Tumblr is a social network that is apart from other networks because it is driven by content and not by the social graph, harboring different communities of shared interests (Cheshire). Sufferers and victims of depression, eating disorders, anxiety and so forth can especially find blogs that expound and understand their problems helpful and supportive. It can have a therapeutic effect as such individuals can gain acceptance and avoid the alienation that they usually experience in the outside world.
Tumblr has played an incredibly positive role in my life. It’s posts of inspiration and self-acceptance really helped me during my battle with depression. They encouraged me to believe in the optimism of life and to see myself in a positively different way. However, lately I have been observing that there has been an increase in the number of depression-related posts that express tragic and suicidal messages that frankly serve to worsen depression if not actually causing it. There are also ‘pro-ana’ blogs that promote the eating disorder anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle choice, which I found truly horrifying, as I have suffered from anorexia nervosa because of my depression. Such blogs also help in causing depression and inculcate the belief that starving yourself is a beneficial choice. Hence girls who are not able to adopt these ideas can have low self-esteem, which may progress into depression. I chose the topic of depression because not only do I have personal experience dealing with it, but also because I am curious to know whether Tumblr that helped me in my recovery is actually at the root of the problem. It is my opinion that Tumblr actually creates a paradox – it certainly helps people gain acceptance and achieve freedom of self-expression, but it can also inflict and exacerbate psychological and emotional damage and cultivate a community of victims.
There has been a growing online cultivation of beautiful sadness related to depression on Tumblr: users can take a photo, manipulate it into black and white, pair it with a quote about misconstrued grief, and instantly be consoled with compassion and sympathy by other bloggers (Figure 1) (Bine). However, this has serious psychological ramifications. According to Dr. Mark Reinecke, a chief psychologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, it is tempting for adolescents during their vulnerable years to seek out self-affirmation and recognition from others, this hope of being recognized as strong, beautiful and mysterious by Tumblr followers. But more often than not, it results in more teenagers believing they are depressed, self-pitying, and self-harming. It is very easy for such glorification of self-pity to occur on Tumblr (Bine). The aforementioned ‘reblogging’ mechanism makes it very easy to proliferate pictures and graphic gifs. The exhibition of suicide, depression, self-harm or self-loathing under the assumption that it is beautiful, romantic and deep has resulted in a flourishing community of people feeding off each other’s emotions (Bine).
FIGURE 1. EXAMPLES OF ‘BEAUTIFUL SADNESS’ POSTS ON TUMBLR
Therefore, searching the “depression” tag on Tumblr produces a disclaimer at the top of the page: “If you or someone you know is dealing with an eating disorder, self harm issues, or suicidal thoughts, please visit our Counseling & Prevention Resources page for a list of services that may be able to help” (Bine).
However, the word depression is slowly losing its meaning on Tumblr and in people’s minds. There is a critical lack of understanding as adolescents confuse normal, everyday challenges with clinical disorders such as depression. This over-diagnosis has become a social trend on Tumblr (Bine). This phenomena can acutely observed in teenage girls: between 2008 and 2010, 12 percent of teenage girls aged between 12 and 17 suffered from a major depressive episode, which is three times higher than the rate of teenage boys (4 percent), according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2012 (Bine).
In my opinion, the increase in depressive episodes can be a direct cause of social media like Tumblr because of the content that tends to circulate. Certainly teenagers might delve into self-pitying and glorification of depression on Tumblr, but they are also subjected to images and posts that continually reiterate the same message that are not necessarily positive and uplifting. Examples of messages include “I want to be skinny”, “I want to die” and one pretty abysmal one: “Happiness is for beautiful people. Not me.” Such messages show that Tumblr does not always inspire or help others. It might just worsen the very problem it tries to solve through self-expression. Moreover, I disagree to some extent with Bine’s view that there has been an over-diagnosis of depression as teenagers have a misguided notion of what entails depression. These tragic and desolate messages are a strong indication that depression is a serious problem. I think classifying it as some misunderstood idea conceived by teenagers severely undermines the grave need to address the root cause of depression. Unfortunately, popular social media such as Tumblr might just be one of the plenitude of reasons that trigger depression in these adolescents.
Furthermore, emotional and psychological harm in the form of depression is also perpetuated by another overt mechanism of Tumblr: the “trigger warning.” These are tags attached to posts that may contain content that might be viscerally disturbing to some users (Bell). For example, if a post mentions depression, the writer will add a tag saying “trigger warning: depression.” Issues such as rape and self-harming also carry trigger warnings (Figure 2). Such warnings are justified, as survivors would not want reminders of their experiences. However, it is possible that such trigger warnings are possibly contributing to the creation of a community of victims (Bell). The existence of these warnings heightens the reader’s sense of danger and also pre-empts psychic pain and behave in a similar way as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder briefings. Studies have shown that debriefing people during disasters and terrorist attack on PTSD resulted in more people qualifying for the disorder and feel depressed and anxious (Bell). In other words, early interventions were actually hindering the brain’s natural recovery process. The trigger warnings in their attempt to protect the users are more likely to increase feelings of fear and victimization. Warning people of potential trauma is a self-fulfilling promise of trauma (Bell). Therefore, Tumblr’s attempt to create a utopian safe community is actually creating one of entitled victims.
Overall, Tumblr can be a platform where different kinds of people find their community and avoid the humiliation and alienation they may experience in the external world. It can psychologically and emotionally support them. But one must also be wary of Tumblr. The microblogging website might actually cause emotional harm as posts relating to depression keep circulating and trigger warnings inflict more pain on emotionally vulnerable people.
WORKS CITED
Bell, Lenor. “Trigger Warnings: Sex, Lies and Social Justice Utopia on Tumblr.” 6.1 (2013): n. pag. Print. (Im)Personal Desires: Pornography, Sexuality And Social Networks Of Desire.
Bine, Anne-Sophie. “Social Media Is Redefining ‘Depression.’” The Atlantic. N.p., 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Cheshire, Tom. “Tumbling on Success: How Tumblr’s David Karp Built a £500 Million Empire (Wired UK).” Wired UK. N.p., 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.
Everything is so lovely. So why do I feel so sad? Digital image. Blogger, 14 Apr. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://huishan0420.blogspot.com/2013/04/im-lucky-because-im-surrounded-by.html>.
Stedeford, Sarah Louise. Amelia Zadro Smoke Break Outtake. Digital image. Sarah Louise Stedeford. Tumblr, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://sarahstedeford.tumblr.com/post/62718243127/amelia-zadro-smoke-break-outtake-by-sarah-louise>.
Trigger warning of alcohol. Digital image. AMERICAblog. AMERICAblog News, 3 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://americablog.com/2014/04/trigger-warning-article-critical-trigger-warnings.html>.
Trigger warnings of homophobic slurs. Digital image. AMERICAblog. AMERICAblog News, 3 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://americablog.com/2014/04/trigger-warning-article-critical-trigger-warnings.html>.