Self on Tumblr is a basic concept; a
blog. A blog has a unique ability to give insight into the overall
psyche of its user via their blog activity. Reblogs, likes, private messages,
mentions, fan-mail and “asks” all count towards the construct and development of
the self, which is, almost always, reflected on their blog pages. Opposed to the
direct nature of the self on Tumblr, the idea of community is a bit more
abstruse in that its community, as a whole, is made of smaller, insular communities
– or, niches. Like all other social
aspects of life, though arguably more prominent online, the flaneur is just one of
these niches.
In this week’s readings, Prouty (2009) describes flaneurs as those
who are “adrift [and]…detached observer[s] strolling through streets at a leisurely
pace” (para. 1). Obviously, while there are no virtual streets for users to literally trod
on, the use of and engagement with the hashtag (#) system could serve as Tumblr’s abstract rendition of Prouty's tangible streets (Prouty, 2009). That is, like the way 19th century Paris flaneurs wandered down particular streets to access particular venues, the 21st century Tumblr flaneurs type in a particular hashtag to access particular posts.
What separates flaneurs from regular users is that flaneurs have no qualms interacting with posts because there is no ultimate "self" behind them. Thus, identifying flaneurs within Tumblr is a task both simple yet complex. If you look to image one below, you'll see that there are a vast number of blogs – some flaneurs, some not – that have all interacted with the same post in some way. Due to the sheer number of interactions, it is hard to differentiate both flaneurs from non-flaneurs and one flaneur from another flaneur. Again, like Prouty (2009) discussed in his writing, the growth in masses "provided camouflage for the flaneur" and allowed them to blend in almost seamlessly into the background (para. 2). So, how do they draw attention to them as spectacles of display?
The most frequently used methods are through likes and reblogs. Liking a post is the fastest and simplest method of drawing attention to themselves in that, with a click of a button, they've made a small imprint to show that they've seen or appreciated this post. Like in the example above, posts are often flooded with notifications, and thus these imprints blend in with the crowd; nearly unnoticeable. However, while likes give them marginal attention, reblogs are a more powerful method to become a spectacle of display. How? It's the hashtag system again. Smarty explained how hashtagging on Tumblr this can be capitalised on when she noted that searches promote a line of blogs, as shown in image two, of whom have recently utilised the searched hashtag themselves; either in their own original post, or on a reblogged post (Smarty, 2015). The drawback of this, she also noted, is that only the first five hashtags are searchable; limiting the flaneurs' ability to flaunt themselves (Smarty, 2015).
Ultimately, some flaneurs have evolved from loitering in the streets to meandering in the virtual world; simply due to Tumblr's hashtags.
Image 1. Shows number of interactions by blogs on a single post. (Tachovska, 2016).
Image 2. Demonstrates how blogs that recently used the searched hashtag are headlined. (Tumblr, 2017).
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REFERENCES ;
Harper, E. (2014). How To Become Part of The Tumblr Community. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/building-business-relationships-tumblr/
Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place lecture four: Maps. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Prouty, R. (2009). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved from http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html
Tumblr. (2017). Roses [Image]. Retrieved from https://www.tumblr.com/search/roses
Tachovska (2016). Artificial [Image]. Retrieved from http://tachovska.tumblr.com/post/147702240128/artificial
Smarty, A. (2015). How Hashtags Work on Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus, Pinterest, Facebook, Tumblr, and Flickr. Retrieved from
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