a tumblr book: platform and cultures

McCracken, Allison

doi:doi:10.3998/mpub.11537055

a tumblr book: platform and cultures

Allison McCracken, Alexander Cho, Louisa Stein, and Indira Neill Hoch, editors 2020

This Open Access edition is made available through financial support from Depaul University, Middlebury College, and the University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellow's Research Fund

Open Access

This book takes an extensive look at the many different types of users and cultures that comprise the popular social media platform Tumblr. Though it does not receive nearly as much attention as other social media such as Twitter or Facebook, Tumblr and its users have been hugely influential in creating and shifting popular culture, especially progressive youth culture, with the New York Times referring to 2014 as the dawning of the "age of Tumblr activism."

Perfect for those unfamiliar with the platform as well as those who grew up on it, this volume contains essays and artwork that span many different topics: fandom; platform structure and design; race, gender and sexuality, including queer and trans identities; aesthetics; disability and mental health; and social media privacy and ethics. An entire generation of young people that is now beginning to influence mass culture and politics came of age on Tumblr, and this volume is an indispensable guide to the many ways this platform works.

ISBN(s)

978-0-472-07456-3 (hardcover)
978-0-472-05456-5 (paper)
978-0-472-90129-6 (open access)

Subject

Citable Link

Filtering by: Keyword meme

Start Over

This meme features a close up photo of the Willy Wonka character smiling knowingly, with written text superimposed reading ‘YOU MUST BE NEW HERE’

Willy Wonka Meme

From Chapter 1

Fig. 1.1. Willy Wonka meme

Reactiongif of a media image depicting the face of a drag queen, Bianca Del Rio, slowly blinking their eyes at another drag queen.

Reaction-gif of drag queen Bianca Del Rio

From Chapter 10

Fig. 10.1. A humorous reaction GIF of drag queen Bianca Del Rio slowly blinking her eyes as an indication of her frustration “when a really skinny person is talking about how much junk food they eat”

A post of a Tweet with written comment from the tweeter about the accompanying media image: a close-up of a young man weeping with text superimposed.

Call Me By Your Name tweet

From Chapter 12

Fig. 12.1. Call Me by Your Name tweet, @MrMichaelSchwartz

A “text-post meme” where a user has posted a media image of Marvel character Bucky Barnes superimposed with another user’s written text

Onion headline

From Chapter 17

Fig. 17.1. Tumblr user buckybarnes’s Onion headline addresses two character traits at once

A “text-post meme” where a user has posted a media image of the character Hannibal superimposed with another user’s written text

Hannibal “text-post meme”

From Chapter 17

Fig. 17.2. To understand fully this Hannibal meme by user jacrispyretro, the viewer needs to know at least two facts from the series and one from fandom: that Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) values proper etiquette and dislikes rudeness, that he frequently brings meals to FBI profiler Will Graham, and that his interest in Will is inappropriately intense and verges on stalking

A “text-post meme” where a user has posted a media image of the character Jessica Jones superimposed with another user’s written text

Jessica Jones text post caption

From Chapter 17

Fig. 17.3. Tumblr text post caption for the Netflix series Jessica Jones by user cassian-andoor

A “text-post meme” where a user has posted a media image of a character from The Walking Dead superimposed with another user’s written text

The Walking Dead “text-post meme”

From Chapter 17

Fig. 17.4. This humorous meme of The Walking Dead, also by user cassian-andoor, offers a sharp juxtaposition of the bleak postapocalyptic zombie landscape and attempted relief from same. The caption, by fagwit, reads: “Things I want: snuggles. Things I receive: struggles”

A written post

From Chapter 17

Fig. 17.5. “but i am a swamp demon” is a message with an ironic kind of inverted pride

Two “text-post memes” where a user has posted media images of Princes Leia and Mad Max’s Furiosa, both superimposed with another user’s written texts

Princess Leia “text-post meme”

From Chapter 17

Figs. 17.6–7. Some female genre characters expressing indifference to both conventional standards of prettiness and male interest in same: Leia Organa from the original Star Wars trilogy (squiddleprincess), and Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road (mattymurdockss)

a tumblr book: platform and cultures

Table of Contents

Resources

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Search and Filter Resources

Section

Keyword

Creator

Format

Willy Wonka Meme

Reaction-gif of drag queen Bianca Del Rio

Call Me By Your Name tweet

Onion headline

Hannibal “text-post meme”

Jessica Jones text post caption

The Walking Dead “text-post meme”

A written post

Princess Leia “text-post meme”

Furiosa “text-post meme”

Black Widow “text-post meme”

Chronic pain community meme