X Reasons Tumblr is Terrible for Social Justice

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

right so I'm writing up a pitch for a Cracked article about why tumblr's brand of social justice is flawed. this means i need some sources to back up my points which at this point include:
- their "safe spaces" support Us vs. them narratives
- It's "special snowflake" culture creates a territorial one-upping pissing contest.
- It becomes an echo chamber for bitterness and resentment
- For all its talk, Tumblr's not invested in actually changing anything IRL.
- it's definitions of feminism and activism are so narrow and exclusionary that it actually undermines the ideals of equality they claim to stand for.

problem is i'm not sure where to begin finding studies or articles to support these points, so i was hoping someone could point me in the right direction, as these are arguments i've heard around here from time to time. Any help or guidance would be much appreciated.

[Cain]

I'd try the TumblrInAction reddit for some good examples.  Word of caution - some denizens of TiA are very rightwing libertarians/reactionaries/Nazis using criticism of SJWs in an attempt to undermine social justice as a concept.  Not all of them, not even a majority, but definitely double and triple check what they are sourcing and follow the arguments through the tumblr links, as sometimes the truth is more complex than the snapshot they present.

I used to have a few links, but the people I followed either now have private blogs, or have disappeared offline entirely (which is telling in and of itself).  Another possible resource is Will Shetterly's blog on social justice - he concentrates more on the speculative fiction writers and fandom (he is a science fiction author) but his reasoning can be expanded to the tumblr crowd.  He also references Malcolm X and MLK a lot, which is nice.

Also, a quick word of warning - Cracked has a couple of quite fervent SJWs on their writing staff and in the forums.  You likely already know who I'm referring to (the authors of the article which claimed the new Tomb Raider game and The Last Of Us are sexist comes to mind).  Just don't be too disappointed if your article is, for whatever reason, rejected, and consider alternative venues.

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

thanks for the advice, that should go a long way towards helping me research what  i need. As for cracked, I have seen a few articles that touch on things like this so i feel like I've got decent chance. I feel like I just need to get back into writing comedy.  and heck, who knows, if it doesnt work, maybe I'll stick it up on tumblr itself and see if i cant get myself banned lol.

[Cain]

You could use this as a starting point http://imgur.com/bXzjsBn

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

Just putting this here as a stepping stone, but also a great article: http://shutuplife.com/blog/2014/12/16/ill-decide-how-i-feel-about-feminism-when-the-rest-of-you-can-agree-on-what-it-means/

also found this: https://therockabillybutterfly.wordpress.com/2013/03/30/the-rape-culture-epidemic/

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Just putting this here as a stepping stone, but also a great article: http://shutuplife.com/blog/2014/12/16/ill-decide-how-i-feel-about-feminism-when-the-rest-of-you-can-agree-on-what-it-means/

She seriously needs to spend more time OFF THE INTERNET.

Yes. *I* said that.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

No, for real. That was not a great article. That was an "I spend so much fucking time online that I have completely lost all perspective on what dialogue that does not take place in the blogosphere even looks like" article.

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

Well this article would focus mainly on what's wrong with Tumblr and similar forms of web-based social justice movements, so, for the purposes of this article, i plan on using it as a resource, since it has a numbers of examples linked in it. Focusing on Tumblr with the context of wider academic feminism (which does good work in a lot of ways) would be a way bigger and much different article.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Well this article would focus mainly on what's wrong with Tumblr and similar forms of web-based social justice movements, so, for the purposes of this article, i plan on using it as a resource, since it has a numbers of examples linked in it. Focusing on Tumblr with the context of wider academic feminism (which does good work in a lot of ways) would be a way bigger and much different article.

Oh yeah, damn, I completely failed to notice what thread this was in. Sorry!

[Cain]

I wish I had time to bullshit on the internet.  I mean, more than I do here.

I may do, once this course is over, but damn.  Alot of my criticism of tumblr and the blogosphere comes back to the fact they have an awful lot of free time to bullshit on the net.  This isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but it does mean "the conversation" is dominated by middle class people and students, in response to what is happening online.  People struggling to pay their rent don't figure into "the conversation", because they're too busy doing shit to survive.

Having that level of comfort and luxury time does tend to skew ones priorities somewhat.  And given the way Twitter and FB are going, it does lead to a monocultural expression, where everyone is tightly in their bubble, always blogging about the same thing everyone else is.