trauma, and struggles.

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Internet, Identity & Influence:

It’s important to acknowledge and understand the role of the internet and how youth compose and curate images and posts of themselves as connective identity texts and how it’s used to resist, reinforce and/or challenge identities. Social media is becoming increasingly relevant with “almost ¾ of Americans using social media” and Tumblr hosting “over 500 million users “(Griffith, para. 4). Over time, it has integrated itself as a necessary part of society and how we communicate and operate—using a new language of images and videos. As a result, we attach ourselves to our social media channels and spend a significant amount of time building our online identities. In a research article conducting studies on new media narratives as identity texts, Wargo interviewed LGBTQ+ youth, Zeke and Camille, ages 15-18 to understand how they use social media as a means of expressing their identities.

For example, Zeke had posted a photo of his jersey on Tumblr “as a way to identify himself as ‘… not one of those loud gays like Gabe’” (Wargo, para. 14). In the figure, Zeke uses a post of his jersey to resist a flamboyant identity and reinforce his masculine identity. Another example is Camille who posts a large collection of nail polishes to “emphasize her gender identity as ‘girly-girl’ through connections to materiality” (Wargo, para. 17). In the figure, Camille posts her nail polish collection on Tumblr in order to reinforce her femininity. Social media platforms and the act of sharing photos to construct one’s identity have greatly influenced today’s culture as how people perceive us becomes increasingly important.

The Tumblr subculture of the 2010s changed the culture of young people where people strived to post specific photos as a means of expressing their identity. In his research on community responses on Tumblr, Griffith studied that a variety of marginalized and disenfranchised groups use social media to build social capital and communities such as the LGBTQ+ community, racial groups, and more. In particular, the social capital theory is used to look at the “investment in social relations with expected returns” which can be information, influence, or gaining social credentials (Griffith, para. 7). Building social capital is extremely important for individuals who cannot do it in person due to inaccessibility, remoteness, and social stigma. As a result, many individuals use Tumblr as a means of identity formation and self-disclosure. Griffith proposes that “enhanced self-persuasion, self-concept formation, cognitive processing, and self-regulation” are all outcomes of Tumblr usage (Griffith, para. 8).

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"Sad Girls" Subculture

Entering the digital age, youth are expected to express themselves while also presenting an identity they wish to be perceived, which ultimately influences the development of self-identities, especially in teen girls. Lynn asserts how “Through the use of platforms like Tumblr, teenage girls in the late 2010s and early 2020s have been able to relate with others who do not conform to the normal expectations of a teenage American girl” (Lynn, 1). To reject the status quo, teenage girls use a distinct style and music taste to separate themselves from mainstream society. While the rise of internet use has caused subcultures to become less distinguishable from the mainstream culture, the subculture of “Sad Girls” during this era was very distinguishable and heavily influences today’s youth culture. The “Sad Girl” subculture that emerged from Tumblr in the early-to-mid 2010s was the construction of a unique identity through style and music but also a demonstration of “significant forms of resistance to mainstream gendered discourses” (Lynn, para. 3).

In Heather Mooney’s paper “Sad Girls and Carefree Black Girls”, she writes how “Del Rey’s traction marks a turn in popular culture” that led to the subculture of “Sad Girls” whose identities rested on “sadness and extended/eternal youth/girlhood” (Mooney, 178). The identity of “Sad Girls'' challenged “the effects of sexism…patriachy” and expectations of American teenage girls through their cynical worldviews and moody attitudes. It brought light to a number of issues and rejects the false idyllic narratives of American teenage girls and society.

As an extension of their emotions and identities, they share a distinct style of dress and taste of music. They usually strived for a “soft grunge” look with dark clothes, knee-high socks, pleated skirts, combat boots, stockings, striped tees, flannels, and denim jackets from brands such as American Apparel and Urban Outfitters. Their music consisted of indie, alternative, and punk genres with prominent artists rocking the era such as The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, The Neighborhood, Lana Del Rey, My Chemical Romance, and Lorde. 

The “Sad Girls” aesthetic was a projection of their own struggles and wellbeing—a cry for help. Their clothing acted as a symbol of their resentful attitudes and gloomy feelings toward their environment. While some may simply enjoy the edginess of the subculture, a majority were suffering heavily from mental illnesses, eating disorders, drug abuse, and self-harm. Through their music and style, they gave themselves an identity to reinforce their behavior and attitudes. On top of their physical appearance, they also took to Tumblr to discuss and share their struggles—starting a heavy discussion on mental health.

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Mental Health Discussion & Romanticization:

The subculture started a heavy discourse on mental illnesses and normalized, glamorized, or even promoted issues rather than recovering from them. The discussion of mental illness is portrayed through images and discussions of self-harm, depression, and eating disorders—depicting them in an “aesthetic manner”. This had a detrimental impact on the youth of the 2010s as they falsely began romanticizing these issues. The mysterious identity of the “Sad Girl” separated her from the rest of the world—an individual nobody could understand but everybody wanted to. Rather than working on recovery and healthy coping mechanisms, the subculture projected their issues through photos with deep and “beautiful” meanings—causing people to feed more into their bad habits and worsen their wellbeing. Consequently, topics of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, and other mental disorders grew in popularity and manifested themselves in real-life communities. After constant exposure to these posts, many teens find themselves developing the same disorders, normalizing them, and glamourizing them.

In a Youtube video titled “romanticization of mental health”,  Savannah Brown talks about her experiences on Tumblr and how they worsened her mental health. The discussion of mental health prospered under this subculture but at the expense of romanticizing it too. The comment section is full of people taking out their frustration and criticizing the behavior of the “Sad Girls” on Tumblr. It’s clear that this subculture was very ignorant and self-centered with many doing it for attention at the expense of others. However, it’s important to note why they are so desperate for attention and recognize their mental instability. These were teenage girls crying for help and projecting their own issues onto others which remains a problem today.

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Conclusion

The “Sad Girls” subculture is one of the most notable aesthetics and groups of the 2010s with people constantly referring to and reminiscing about it. It is globalized through the internet and has integrated into mainstream culture. Fashion trends such as pleated skirts, combat boots, and stockings are making a big comeback. A few artists still remain popular today such as Lorde and The Neighborhood. The online persona of the sad girl has disappeared as a result of the censorship issues and realization of its detrimental impact on mental health but helped challenge the stigma surrounding it. It addressed the rising issues of teen mental health and demonstrates how many use unhealthy coping mechanisms, specifically attaching their sadness to their identity, during a time when none of it was talked about. Although this subculture had done quite the damage to millions of teens during the 2010s, the “Sad Girls” had a major influence on the way we use social media, the trends of the 20th century, and the conversation about mental health.

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Works Cited

Byron P, Robards B, Hanckel B, Vivienne S, Churchill B. “Hey, i’m having these experiences”: Tumblr use and young people’s queer (dis)connections. International journal of communication. 2019;13:2239-2259.

Eira, Astrid. “Number of Tumblr Blogs in 2022/2023: User Demographics, Growth, and Revenue.” Financesonline.com, FinancesOnline.com, 14 Jan. 2022, https://financesonline.com/number-of-tumblr-blogs/#:~:text=How%20many%20Tumblr%20blogs%20are,unique%20visits%20from%20users%20worldwide.

Griffith, F.J. and Stein, C.H. (2021), Behind the Hashtag: Online Disclosure of Mental Illness and Community Response on Tumblr. Am J Community Psychol, 67: 419-432. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12483

Lynn, Madison. Confluence, 19 Oct. 2020, https://confluence.gallatin.nyu.edu/context/independent-project/developing-the-self-in-the-digital-space. 

Mooney H. Sad Girls and Carefree Black Girls: Affect, Race, (Dis)Possession, and Protest. Women’s studies quarterly. 2018;46(3 & 4):175-194. doi:10.1353/wsq.2018.0038

“Social Media: A Brief History of Tumblr.” Institution, 11 May 2017, https://institution.co.uk/2017/social-media-doncaster/social-media-benefits-of-tumblr/#:~:text=Tumblr%20was%20first%20launched%20in,were%20floating%20around%20the%20internet. 

“Subcultures and Sociology.” Grinnell College, https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/subcultures-and-scenes/mental-illness-on-tumblr/. 

Wargo JM. “Every selfie tells a story …”: LGBTQ youth lifestreams and new media narratives as connective identity texts. New media & society. 2017;19(4):560-578. doi:10.1177/1461444815612447