Yesterday I spoke with a caller who mentioned that she had a tumblr, and that she’d received support from people following her when she posted about her struggles with depression. This made me realize something I’d suspected for a while, which is that a lot of teenagers use tumblr as a (semi-anonymous?) social resource. For some people, tumblr is support network. I think this is kinda neat, not weird or lame. Please comment.
Ze Frank (2007), emphasis mine:
[…] Theme parks, however, become tiresome. After a little while, the initial thrill of difference wears off and you’re stuck standing in line looking for attractive people. And soon enough, you’re back in the theme of your life. There can be a little bit of a disappointment in this, and some people try something much harder: changing the theme of their own life. Lots of things can stand in your way, especially the people who are closest to you. Your family, your closest friends, think they know you and sometimes can have a very rigid definition of your theme: “You were never athletic.” “You always start things and never finish them.” “You’re not a naughty boy.” “You’re artsy.” “Your theme isn’t just made up by you.” Robert Putnam, in a book called ‘Bowling Alone’ says this inner circle is very good at supporting you in times of crisis. When you’re emotionally severed, they can remind you who you are. But if you wanna change who you are, you might need other people. People who know you but don’t know you so well. Putnam says that that’s what knitting circles and bowling leagues and clubs supplied in the middle of last century. People who would surprise you by saying, “Wow, you’re athletic.” “You do have a way with words.” “You seem like a naughty boy.” These are the people who seem like they can lead you to a new, interesting job. These are the people who provide you with new themes and new perspectives, away from the burden of history of your inner circle. Putnam worries about the decline of those kinds of activities and wonders what takes their place: forums, Second Life?
Also, danah boyd’s dissertation, Chapter 4: Writing Oneself into Being.
Also of tangential interest, the phenomenon of self-harassment, the 200k results on YouTube for “i am depressed”, the unending stream of anonymous supplicants for approval found on /adv/, /r9k/, or /soc/, the popularity of memes rooted in commiseration, and this documentary about users of a mid-90s 3D virtual world.
"Wait—” I begin to say, and something uncoils from the shadows and lashes out at Mo with a noise like an explosion in a cat factory."
Charles Stross, The Atrocity Archives
In the early 1860s, Joe Taylor, a member of the Backus’ Minstrels troupe en-route to Shanghai via Hawaii, described Kingfisher as follows: “Probably no sailing vessel ever went to sea, better equipped for the comfort and pleasure of the passengers and crew than the Kingfisher. She carried two cows and two goats, together with pigs and poultry in abundance. Wines, liquors and cigars were distributed as free as water among the passengers, twenty-two in number; Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Daniels being the only ladies.”
