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Abriana Gresham

UWRT 1103

October 9, 2014

Assignment Two: Topic Proposal

Young adults in today‟s society are continuously exposed to many new and differentversions of social networking options. These social networks provide online interaction between

users and serve a couple of different purposes depending on the particular platform. The most

recent and popular include: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and most interestingly- Tumblr.Tumblr is a blogging website that allows users to post text, images, video, and links of any and

everything and have that stream of posts broadcast to every user that wants to follow their blog.

Users are able to interact with other bloggers by „reblogging‟ the other bloggers content,

following, and even talking to the other bloggers- either through posts or virtual question boxesthat are available on each Tumblr blog. Tumblr has become one of the most popular social

networks of teens and young adults today because it is used as platform for bloggers to reveal

their true character. Since Tumblr requires no personal identification, bloggers are able remain asanonymous as they would like; giving the feeling of extreme comfort and security. Because of

this, many users feel secure in revealing any controversial thoughts, actions, or opinions that they

may have or be experiencing.

My personal relationship to Tumblr is a strong one. I have been a Tumblr user for about 3years now and I never thought I would feel as strongly about it as I do today. When I first started

using the network, it was nothing but another fun site for me to use to pass time. However, when

I began getting feelings of depression and anxiety Tumblr became not only a source for me toexpress those feelings, but also a medium to gain support, help, and knowledge from those going

through a similar situation. I feel strongly about being able to use social media to express

feelings of depression, anxiety, and other struggles that people may go to but also using it as a

 platform to help those that may not know how to get help on their own. Tumblr actually helpedme build up courage to see a doctor and get diagnosed with my condition. Even today, a few

months into my treatment, I still find myself on Tumblr looking back on old posts and being

grateful that I had this resource available to me when I felt like I had no resources at all.This paper explores notions of identity and the perceptions of self in modern social media

forums; more specifically we will use Tumblr as a case study to expose issues of negative body

image, depression, anxiety, relationship issues, and self harm. Through my own personalobservations and experiences with Tumblr, I would like to add that the network is a great way to

connect with others who live similar lives with the same forms of mental illness or identity issues

that you may have. It is a great way to gain support and connections to get help through your

 battle, and it is good platform for activism in bringing awareness to issues that are not talkedabout enough in today‟s society. Tumblr is an incredible source for teens and young adults to get

help and information about their particular struggles and can even be used in conjunction with

various groups such as health care providers, activism groups, and support groups to help

teenagers and young adults through the identity crisis years of their lives.

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Annotated Bibliography

Geisler J., Heidberg S., Van Velsor S. OK2TALK: Using Tumblr to Give Youth a Voice toDiscuss Mental Illness. NPHIC.

https://nphic.confex.com/cdc/nphic14/webprogram/Paper35611.html. Published: August 2014.

Accessed: October 2014.

•  This website addressed a conference held by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on

how teens use Tumblr as a means to raise awareness to mental illnesses that effects the teenand young adult community. The organizing force used Tumblr to launch their own blog site,

OK2TALK.org, which allowed teens and young adults information on resources to help them

through their individual situation; the site generated an astonishing 29,000 followers and117,000 users who clicked on the provided link to get help for their particular situation. The

creators decided to use Tumblr as their blogging platform (as opposed to sites like Facebook or

Twitter) because Tumblr is the most popular social networking site among teens and young

adults and allows users to interact anonymously which creates a better sense of comfort whenusing the site. Essentially, the creators of OK2TALK found that Tumblr was a prime medium

for teens and young adults to express their feelings and issues with mental illness due to the

anonymity and availability. 

Miller M. DIS/RUPTIVE/ABILITY, May 2014. Available at:

http://www.hastac.org/blogs/meaganelaine/2014/05/15/disruptiveability-remixing-ableism-

tumblr. Accessed: October 2014.

•  This blog post was essentially a project summary by Meg Miller, a senior at Brown University

who completed a project on culture jamming and passing through the medium of Tumblr to

 bring awareness to disabled people. Miller mentions in her project that disabled people

(including the mentally handicapped) have been oppressed and discriminated against for an

extremely large portion of history, and yet it is still something that people feel uncomfortabletalking about. She uses different edits of popular memes to catch the attention of those familiar

with them and bring forth the issue that disabilities are something worth talking about. In her blog, Miller refers to Tumblr as a powerful tool for activism and hopes that future generations

use it as a platform for similar causes.

Gies J., Martino S. Uncovering ED: A Qualitative Analysis of Personal Blogs Managed by

Individuals with Eating Disorders. The Qualitative Report 2014. Vol.19, Article 57, 1-15.

http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR19/gies57.pdf. Accessed: October 2014.

•  This journal article covered many different topics related to Tumblr bloggers who have eatingdisorders; the researchers analyzed 15 pro-ED blogs and found them to have similar general

themes consisting of: interaction, negative self- worth, mind and body disturbances, pictures,

eating disorders, suicide, diet, exercise, stats, and recovery. The researchers took into account

the reason for formation and ongoing eating disorders; such as culture, friends, family,genetics, and other environmental influences; physical and mental health; previous treatment;

current eating habits; and history of support. The researches then dove in to the actual

observations of the 15 selected blogs. They noted a few different things that tended to appearin all 15 blogs; family issues, negative self image, self harm promotion, etc. Overall it was

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concluded that people who ran these blogs used them as a sort of online and interactive diary

where they could release their feelings as well as document their „ progress‟ through their

disorder.

Brindis C. A Changing Landscape: Overview and Cross-Cutting Themes. Workshop on

Improving the Health, Safety, and Well-being of Young Adults. May 2013.http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Children/ImprovingYoungAdultsHealth/Cl

aire%20Brindis.pdf . Accessed: October 2014.

• This source is a powerpoint presentation that was presented at the Workshop on Improving the

Health, Safety, and Well-being of Young Adults. While this source does not specifically give

in depth research about Tumblr ‟s relationship to young adults, identity, and mental illness, itgives a great background on young adults in general that can allow us to formulate some of our

own connections. The presentation starts out by giving general demographic information about

young adults- population size, ethnicity percentages, age structure, and life course. It compared

risk behaviors of YA‟s in the US to YA‟s in other countries, and interestingly it provided acomparison of mental health issues present in YA‟s in the US and those in other countries. This

includes disorders such as depression, anxiety, drug dependence, etc. Overall this source

focuses on the general health of the Young Adults living in the United States and gives potential reasons for the condition of their health. 

Sullivan M. „Multiple Systems‟ versus Dissociative Disorder: Life Style or Mental Illness?

http://209.183.183.2/schemata/pdfs/Sullivan.pdf. Accessed: October 2014

• This research paper starts out by addressing an extremely important point that I also would like

to highlight in my own research; the recent boom in popularity of the internet and social media

and its becoming normal has allowed individuals as well as groups of people seek out

acceptance, liberation, and a sense of activism by using these social medias- especially thoselike Tumblr that allow someone to remain anonymous throughout their entire profile. The

group that this research focuses on is „multiple systems‟ or „ plural people‟. This means that the

 people believe that there are actually to or more people that live inside their body and share the body that they have. The researches searched on Tumblr specifically and found many blogs

where people shared their stories of multiplicity- but is it actually a mental illness or a lifestyle-

The research concluded that it is a alternative lifestyle form but is also still to be considered aDissociative Disorder. 

Parisa Z. Queer Lives: The Construction of Queer Self and Community on Tumblr [dissertation].

Sarah Lawrence College; 2014. http://gradworks.umi.com/15/25/1525441.html . Accessed:October 2014.

•  This graduate dissertation began by tracing the history of queer youth‟s interactions with one

another on the internet- the internet was always a safe space because LGBT practices were not

always accepted in the public eye. In Parisas research, she identifies Tumblr as a medium for

“queer-utopia building”, meaning queer youth use Tumblr as a way to identify social injustices

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in their community and find ways to solve them. Tumblr maintains a safe space for queer

youth do discuss such topics and find solutions to battle oppression. 

Kennedy C. I‟ll Tumblr 4 Ya: Identity Construction and tumblr ‟s Photoblog Community.

http://portfolios.journalism.indiana.edu/jackson/research-articles/ . Accessed: October 2014

• 

In this online portfolio, the researcher proposes that Tumblr (and other similar social

networking sites) gives users an almost perfect stage to explore their own identity and create

one that is unique to their online persona, but still holds ideals that the user appreciates fromtheir true identity. Tumblr users are in control of the posts that appear on their timeline, people

they follow, and items that appear on their individual blog so it is very easy and convenient for

users to create these „alter ego‟ identities on Tumblr. 

Gresham A. Assignment One: Tumblr Observation Notes. September 2014.

•  In these Observation Notes, I collected three separate observations of about 20 minutes each onmy personal Tumblr dashboard that accounted for different users and different time periods

that appear within my normal time usage. These observations showcased a couple of key

 points; that Tumblr is huge means of personal expression for people going through struggles intheir lives, that the network is a means of artistic expression, and that is serves as an overall

 platform for activism. The interview portion of the observation notes gave great insight into

the „ behind the blog‟ feelings of a user who experiences feelings of anxiety, and depression

and how she uses Tumblr to help with those feelings.