A Little Space to Fill

Today in Updates:

In 2011, we were a whopping 25 people (which, coincidentally is the median age of both David and I at that time); an entire company that could fit (sort of) comfortably into one small conference room, count 3/4 of its female employees on six feet, and offsite together in one house.  

Now, we’re hundreds of people across multiple offices, about to go through an acquisition (again!) and I’m certainly no longer 26. So, while I wouldn’t change the last six years for anything, I know in my heart that it’s time for me to move on to the next adventure. 

It’s impossible to sum up six plus years in one sappy tumblr post, so here are some of the greatest hits:

Helped save net neutrality for a minute there. 

Found a new passion in mental health reform. 

Rallied for Planned Parenthood.

Fought the good fight.

Raised over $318k for Hurricane Sandy relief with HONY. 

Brought Tumblr to the White House. 

Helped throw a yacht party, a gutter bar party, a pool party, a rally, a warehouse party, a gif festival, and put a tumblr ice cream truck in Times Square. Sadly, I never got the branded tiny train that I dreamt of for a couple years.

Rang the opening bell with a hundred or so of my favorite people

Cannes, SXSW, WHCD, Art Basel, NYFW, DLD, Web Summit, Advertising Week, etc. repeat. 

Spontaneously presented at least one award. Helped win a couple too. 

Watched the NYT Business Section turn blue

Co-authored a wildly successful seasonal tumblr (hi, dad)

Co-authored a not-so-successful tumblr (hi Lee, Amanda, DCH, Sima, Brant, Danielle) 

So many interviews, profiles, videos, photo shoots, articles, and at least one guest starring moment on the set of Colbert. 

Traveled the world talking Tumblr, from London to Australia, and a lot of places in between.

Ruined my google image search results (for a good cause)

Made some fucking amazing and strange best friends.

Took my dad to the White House and had a meeting in 10 Downing. Spent my birthday with the Mayor.

Posed for an accidental mother/daughter photo shoot with Annie and some other slightly more flattering stuff 

Looked at my phone a lot. 

Essentially lived inside the most creative part of the Internet, with the most passionate users. It’s pretty cozy.

Had the pleasure of working every day with the best. damn. team. out. there. I have learned so much from them, and so much about myself through them. I can’t wait to one day work for each of them, if they’ll have me. As anyone who has seen me spontaneously crying over the last two weeks knows, they are hard to leave. 

Thank you, Tumblr, for an incredible six years. It’s been a dream.

Hey, Tumblr.

Today is May 1. The first day of Mental Health Month. This entire month we want to nudge all of you to celebrate triumphs, acknowledge struggles, and just come together. Let other people know they’re not alone. Feel less alone yourself. It’s what Post it Forward is all about.

One of the incredible ways you—all of you—have helped shape Tumblr is with your ability to be open and honest.  It was you that turned this platform into a community, one based on genuine expression, creativity, and acceptance.

Neat. How can I participate?

Glad you asked! Each week, for all four weeks, we’ll be giving you ideas for ways to Post it Forward.

Week 1—Post it for you: How you practice self-care and personal well-being.

Week 2—Post it for each other: Ways you can be there for each other.

Week 3—Post it for reflection: Sharing stories of personal growth and development.

Week 4—Post it for the future: Committing to continuous reflection and improvement.

This week is all about posting for you. Acts of self-care. Here are some places to start:

Post an emoji spell for self-care and positivity. 🌈 🔮 💕 🌱

Share a photo or GIF of something that calms you down. Don’t have one? Here’s one.

What’s the one thing that always cheers you up? Post a photo of it, take a GIF, or illustrate it. Toss a sticker on it, if you’d like.

Never forget that you are valid! Post a selfie with “valid” sticker (see below).

Make a list of things you like about yourself.

Make a checklist of 5 acts of self-care you promise to do for yourself this week.

Make an audio post with a song that helps you zone out and re-energize.

Don’t forget to tag all your posts with #postitforward this month! It makes it easier for everyone to find each other’s contributions.

What else?

We’ve asked our pal Tumblrbot (@tumblrbot) to help out with any extra encouragement you might need. Try sending them messages like “tell me about Mental Health Month” or “what’s this week’s prompt?” Tumblrbot will let you know what’s up, because Tumblrbot is a friend to all of us.

We got Answer Times, all of them taking place right here on Post it Forward unless indicated otherwise:

5/4—Utkarsh Ambudkar, NAMI (@namiorg) ambassador, Pitch Perfect actor, and member of hip-hop improv group, Freestyle Love Supreme.

5/8—AJ Mendez Brooks, NAMI (@namiorg) ambassador, former pro wrestler, and author of Crazy Is My Superpower, a memoir about her experiences with bipolar disorder.

5/9—Brittany Snow and Courtney Knowles, co-founders of Love is Louder, from their official blog (@loveislouderofficial).

5/10—Kelly Williams Brown, New York Times best-selling author, from her official blog (@adulting).

5/15—Cynthia Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s mother and co-founder of the Born This Way Foundation.

5/16—Shannon Beveridge (@now-this-is-living), 25-year-old YouTube star. She’ll be partnering with It Gets Better (@itgetsbetterproject).

5/23—The creators of #TheBlackout movement, from their official blog (@theblackoutofficial).

5/25—Anna Akana, YouTuber, writer, director, and activist, from her official blog (@annaakana).

5/26—Mental health advocates Patrick and Amy Kennedy.

We even have some limited edition stickers ready for you in the Tumblr app right now:

When Planned Parenthood was founded a century ago, it was illegal to even hand out information about birth control. Thanks to generations of brave women and men who formed secret societies, challenged unjust laws, and started Planned Parenthood health centers in their own towns, we’ve come a long way since. Millions of people, regardless of income or insurance coverage, now have access to birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment. Each year, Planned Parenthood proudly provides health information to nearly 70 million people online and 1 million people in classrooms and communities across the country. Today, America is at a 30-year low in unintended pregnancy and a historic low in teen pregnancy.

But all of that progress is a reminder of how much women and men in America now stand to lose. Extreme politicians at every level of government are doing everything they can to block millions of people from coming to Planned Parenthood, deny access to affordable health care, and roll back women’s rights over their own bodies. We are facing a national health disaster, especially in our most vulnerable communities.

That’s why we’re calling on the tech industry to join Tumblr in standing with Planned Parenthood and standing up for access to health care.

A 100-year-old health care provider and the platform powering 335 million blogs may seem like an unlikely pair. But over the last few years, Tumblr and Planned Parenthood have teamed up to provide information and organize communities in support of reproductive rights. We’re proud of all we’ve accomplished together and with overwhelming support from the Tumblr community.

Technology has become instrumental in the fight for fairness and equality across a range of issues. It has the power to influence public debate, mobilize communities, and — most importantly — offer creative solutions to help people receive better care, no matter where they live or who they are. Finally, the tech industry owes its success to the brilliant people it employs and the communities it serves — and we cannot take their health for granted.

It won’t be easy, but doing nothing isn’t an option when lives are at stake. We need to work together to break down barriers to care and information for the millions of people desperate to take ownership of their sexual and reproductive health, and tackle disparities in health care access and outcomes.

Now is the time to be vocal, visible, and active in your support of Planned Parenthood — starting with the #TechStandsWithPP hashtag to share stories about how Planned Parenthood has touched your life, or the life of anyone you know. Call on your co-workers and peers to do the same.

In health care, education, and nearly every industry, we’re doing things that would have been unthinkable a century ago. Think of all we can achieve together in the decades to come if we combine the creativity, innovation, and energy of the tech community with Planned Parenthood’s commitment to helping people everywhere — no matter what.

Today is the first day of Women’s History Month, Tumblr. For the next 31 days we’re going to celebrate women’s accomplishments, honor women’s stories, and draw attention to struggles women are still facing, even in 2017.

How we’re celebrating:

This special Women’s History Month explore page will be frequently updated with the top WHM posts found on Tumblr, because the best stuff always comes from you. Answer Times will be held, and important topics will be explored over on Action (@action). We also made some highly relevant stickers for you to put on your photos and GIFs, available right now in the Tumblr app. Take a look:

Why this matters:

👆 See that Planned Parenthood sticker? While we’ve got plenty to celebrate, we also have crucial fights to fight. Women around the world are currently facing the possible revokation of basic human rights and access to adequate health care. Here in the US, Planned Parenthood (@plannedparenthood) is set to lose all federal funding. 5 million people use PP’s services every single year. That includes access to sex education, birth control, prenatal care, STD testing, cervical cancer screenings, abortions, and so much more.

How to help:

We ask that you join us in donating to this irreplaceable non-profit or help out any other way you can, if you have the means for either. If you don’t, maybe you know someone who does. Could you pass it along to them?

Tumblr stands with Planned Parenthood. Tumblr stands with women everywhere, regardless of sexuality, race, religion, or gender identity. We’re in this together.

Tumblr stands with Planned Parenthood. We believe that access to their vital healthcare services is a fundamental human right. In times like these, we must take it upon ourselves to support them on behalf of the millions of women who depend on them.

Join us on Sunday, March 12 at 6:00pm CT at Mohawk, 912 Red River Street, Austin TX during the SXSW interactive festival for the “Never Going Back” rally for Planned Parenthood.

The all-ages event is open to the public (RSVP here) and will feature live performances by Sleigh Bells, Girlpool, Hoops and PVRIS. Planned Parenthood reps will be on site to share resources, literature and ways to get involved and stay active.

If you can’t join us in person, please join us in spirit with a donation to Planned Parenthood.

10 years ago this Sunday, with modest expectations and little fanfare, Marco and I launched a side-project called Tumblr—a place where anyone could “post anything and customize everything.”

Why did the world need Tumblr? I wasn’t sure it did. But I did.

2006

The net is vast and infinite. The web browser has become a multimedia powerhouse. “Social media” is upending news and entertainment. One-year-old YouTube has created a phenomenon of “viral video.” Google hits for “podcast” have jumped from 100-thousand to 100-million in less than a year. Twitter has just launched. And the “blogosphere” has become the voice of millions, with the total number of blogs now doubling every six months. Dope.

But for all this progress, some of the internet’s brightest promise is fading. The wide-open and whimsical frontier of the World Wide Web is being reshaped by strict, narrow platforms. Our pictures, videos, music, journals, articles, links, status updates, are spread across a dozen different networks—each specializing in a single medium. The infinitely expressive canvas of HTML has been eclipsed by directories of vanilla-white profile pages. Our digital identities are fractured and engineers make the rules.

Enter Tumblehub Tumblespot Tumblr, a modest solution inspired by an avant-garde community of bloggers calling themselves “tumbleloggers.” The premise, simply, to make space for each individual’s full range of expression. A median between the author’s unfiltered and editorial voice. With complete control over design and presentation, so anyone can create something that truly represents themselves and that is truly unique.

2007

After four months of running my own blog on Tumblr, making tweaks and improvements, we open to the public. Hundreds of thousands of people begin using Tumblr to share some of the most eclectic, clever, and beautiful things we’ve ever seen on the internet.

We are humbled and awestruck.

Racing to keep up, every feature we add attempts to stretch the canvas a little bit more, pushed by this community’s constant and boundless creativity. Five months in, you have captured our hearts. We work up the courage to pursue Tumblr full time.

With a new purpose and brave investors, we close down our web development business and reopen as Tumblr, Inc.

2017

336 million Tumblrs. 146 billion posts. And counting.

A generation of artists, writers, creators, curators, and crusaders that have redefined our culture.

I can’t say this enough: Thank you, thank you, thank you for making Tumblr everything that it is. For everything we’ve built, and all its shortcomings, you have managed to make this one of the most creative, lively, thoughtful, supportive, and open-minded corners of the world.

We have learned so much from you and been so moved by your voices.

The Next Ten Years

The internet is at a crossroads again.

Internet culture has become the prevalent, global culture. These networks expose us to new ideas and information but–too often–trap us in bubbles. The world has been compressed, and we are constantly challenged to reconcile our differences.

With so many barriers to digital expression now lifted, and nearly all modes of media supported across all platforms, there is now an unprecedented opportunity to dedicate this space to freedom, truth, expanded perspective, and positive influence in the world. Tumblr’s focus over the next decade will shift accordingly.

Expression has been and always will be a foundational part of Tumblr—and our roadmap this year will not disappoint—but it is now more urgent than ever to empower positive and productive connections across the communities that thrive here. To create an environment where people are truly safe to be themselves. To ensure positive discourse rises above toxicity. And to protect the free exchange of ideas, from which truth will emerge.

We still have so much to prove and so much we’ve promised you. With this renewed focus, we are determined to deliver.

One Last Thing

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone working on, and who has ever worked on, Tumblr. I’ve learned so much from all of you, and it is a privilege to come to work with so many brilliant and talented people. We couldn’t have done any of this without your maniacal devotion throughout this journey.

my heart is swollen…. Tumblr raised $80K to be donated to Planned Parenthood <3 

Our employees donated, and we’d like to encourage you to donate too, or to help out in any way you can.

my heart is swollen…. Tumblr raised $80K to be donated to Planned Parenthood <3 

Can you help me get this to 500 reblogs?

Last week, I wrote about the incredible news that I’ll likely be receiving the new drug to stop the progression of my disease. It remains to be seen whether or not my insurance company will cover the ridiculously expensive drug, but so many of you left notes telling me you’d gladly donate to help me cover the costs. Your outpouring of support truly touched me, but it also inspired me to create the biggest project of my life.

The concept is simple, but the impact we’ll create is enormous. As science rapidly progresses, more life-saving treatments are becoming available to people living with muscular dystrophy. It’s a fascinating, astounding time to be alive. But these treatments are no walk in the park. They require numerous trips to specific administering sites (think: big cities), hotel stays, time off of work, meals, gas, and more. Forget the fact that many treatments are exorbitantly priced; the out-of-pocket expenses alone can block individuals from receiving treatments.

We are going to change that.

I present to you, Laughing At My Nightmare’s “Medical Treatment Assistance” program.

We are creating a movement. I need all of us to come together to support the thousands of families who are dealing with the overwhelming stress of receiving these groundbreaking medical treatments.

As of today, individuals with any form of muscular dystrophy who are receiving ongoing medical treatment may apply to us for assistance with their medical travel expenses. We have a system in place that is designed to get as many people the assistance they need right away.

But here is the most important part: We can only do this with your help. We are launching a special line of shirts featuring the phrase “I love someone who is SMAzing!” to fund this new program. 100% of the proceeds from these sales will benefit our new Medical Treatment Assistance program. Grab your shirts here: http://laughingatmynightmare.com/shop

The 40+ types of muscular dystrophy are harrowing diseases, but so often, the people who live with these diseases use their adversity to create strength. Living with my disease has taught me patience, empathy, and determination, and I am by no means unique in that way. This shirt is intended to celebrate the strong characters of the thousands of people who live with muscular dystrophy.

How can you help?

Buy some shirts! Buy five! Buy ten! Give them to friends. Remember: every shirt sold lets us help more people get the life-changing treatments that are becoming available.

Grab your shirts here: http://laughingatmynightmare.com/shop or if you prefer to simply donate to the effort: http://laughingatmynightmare.com/donate

But let’s really get this out into the world! Sharing this post is so powerful.