The Tumblr writing community is dying.
Itâs something Iâve noticed over the past two years of using this site. It was gradual, imperceptible at first, something that most would brush off as a silly concern, or fault Tumblr algorithm for. While itâs true that Tumblrâs engine leaves a lot to be desired, Iâve noticed that even popular blogs have started to dwindle in terms of interaction or motivation. There could be a lot of reasons for this, but the biggest two Iâve noticed, experienced myself, and asked fellow writers about is this: (1) content being stolen, and (2) lack of feedback or interaction. Iâve never seen any logical person defend content being stolen, so I want to address point 2 instead.
Lack of feedback and interaction. Iâm not saying this on my behalf so much as Iâm saying this for friends and smaller blogs who have lost motivation to write. I was looking at my yandere writing blogs list the other day and noticed that a good majority of them no longer write. I usually update the list every few months, and by that point, more and more writers have stopped writing entirely. This isnât a problem confined solely to the yandere fandom; in fact, thereâs less writing blogs in general these days, especially ones that are active. I used to run a very popular BNHA blog with some friends, but that dissolved after our content was stolen and our followers stopped interacting as much. Out of our 8,500 followers, we hardly got 0.015% notes (~128 notes) on an average post. Tumblr is to blame for the lack of eyes seeing our posts, for sure, but that also means that at least 128 people saw one post and didnât leave a comment or ask. We were considered a big blog; imagine what itâs like on a small blog.
My friend recently made a post that summed this up perfectly:Â
âIâve seen people say âBe grateful that people even lurk on your page.â and, while I get the message theyâre trying to say, itâs more dismissive and hurtful in my opinion. Like youâre saying, âOh your writing is mediocre, you should be grateful people even LOOK at it.â
Me personally? Iâve heard the argument that AO3 is a better place to post fanfics, and while that might be true, Iâve had friends experience firsthand the lack of interaction there too. Iâve heard the argument that interacting with some writers is intimidating (me included). Iâve heard that argument that followers might be too shy to interact. Iâve heard the argument that writers should write for themselves and not for views / likes / reblogs / etc, and while thatâs ideal, itâs not sustainable for everyone. What works for one writer wonât work for another, but you know what will? Interaction.
That comment or ask that took you 2 seconds to write? We remember it. That reblog with the compliments in the tags? We remember it. Every single ânamedâ anon we get (heart anon, sunflower anon, etc)? We remember them. And the best part is? Itâs actually easier to do these things on Tumblr since you have the option to send anonymous asks or make a sideblog specifically for reblogs! Trust me, whether the lack of interaction is the cause of a lack of motivation or what have you, every writer appreciates feedback (donât be shy to offer some critique or compliments) or even a simple keyboard smash with some emojis. Even sitting down for 5 min a day per week to comment on your favorite writersâ new pieces makes a huge difference. Personally, since Tumblrâs activity feed is beyond terrible and I have over 1,500 posts, I donât always see new reblogs or comments on my content; asks though? Always see those, can never go wrong with those. If you donât want to reblog or leave a comment, then you can never go wrong with an anonymous ask.Â
As my wise friend says: writing is an art, and in order to improve that art, we need other peopleâs eyes to see what we donât.
For the sake of every writer (past, present, and future) on this platform, please share this post.
