Memories of its glorious chaos still loom large, and not just in the hearts of the now grown-up youth who came online alongside it.
What remains today is a shell of 'Peak Tumblr,' roughly considered to span 2013 to 2018. Though the social networking website still exists, with 303 million unique visitors in Feb 2021 according to Statista, its decline means most talk about Tumblr in the past tense. Yet sadly, most of it will inevitably be (or already is) lost to the void. From timeless meme formats to superfan communities, inclusive porn to social justice discourse, the internet's most iconic microblogging platform deserves preservation in the digital archives.
Questions of 'why,' 'how,' and 'what in the fuck' permeate just about every memorable aspect of Tumblr. But the other half of you is just like, 'Why did this happen?'' 'It's a part of you, so you still love it. 'It's that specific kind of nostalgia of remembering something you were really into as a 14-year-old, but with 10 years distance from it,' said Rachelle Hampton, co-host and resident Tumblr scholar of Slate's ICYMI podcast.
Looking back on Tumblr after all this time can feel like a fever dream.
