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nnySo I was thinking about dissertation subjects, because I'm a dorky dork, and it got me thinking about social media, as you do.
I think one of the problems with tumblr is that it is entirely too easy to focus on and perpetuate acceptance of the reality you like and want to accept, rather than a reality that bears more resemblance to fact. I'm not saying that dreamwidth or livejournal are hotbeds of scientific debate or that every post cites its references with accuracy, but at least you're unlikely to see the same inaccuracies over and over again until you conflate them with fact.
An example of this is a post of a picture of Vicissitudes by Jason DeCaires Taylor, which falsely claims it's in memory of... I think the slave trade? It was reblogged thousands of times with comments about how touching it is before anyone even questioned its accuracy. (Me :D). It's a harmless example, but it has the potential not to be.
People are afraid of being wrong on tumblr, I think, because everyone can see your comments. It's not like these sites, where people can comment and it be buried on page 7 where no one has to see. I'm not saying dogpiling and such is necessarily worse on tumblr - although it can be pretty vicious - but it has the potential to be more visible and, crucially, to be out of your control to correct; you can ETA on livejournal/dreamwidth, but on tumblr your inaccurate words can be reblogged a thousand times outside of your control, so it's hard to see the worth in venturing a comment that might be wrong. It's easier to reblog without comment, to fill your dash with the things you like and want to be true, and focus on the reality you want rather than questioning and challenging the one that exists.
(I'm way more likely to engage someone I disagree with in discussion on here than on tumblr, aren't you?)
I think one of the problems with tumblr is that it is entirely too easy to focus on and perpetuate acceptance of the reality you like and want to accept, rather than a reality that bears more resemblance to fact. I'm not saying that dreamwidth or livejournal are hotbeds of scientific debate or that every post cites its references with accuracy, but at least you're unlikely to see the same inaccuracies over and over again until you conflate them with fact.
An example of this is a post of a picture of Vicissitudes by Jason DeCaires Taylor, which falsely claims it's in memory of... I think the slave trade? It was reblogged thousands of times with comments about how touching it is before anyone even questioned its accuracy. (Me :D). It's a harmless example, but it has the potential not to be.
People are afraid of being wrong on tumblr, I think, because everyone can see your comments. It's not like these sites, where people can comment and it be buried on page 7 where no one has to see. I'm not saying dogpiling and such is necessarily worse on tumblr - although it can be pretty vicious - but it has the potential to be more visible and, crucially, to be out of your control to correct; you can ETA on livejournal/dreamwidth, but on tumblr your inaccurate words can be reblogged a thousand times outside of your control, so it's hard to see the worth in venturing a comment that might be wrong. It's easier to reblog without comment, to fill your dash with the things you like and want to be true, and focus on the reality you want rather than questioning and challenging the one that exists.
(I'm way more likely to engage someone I disagree with in discussion on here than on tumblr, aren't you?)
