As a long time fan of Tumblr, it’s exciting to see the attention that Tumblr is getting with the news of its acquisition by Yahoo. At the same time, the acquisition does bring up some concerns. Yahoo risked the $1.1 Billion they paid for it in hopes of gaining a younger and dedicated user base, and Tumblr users are certainly dedicated. When users are given complete control of their domain, they put their hearts and souls into it, and they will probably not let it go very easily.
In a world of so many different competitors for social media, Tumblr fits the space between things too long for twitter and too random for Facebook. Tumblr can also take credit for making animated GIFs mainstream again. Theses aren’t the same GIFs of the 90’s, and we’ve grown to love and even expect a GIF looping all of the latest pop culture events.
Unrestricted freedom is one of the main reasons that users love Tumblr. You can control the look and feel of everything, and you can share anything. It’s customization is somewhat like the old Myspace, but more sophisticated. It is also somewhat comparable to Twitter with a focus completely on the content updates.
Over the past few years I continue to be fascinated by the endless creativity on this platform, and it is a wonderful community that encourages inspiration. Although, when there are no restrictions, it also allows for inappropriate material to be spread too. This is my guess as to why there are many Christians that shy away from Tumblr. If that is your concern, don’t worry. There are settings to let you block that content. This should in fact be a reason for our increased presence and shows the need for a stronger witnesses to True Love.
Tumblr provides a venue to share some very random interests like cats in space.
Sharing your pride of Texas and laughs on Texas Humor.
Sharing some laughs on Catholic Memes
Or appreciating beautiful religious art that is All About Mary
Currently, there is a small minority of Catholics that are active on Tumblr, but there is a big lack of presence in this large area of the digital continent. The #Catholic tag on Tumblr quickly shows that there is not much conversation about the faith, and it is often full of those that are not wishing to show much support for the faith.
Steps Catholics Must Take on Tumblr
- Take the lead on the conversation on the #Catholic tag. There’s so much to be shared.
- Share what is beautiful about the faith. Yes, the world has many good, faithful Catholics happy in the faith.
- Do not be afraid of those that attack the faith. Jesus never said this life would be easy.
Faithful Catholics have been very committed to engaging on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Pinterest, but I send an invite to those forgetting about Tumblr. I’m not arguing for an increase of long blog posts about the theological explanations of the faith, but our simple witness through the beautiful things in life can radiate the light of Christ. That beauty can attract those that are outside.
Sure, the chances of getting attacked are much higher because of Tumblr’s diverse and open audience but dust just your shoulders off and be not afraid. Just be aware of trolls Join the fun.
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