Tumblr in 2010 is not a time nor place. It is a feeling, an aura, a state of being. Tumblr in 2010 is going on a fanfiction bender instead of studying for finals. Tumblr in 2010 is Δ. Tumblr in 2010 is being way too emotionally vulnerable online. Tumblr in 2010 is using a weird, janky video conferencing app to talk to your internet friends around the world (RIP TokBox). Tumblr in 2010 is the apex of selfie culture. Tumblr in 2010 is spiraling over the same Christina Hendricks gif for 48 hours. Tumblr in 2010 is drinking a cappuccino at 11 p.m. and then crying about a fictional character. Tumblr in 2010 is unfiltered poetry and on-the-nose short stories and meticulously crafted photosets.
So anyway, that’s where I’m at. Not necessarily literally (although the fanfiction benders are definitely happening), but definitely emotionally. So here’s a playlist!
You might be thrown off by the fact that some of these songs are from 2010 and some are not (some even came out after!). Did you not note when I said tumblr in 2010 is not a time?! These songs embody the cosmic essence of a very specific time in my past that has suddenly become the defining cosmic essence of my present. As I probably said in a very sincere post about the movie Inception (sorry) on my tumblr in 2010: Life is cyclical.
Here’s a mood board for “tumblr in 2010.”
All photos included are actual screencaps/posts from my tumblr circa that time in my life…including a “graphic” I made of me and Olivia Wilde…with Regina Spektor lyrics on it? Please note that I believed myself to be heterosexual at the time.
New year, old me!
https://open.spotify.com/user/autostraddle/playlist/63YFvAVJgYZgXGYCFOuygx
L WORD THEME SONG.
I’ve been listening to Q.U.E.E.N. nonstop for like two years now I love that it’s on this playlist
I hope you’re happy that this made me go back and listen to Metamorphosis by Hilary Duff and I’m having a lot of weird feeling about music from a different time of my life that I no longer enjoy but can still sing every word ?
omg i love metamorphosis… the album and the song. and trust me, i bring out that lil time capsule at least once a year, and it still holds up. esp the song “workin’ it out”
Some days I start off draggin’ my feet
Some days I want to fly
Some days it all makes sense to me
Some days I just don’t want to know why
As someone for whom Livejournal in 2006 functioned similarly, I appreciate this post.
Yeaaaah, I was thinking this sounds suspiciously like LJ in 2001. Cyclical indeed.
I find this VERY RELATABLE, bless you.
SUCH a mood
You’re so right that “Tumblr in 2010” transcends place and time. Formspring, sharks vs. cats, Tumblarity, no real way to have a conversation with someone other than repeatedly reblogging a post and adding one line to the bottom of it, ridiculously well-known power-users like kari-shma… a mood indeed.
This is giving me flashbacks.
The fanfiction benders, oh my God. I had to sign in just to say that this is my brand right now as well. Only I call it ‘Lurking in 2009’ because I never actually had tumblr or livejournal.