I tried to explain to my dad why being an influencer on Tumblr is just Not A Thing and how anyone who tried that would either get no attention or be run off the site, which then descended into a conversation about the advertising situation on here, how Tumblr hates sponsorships, and how making money off your blog is really not a thing here. Sometimes people do commissions or have a Patreon but like. That's it. No sponsored content, no ads, any way the blogger could make money on it is if followers chose to give it to them. Then I had to explain the lack of algorithms and how posting on this site is not for marketability, it is very much brain to keyboard and probably one of the most authentic sites out there, which is why the culture of anonymity is beloved. Then I had to explain that if Tumblr introduced algorithms that promoted sponsored content or anything similar people would just. leave. We hate capitalism here. He doesn't seem to get it. He doesn't get how capitalism ruins the social media experience on most sites and this feels like one of the last ones that are a space for YOU, not corporations. Any connection here is because you sought it out rather than because it was shoved in your face. Small creators have a chance. Everyone is a small creator. We literally cannot see follower counts. THIS IS A GOOD THING.
He was also like "how do they make money" and then I described to him how Tumblr had been losing money hand over fist for a while now and how we all loved this and made memes about it. Also, I had to explain AGAIN that Tumblr users are notoriously difficult to advertise to, and any attempt to figure out how to market to us turns out looking like an insane shitpost that sells nothing. *frog with a knife* "Are you aware of this? You shouldn't be."
