when the knife scraped bone.

there are no influencers. there's no audience. no one is earning money from posting. we're all just doing it for the love of the game.

there's no shitty AI feature being shoved down your throat every time you open the app. no chatbot, no pop-up asking you if you want to drastically transform the picture you're about to post, no captions suggestions, no AI overview in the search feature.

no doomscrolling. there are barely any videos on here anyway and the ones you see, you just watch them and move on. you're not tempted to keep scrolling till eternity.

you curate your own feed. there is an algorithm (i think) but it's not as invasive as other apps.

you don't have to share any of your personal information. there's no two-factor authentication.

there are ads but they're not as unavoidable and obnoxious as other apps. yes, some of these ads are AI slop and i hate them but they're definitely easier to avoid imo.

this website is about community. referring back to my first point, since there are no influencers, there is no hierarchy. it's a playground rather than a stage show. the fun comes from participation, not mindless consumption.

and on that note, some of the most iconic memes have originated on tumblr because of this community aspect. the joke would be way less funny if it was just one person saying the joke and everyone else laughing. the fun comes from the "yes, and" from everyone else.

yes, shitty people still exist here but the website itself doesn't push toxicity to the forefront. if you open the comment section of any instagram post or reel, the comment with the most replies are often displayed first. why? because those are the controversial/problematic ones. tumblr doesn't have that. if you see a toxic comment, that's just a coincidence, not tumblr trying to make you engage in an argument.

the layout is simple and fairly easy to navigate. they're not changing things up every few months so that when you try to go to chats, you accidentally click on a fucking AI feature. i know some other people have complained about changes in the tumblr layout but i find it a lot less offensive than other apps.

it's a tribute to the early internet, especially the blog aspect. how many blogging websites still exist? how many social media apps allow you to decorate and modify your profile outside of profile pic, header and description? tumblr just feels more alive and less corporate. of course there's a corporation behind it, but it's not some asshole billionaire trying to shove generative AI down your throat and take all your money.

So yeah, this little interaction inspired me to crunch some numbers. And believe it or not, but Martin is, in fact, better!

Statistically speaking.

Over 5 seasons, Jon apologizes 122 times, while Martin apologizes 91 times.

The main difference between these two is that Jon apologizes more frequently and for everything (especially in S5), whereas Martin piles up multiple 'sorry's per apology.

Nothing illustrates that better than this little tidbit, which coincidentally comes from EP 179, as well!

EP 179 is *also* The Most Sorry Episode™: it sits at 9-4 with Martin in the lead!

S1: Martin 9, Jon 5

S2: Martin 4, Jon 16

S3: Martin 27, Jon 15

S4: Martin 6, Jon 25

S5: Martin 45, Jon 61

My name is Maram, I am 25 years old from Gaza. I dreamed of a peaceful life, spending my life with my husband and my three children... but the war turned this dream into an impossible one 💔😭. We lived through this genocide with all its painful details and we are still suffering from it😭. We were so happy when the ceasefire was announced, and we returned to our homes in northern Gaza after being displaced for a year and a half in a tent in the south of the Gaza Strip. After repairing a small room in our destroyed house, we began to live there and start over. Unfortunately, the war came back, and it was even stronger than before 💔. Now, we have no shelter or source of income. We have used up all our savings during the war. I know I created my campaign very late, but that's because I have no other means to help my family 🙏. I am completely confident and hopeful that someone here will help us as much as they can and save my family in these tough circumstances 😔.

I know how painful and frustrating it is to start over from scratch, but I hope to get any amount for my family 🥺🙏.

Children dying from the cold, mothers screaming in pain and anguish, men praying to their Lord against injustice, the elderly groaning, the sick praying to their Lord to ease their pain and cold—all this in the tents.

Your donation and participation are very important; my family survived death due to the rain, floods, and cold.