I left behind a million followers and here is why I came back (and not for what you think)

I am writing an update to this piece, nearly 9 months later.

I still hate social media, I still hate the numbers game, and I still hate everything that social media currently stand for and wish it would help content creators in better ways, but Tumblr and other social media are very good emotional stabilizers and can be fundamentally important for some people — myself included.

I want to not use social media, but in our technological driven world that only just started in the last thirty years it’s a necessity and I will be honest — I missed the dank memes and still believe deep down that social media is one of the greatest inventions human civilization has ever created.

Every socio-economic and driver of evolution and innovation in our society have been delivered and given to us by an invention built on the backbones of its predecessors that inspires faster and better communication among people.

Social networks like Tumblr serve a very good purpose for some of this, where people can put their very strange thoughts without any professional or familial connections. This is the niche market Tumblr is in, and it is perfect for it. Tumblr is the epitome of free speech in this context as it gets rid of social inhibitions.

Note: This post uses Tumblr as an example as I know the network best. You can substitute most of these arguments for any other social network.

I personally do not have that luxury as my close friends, family, and many business connections are through my Tumblr (it’s one of the many issues of being considered a public figure with a lot of exposure), but for the vast majority of people Tumblr is a safe haven for their sexual, gender, and political ideologies where they can express themselves where they can’t anywhere else.

I returned to Tumblr about a month ago, and in that month my mental health has increased and I have started to fall in love with the internet again because Tumblr is one of the best content curation services on the planet.

It doesn't have an algorithm, it’s search has slowly but surely gotten better and they have added better and more secure privacy connections. They have stopped innovating like they had in years passed but I do believe they have found their niche where they won’t have constant growth — but their user statistics have to be amazing. Nearly every person who has joined and used Tumblr has remained on tumblr years later, this is better than most social networks and I believe it’s because of the easiness of the service, the signature blue background, and the community of like-minded people that have formed.

On average, Tumblr users spend the longest amount of time on Tumblr when compared to other social media sites. Tumblr users average three hours and 14 minutes on the platform. Snapchat is a close second with three hours and eight minutes of time spent. (This GlobalWebIndex chart is based on surveying social media users, ages 16 to 64, in the 2nd quarter of 2016.)

I hate Tumblr, but as a content creator, as a (mostly retired) influencer with a million followers I have to give thanks to Tumblr for creating a community that has driven change and given people a place to privately share their thoughts with everyone in the world.

That’s the beauty of Tumblr, it has it’s downfalls and if I was in charge of the network it would be far more focused towards content creators and enable some major features such as user verification, better analytics for users, better ways to make connections and build communities, and create a better divide between the NSFW side of Tumblr and the SFW side. Oh, and the porn bots would be gone.

Other than all of that, I love Tumblr and I hate Tumblr but I know in fifty years I will look back fondly on all the ‘dank’ memes, the social causes it pushed for, and the friends that were connected with and given me and everyone else who has ever used Tumblr.

The same can be said for nearly any social network, I still use Twitter religiously, and I have become to actually enjoy using facebook. *gasp* a millenial who uses facebook and sort of enjoys it. Hell, I even spent three hours the other night just watching the recommended videos it gave me when I clicked on a video — they are that good at figuring out my interests. Scary, but I also learned a lot since I noticed they mostly focus on educational videos for most users (I’ll write more on this later).

Social media isn't dead, isn't dying, and won’t be leaving us any time soon and I have accepted that.

I may dislike all the hours I have spent on Tumblr but they are some of the best moments of my life and will continue to make me a better person, and if anything a more tranquil person because where else can I make memes that are so dada-ist and post modern without seeming crazy? Yeah that’s right, Tumblr is the best place for that. Just going to the damn website makes you want to seize the means of production and plant the crop of memes and surrealism. It’s a beautiful experience that it not for everyone until you try it once.

I hate Tumblr, I hope it dies in the dumpster fire of 2017 but man, it’s my dumpster fire.