#and it's the people who do not like how other socmed sites work so we stayed

[baejax-the-great]

I know everyone is freaking out over the algorithm, but I think this is more worrying:

This to me sounds like they want to change the website to look and feel like twitter.

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

[getvalentined]

An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed*. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.

Response to the Update

Under the cut for readability, because everything said above still applies.

I already said this in a reblog on the post itself, but I'm adding it to this one for easy access: people read it that way because that's what you said.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.

People read it that way because that is what you said.

*The final results of the poll, after 24 hours:

136,635 votes breaks down thusly:

An algorithm based feed where I get "the best of tumblr." @ 1.3% (roughly 1,776 votes)

Chronological feed that only features blogs I follow. @ 95.2% (roughly 130,077 votes)

This doesn't affect me personally. @ 3.5% (roughly 4,782 votes)

[heyninja]

Currently weighing whether I want to participate in Crab Day, if the new dash looking Quite Suspiciously like the Twit site is the sign of things to come.

There's the optimistic, nice part of me that thinks, oh, if we prove we're viable as we are, that Tumblr will be incentivized to stay more affectionately hellsite-y and stop these fuck-around-and-find-out copycat socmed tactics. Look, we made you a ton of money! We are your core userbase! We are what makes Tumblr actually attractive, because we are funny and memey and WE MADE GONCHAROV, the entire reason people want to come here is because all the other socmed is gross to them now. Different is good! Let's keep being different!

Then there's the part of me that is cynical and has worked for businesses that like money while talking out of the other side of their face. They TOLD US they were going to do this and even though they tried to walk it back when we fucking flipped out on them, saying "I mean, no we're not going to do that, no no no" - I mean look at what's happening. Part of my brain is pretty much resigned to the fact that This is Happening now, and I am exhausted with having to hammer the site into usefulness with outside scripting and plugins for years anyway.

On one hand, it's like $3. So even if things do turn into some awful frankenstein of all the crap we hate put into a blender and then spat back out - even after they said they wouldn't, teehee - it's not like that is the thing that's going to make me explode.

On the other hand, I'm preparing for the fact that I may have to nuke the only social media I even HAVE anymore because it will have become the things I hate. Boring. Maybe shuffle back to Dreamwidth (same username, I know you are shocked), maybe make my own fucking website again, who knows.

I just find it weirdly amusing that the site that devalued itself SO HARD is the one that the devs are playing this kind of game with like the userbase won't actually fuck off in hostility and spite. Yeah, we didn't go after The Ban, so maybe they think it's not going to happen this time either, but I think they're underestimating exactly how far the userbase has been pushed by now, and how rage-inducing "normal" social media is for a lot of people here.

But what do I know. I've only seen this happen a frillion times.

[tempural]

Artcade 2022 Post-Mortem

“Artcade” has been an event for the last two years’ summer: 2022, and 2021.  I meant for Artcade to serve as a creative trading and gifting event formed around our original characters, and for Artcade to serve as an alternative to events that do not allow NSFW, or non-illustration work.  

Sculpture, music playlists, writing, and any other form of creativity is allowed in my event.  Most NSFW content is allowed with descriptive warnings and a spoilered image, save for content banned from Discord because the event is hosted on Discord.

This year, the event took place from July 1st to August 1st.

25 different people created art for reach other.

All together, we made 218 pieces of art!  That’s an average of 8 pieces per person!  I myself made 16 pieces for the 16 other people who chose to create something for me.

More under the cut.

Setting up the event:

We use the discord server in which I host art events and zines for Artcade.  A couple different channels were dedicated to the event:

An information channel in which rules were posted, and a link to a google docs with more in depth descriptions.

A directory in which individuals would post their name, a link to character references (whether on refsheet or their own site), their likes, and their Do Not Wants (very important!).

An art channel in which individuals would post their art.  New to this year, a thread would be made on that piece so that each piece could get in depth comments and discussion without being interrupted by any new pieces.

A “sidequest” channel for individuals to post their pieces for the zine cover (more on that later)

A points-and-prizes channel to contain the usage of the discord bot which allocated points and prizes (more on that later!)

A event discussion channel, in which people could ask questions or just talk to each other about what’s going right or going wrong.

The event was open to anyone who signed up for my June newsletter, or if they were too late they could ask for an invite from a friend.  I made a few social media posts about the event and newsletter, but otherwise did not have open calls.  I reasoned that a small “screening” process would limit the amount of people (as I cannot moderate too many people in my server), and ensure that anyone who wanted to participate in the event had the patience to wait a couple weeks and read through the information in the newsletter first.

In the future, I would probably make the “screening” process a bit more selective than an open newsletter.  It seemed that some people joined without knowing who I was, or what my art was about.  This is not ideal, as my art can be considered disturbing and should not be seen by most normal people.

Because I purposely choose not to use the “proship” or “antiship” fandom buzzwords, it seems that some people who rally against whatever “gross” NSFW stuff got lost and found their way in the event.  This perhaps could be prevented if I used the fandom buzzwords, but I find it disgusting to have to use fandom terms in order to clearly get my point across about how I literally do not care if people draw porn of BBW caillou’s ass or naruto eating shit.

Another option for next year would be to use a form to collect contact information of people wanting to participate, and to privately DM them the invite link.  Individually sending links would require 20x more effort.  It would also necessitate some snooping and people willingly giving me their social media links so I can straight up tell them “dude your DNI says dni if you draw necrophilia and i draw necrophilia dude lol”.  If someone does not have an online presence, that would also make the snooping a moot point as I would hate to require a website or socmed in order to join the event.

In any case, most of the set-up was done in cleaning up the rules and guidelines from last year.  I tried to accentuate that people should practice self care about what art they choose to engage with, by adding a line about “Skip over the Romanian incest cannibal named Blammibal Erecter, and choose another character to draw. “  But y’know, it’s a long document and not everyone reads everything.

---

Points and Prizes:

Last year’s theme was a chuck-e-cheeze parody.  This year’s theme was an arcade!  Both themes were to set up the “point” system, in which points were awarded for pieces made.  

Certain milestones like “coding your own website” also rewarded points for behaviors I wanted to encourage.  Coding one’s own static website (i recommended neocities) was something I wanted everyone to get started on, as refsheet and toyhouse are not necessarily going to be up forever or allow all content.  We’ve seen that with tumblr purging NSFW posts, or various other character sheet websites going down.  I wanted everyone to be vigilant, and have fun having complete control over how their characters were presented!

The prizes were most jokes, like photos of my dogs for 60 points or changing my discord name for 200.  There were some physical prizes like zines (from my store, or the artcade zine we’d form with the art we create).  I did not want the focus of the event to be on prizes, but have them be fun rewards to redeem.

By far, the most valued prize was the “Movie Night” despite it being a paltry 20 points.  As such, it was accessible to most people who made just a couple things, and participants talked about what movies they were thinking of choosing for their One True Choice making the value very great in Community Value.  Movie nights were a thing in the server far before Artcade, but it was just fun to have that one big movie that you wanted to show everyone and force me and Shane to watch!  Are our opinions and live reactions to movies valued?!

Movies watched included: Amores Perros, Michael Collins, Rituals.  We have a few more lined up in the back when people choose a date.

Things to think about:

The point system is imperfect, but always will be because the act of making art cannot be assigned a numeric value, especially based on volume of art made.  I simply want them to be some representation of the progress one has made in the event, so one can look back and see how much they’ve made for others.

I would like to mitigate any and all focus on the points and prizes as the main point of the event.  The point of the event is to learn about each other’s characters, learn about each other, and hopefully have fun while building a supportive community.  No one should be fixating on getting 250 points so they can redeem a movie.

I will mitigate more of the physical prizes, as they take a lot of effort to make, and a lot of money to mail out.  The artcade zine has not been finished yet, but it may be the only thing I am willing to send out in the future.

The point system may be simplified further to only award points for each new person a piece has been made for, and return fires.  It has been made evident to me that I underestimate most writers.  I consider 2000 words (the max word count that counts for points) a very high amount to write in a week, but it seems that other writers can consistently write that much in just a day or two!

If the point system is simplified and deflated, we can deflate the points for the prizes to be less like 240 points.  It’ll be easier to think of them as individual pieces made.

---

Moderation:

By far the most difficult thing for anything with more than like 5 people.  No one is guaranteed to get along with each other, and no one is guaranteed to have read any rules.

The event was 99% smooth sailing in my opinion.

The thing we had to address the most was the use of “deviantart fetish” as a term in DNWs (Do Not Wants), along with “gross stuff” and similarly vague descriptors.  While it seemed a certain subsect of the population knew exactly what a deviantart fetish was, many others were confused as to what that entailed.  After many discussions with the server, I concluded that the term should not be used because it does not inform the reader and is used judgmentally (no one ever says they WANT a deviantart fetish in their art, and it’s designated as the “other” weird fetishes).  The event was supposed to be inclusive, and the server is described as kink-friendly.  As such, participants should not be using judgemental language.  You never know if I’m the one with the “deviantart fetish” :)

The Do Not Want section is supposed to be for the artists’ own safety.  It is not a place to put one’s personal judgements on display.  While one can be free to dislike pee and poo fart fetishes, there is never any need to elaborate on why it’s gross or even say that it’s gross.  Just say it and be done.  I would encourage artists to elaborate more on what they do like, rather than write huge lists of things they hate.

Some things to think about:

Simplify the rules on Discord to just the basics, and have an outside site like dreamwidth to elaborate on the rules.  The google docs is not quite accessible on mobile, and laggy.

Zpires had a great page on “ID”, which was basically a great “likes/prompts” list with elaboration on why that pings the brain.  I would encourage people to focus on writing that rather than the DNW.

If someone has a great amount of fetishes they do not want, to the point that they need to use a vague term like “deviantart kink” or “gross stuff” to try and cover all bases, I would encourage them to simply say that they do not want NSFW or sexual art, unless the kink is specifically listed in their “wants” list, or the art has been discussed beforehand with both participants.  

I need to make it absolutely clear that there should be no shaming of ships, fandom, interests, kinks, or anything else.  It’s much more productive to focus on things you do like, rather than make everyone around you silent and uncomfortable because you are making fun of things they may enjoy.

I should make the join link for next artcade accesible only if the reader presses a specific checkbox or hidden button LOL.  Like “press here if you love necrophilia and spiderman 2002″.  Just to hammer in the atmosphere of the server.

I should not be afraid to just kick people if they seem like they are misunderstanding everything and do not fit in the climate I am trying to cultivate.  No one is meant to get along with everyone, and they are free to participate in any other art event that does not involve making me uncomfortable.

---

That’s about all I can think of for Artcade!  I feel like it was an astounding success, twice as much work but twice as much art from twice as many people!  It really warms me heart hearing people say that they enjoyed the event, and had their creativity stoked in a art community that uplifts personal expression and original ideas.  Now to get to work on the zine... that’ll make everyone jealous cuz no one will get one except particpants!!!! >:)

[not-poignant]

A lot of folks don't even know about this, but for those who like to support your favourite artists/writers on Patreon, and who know that to have the thing for free, a few people who can comfortably afford to do so have to pay, please please consider subscribing if you can!

You can also subscribe for ad-free as well and I've been thinking about doing some drives potentially where I can gift this to others as part of the Patreon or simply as something I'd like to do to make Tumblr more comfortable for the people who use it.

The reality is that conversion of 10-20% userbase to subscription is not likely to happen (just because of how subscription works in general in audience studies re: mass communications), but I also think a lot of people who might convert and can afford to have no idea that they can get the Supporter badge in the first place. I do think realistically a conversion of at least 1% is possible if more of us visibly throw our support behind it and do what Tumblr is generally actually pretty reluctant to do under Automattic - forcefully advertise something to us, because y'all know how we are with ads, lmao. They know too.

I'm not talking to the people who genuinely don't like the site - you're cool, you don't have to listen to this - I mean the folks like me who actually really love it here, despite its issues (blue hellsite (affectionate)), and think it's probably one of the very best socmed sites out there at this scale. If you can comfortably afford $30 USD for a subscription (or for ad-free), even if you have to cancel next year, please consider doing it. Tumblr is vital for many fandoms, and like, we all would have completely forgotten about Goncharov if it didn't exist or broke down.

And from a very personal place, this has been my all-time favourite place to learn how to be a professional writer, as well as a fanfic writer. It's been a place where I've gotten to make friends, get to know you, host your fanart and your creations in absolute awe of your talent, talk to people who have been vulnerable in asks, shared memes, and enjoyed your posts too.

It's the only place on the internet where 10+ years of asks, Fae Tales fanart, and more is archived with tags and (somewhat) searchable. I know some of you don't need or use that, but for those of you who specifically like it here, consider supporting Tumblr. It's always genuinely struggled to make money, Automattic (you might know them better as Wordpress) acquired it at a steep discount, and its userbase is broadly hostile to most innovation (sans like, the badges, which have been fun, and ad-free which has been genuinely very useful)

But fandom is at least sometimes about community support and always has been, including support of struggling businesses. It's hard to run a site like Tumblr, with a userbase like ours. We're very passionate, very loud, and sometimes very hostile.

Maybe we can also show that we can back something we believe in, and idk about you, while it's cool to hate on Tumblr, it's cool to have it here to hate on in the first place.

Have you considered a voluntary subscription for the site as a whole? It's the last social media site standing for me, I wouldn't mind paying per year for it.

Yes! We launched the Supporter badge which is 29.99/yr or 2.99/mo. You can also subscribe to ad-free which is a similar price. Subscribing, and encouraging as many people to also subscribe is the best way to support Tumblr. If you do it on the web we pay less to Apple/Google. Out of the 11.5M monthly active users of Tumblr, only about 27k have subscribed, or about 0.2%. If that were 10 or 20% we could run the site forever.

[hqrarepairexchange]

Posting Guidelines

Hello, and welcome to the final stretch of the 2020 Haikyuu!! Rarepair Exchange! A lot of us have found new ships, new friends, and a lot of in between during this time, and the best part of the event - the gifting - is here!

Where do I post? You have your choice of where you post your work, as long as the hosting site does not require any kind of sign-ups to view the material. Examples: AO3, Twitter (art only), Tumblr, Instagram (art only), or even blogging sites like Dreamwidth or Livejournal, providing the post isn’t friend locked.

If you WANT to post art to AO3, no one will stop you, but if you’ve ever done it before, you realize that it doesn’t resize well and is terrible for mobile users. We recommend being judicious in which platform you use depending on what kind of work you’re posting.

Social Media Tag: #hqrarepairexchange2020 (both Tumblr and Twitter)

AO3 Collection: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/hqrarepairexchange2020

What do I post? We ask that all works be put into some kind of retweetable/rebloggable format for ease of sharing. On Twitter, you can post art directly there or a link to a fic. On Tumblr, you can post art and fic directly there, as well as create a link post. 

If you don’t have an account on either platform, or for whatever reason you don’t want to post your gift work there, you can SUBMIT the work (link, art, fic...whatever works) to the Tumblr blog <https://hqrarepairexchange.tumblr.com/submit>. You don’t need an account to do that, and the formatting is friendly to either type of work. If you can’t tag the post, don’t worry. Before the work goes live, a mod will tag the work with the appropriate ship and fandom tags so folks who track tags will still see it (and reblog it because -chefkiss-).

All social media posts must contain the following information:

Your recipient’s name + @ their socmed acct

Chosen Ship

Word count (optional, and if applicable)

Any archive warnings (Major Character Death, Graphic Violence, etc), as well as sensitive topics (illness/injury, phobias, animal injury). USE GOOD JUDGMENT.

A link to your created gift (if applicable)

A note for your recipient

When do I post? Posting runs from September 19th to October 4th. Don’t worry about time zones. If you’re in New Zealand and want to post at 12:01am on the 19th, even though it’s still yesterday morning on the other side of the world, go for it. 

Works may be submitted to the AO3 collection before the posting period begins, but they will be moderated (unposted) and not be approved until it’s the 19th in US Pacific Time. IF YOU DO POST TO THE AO3 COLLECTION EARLY, please bear in mind that your work will be timestamped for when you posted it, not when it goes live. When this is the case, your work will not show up in the most recents. We highly recommend you go back and edit the posting date to the current date when it does go live so people trawling the newest works have a better chance of finding yours.

How do I tag the account for the event? We have a Tumblr account (hqrarepairexchange) and a Twitter account (hqrpexchange). Feel free to @ either of our social media accounts, and post the work under the event tag. We’ll be tracking both.

Twitter: twitter.com/hqrpexchange

Tumblr: hqrarepairexchange.tumblr.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/C4KNwmJ

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[astorytellerforthatgirl]

Who is Maine Mendoza for this Storyteller?

Maine is just a simple celebrity for me as I watched her first in July of 2015. Few months after that, I started venturing in my inconsistent freelance career. I’m a home-based content writer submitting my outputs through email or uploading in a Wordpress admin account. I’ll make sure at 12:00, I have to watch Eat Bulaga to have a glimpse of her. As the days passed by, I just find myself laughing and smiling at the slapstick comedy and funny antics of her silent character relying on Dubsmash.

I did not know it was a point of no return of my fangirling on Maine.

Being in a fandom is not new to me. I was an active UAAP vball fan before to the point I would even watch highschool vball games to know who are the prized bluechip recruits all UAAP teams want to have in their program. I made my Twitter account almost a decade ago to follow the Gosiengfiao sisters (Alodia and Ashley) to interact with them via tweets. Also, through Twitter and other socmed sites, I got to be in a fangroup of Pinay American Idol finalist Thia Megia and saw her in person. Through social media too, I met other fans of our Olympian Yan Lariba and met her in a friendly encounter.

I know the good side and also the bad side of fangirling. I’ve been into useless arguments with online trolls and I admit their words get to me…until I just learned to be indifferent and not mind it at all. Then here comes Maine. I was hesitant to be a vocal fan because of her immense popularity but again she just have that “something” in her that I want to root for.

I started profiling Maine like how I used to in the other celebrities I look up to her public accounts like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Ask.fm and lastly her blog….

MAY BLOG SI MAINE!!!

MGA KAPITBAHAY MAY BLOG SI MAINE!!!

Yes, I was surprised to know she has a blog!! My writer heart is leaping with joy!! That was the conviction I told myself it would be easier to fangirl for her since writing is my core and passion.

I started following her and knowing more about her like how she is close to her family, the rumors she went to PBB Auditions, and her other past Youtube uploaded videos. But I was still a silent fan back then since I am clueless how to handle a barrage of comments from other fans once I begin to be vocal. I am happy as a silent fan until the inevitable thing happened…

Maine released her Open Letter in November 26, 2017.

Yes, I won’t forget how I cried after reading it and not enjoying the ice cream I am eating on a Sunday afternoon. I began to connect the dots. I wanted to hate some people and wish them to have double, triple the pains of whatever Maine felt. I do want to start expressing my support for her to prove there are still like me…”isa sa sampu” fans of Maine.

The problem though is I am still at a down moment by that time. I failed to handle the pressure of a teaching career. I love the kids inside the classroom but the paperworks overwhelmed me. Attendance, quizzes, understanding the lesson plan, submitting other requirement, etc---those did not fare good for me. I just realized I only want to be with the kids even if I am with them 6-7 hours straight, I don’t get tired at all. I found out I like to be a public speaker but I cannot cope up with the tremendous responsibilities of the teacher.

Being an overthinker, I felt I failed again not myself but my family and everyone who believed in me. I was down for months and clueless what to do next. I even think if there would still be a company or business owner who would take risk with me seeing my resume with months of no work as I rested after resigning from the teaching post.

I thought of how I am a burden again and have no direction in my career, whereas my batchmates might already be settling down with their partners, finishing their master’s degree, or exploring more of what they can do abroad. There I was, clueless and do not know again where to start. I am just thankful I have a supportive family and set of friends who waited until I got tired of being afraid and overthinking.

There were even days I wish I can just sleep forever and not wake up to those clueless and empty days again. I was also telling God that time I wish I was the one He took instead of my papa who passed away in 2007 due to an illness. Because my papa would be able to help my family instead of my inconsistency, fears, and overthinking. I was in that bargaining stage and I am too blinded, hurt, and tired to see my own worth and potential.

In those dark times, I would pray for a direction…for an enlightenment. Angels in the form of my friends and my family gave me words to fight back. It was enough to hold on….until I saw an excerpt from Maine’s book through an online article of cosmo.ph promoting her book:

“Things may go from bad to worse and you might feel like it’s never going to change, but believe me when I say it will get better. Everything will be all right, I promise you. We may have our own different battles, but remember there is only one God. He is always looking down on us wherever we go and whatever obstacle we face. You may currently be in a lot of pain, but you never know what God has in store for your future.

Marami pang magagandang bagay ang mangyayari sa buhay mo. Magtiwala ka. Kapit lang, laban lang.

P.S.  If you are looking for a sign on whether you should still hold on or give up, this is it. Hold on tight, my dear. Don't you ever give up; never ever give up. “

I cried and smiled after reading it. “Ikaw talaga Lord ha, si Maine pa pinadala Mo rin para sabihin kaya ko pa.” The darker those moments are for me, the brighter are all the Bearers of Light shone in my life. I begin to see more how my mama is patient with me, how my brothers would ask what do I want to eat or where do I want to go, friends who would tell me they will meet me anywhere I wish to be…and that excerpt from Maine’s book.

So I told myself: May laban pa ako. Isang subok pa.

It took me until January to gather all my guts. I started editing my resume. I came back to my freelancing career by looking for homebased jobs. It was also the time I just thought of blogging for Maine. I was still doubting if I am ready to be a vocal fan…but I know in my heart if God is telling me to do something even if I am still scared or doubtful of it.

I posted my first entry about Maine on this tumblr account. What comes next are series of unexpected blessings coming in my way…I did not look for them but the opportunities found me instead. Here are some of them:

(a)    Got a DM asking if I can write for Clairedelfinmedia.com after they read my blog about Maine and Nadine parallelisms

(b)   Got invited twice to Maine’s bday party by generous fans. First is when I told her she is a Bearer of Light and we are her 10th heartbeat in the #EnchantressMaine23. Second is when I co-host in the #DearMaine bday event.

(c)    An anonymous fan who works abroad gifted me a Microsoft Surface Tablet just because she is thankful for my support for Maine.

(d)   Meeting some fans who are as level-headed and as classy like Maine I felt I attended a business conference instead of a fan event.

(e)   Getting back on my feet again to find the direction in my career.

Also, I am grateful my mama is a silent fan of Maine. You see, I am already in my late 20s but she treats me like a pre-teen kid and I find it difficult to ask permission to go to different places and stay late. Kung pwede 6pm sa bahay na ako at may number si mama ng lahat ng kasama ko para mapanatag siya. So I was surprised it was easy for me to ask permission going to Maine’s bday event even if I come home late at evening. As my mama said, “May swerteng dala sayo si Maine, puntahan mo lang pag meron.”

Of course, going back to my freelance career is not as smooth as what I expected. Rejections and no follow-up interviews came, some would even ask me to stop writing for them and they would just pay me for the weeks I wrote, or I have already written an article then suddenly my contact person said the client forgot to ask for the specific writer and that isn’t me.  

It was still difficult but I am grateful to find this new courage, thanks to God’s constant faithfulness in my life and to all my Bearers of Light. In 2018 too, I found CCF, a Christian church whom I am comfortable with in sharing my flaws and mistakes. They focus more on God’s grace, justice, and mercy for everyone than other close-minded religious people or groups who condemn sinners.

Thanks to Maine too, I started to try new things which I still hesitated before. I remembered reading her IG post on her skydiving experience. She encouraged us to try things out even if we are still scared. In 2018, I tried acting workshop and auditioned in a production house for a voice-over artist. I even tried if I could be a female reporter in an FM station. Although these things haven’t yet prospered for me, I am happy to try it out and see what else I can try aside from writing.

At present, I invested in a copywriting module and joined an uplifting and supportive Filipino community of freelance copywriters in a Facebook group. I am determined to venture into copywriting because it is parallel to my passion in storytelling and writing. The process of improving myself excites me.  I am a homebased content writer (as of this time) who still have a lowpay rate but I am enjoying the flexibility of my time. Plus, the company I work for recently gave me incentives and gift certificates.

Going back to one of the dark times in my life and just want to give up, God sent His angels in different forms to remind me I still have to fulfill His purpose, His story, and His plans in my life. He intended to break my heart and dreams so He can form it with a new one. In those times, God chose Maine too to tell me I can and I will be able to do it with God’s help.

This is just a fraction of what Maine did for me. I am more than thankful and will always support her even in the future that she is a private citizen and enjoys that under-the-radar life away from the fame and attention of public.

Salamat talaga Maine sa lahat lahat! 

Bearer of Light, please keep on radiating! 

God rewarded your sacrifices and good heart.

Embrace the genuine happiness you have now.

[cipher-wise]

Both of these are good points, and I'm not gonna lie, I do think the first point is more my speed, but I think these points are also missing some things:

A lot of people online are engaging less directly because of the rise of online harassment to vitriol degrees. These idiots will comb through someone's entire blog and like history, so plenty don't reblog anymore, especially with their own thoughts.

Lurkers have always been here. Just the way the world works, not everyone feels the need to collect posts or respond to topics. I do this in several online spaces.

We are going through two concurrent, worldwide pandemics. I know people that have disconnected from social media because it takes a harsher toll on their already frayed minds and emotions. They only check in sporadically or not at all.

At the same time, there's been a migration of users from other socmeds that come to Tumblr and just don't know how it works. While likes do effect posts you occasionally see from Tumblr ("based on your likes") it’s hard to say if your entire dash is algorithm based like Twitter’s timeline is. (I don’t have Best Stuff First enabled so that also might be it.) So engagement is a smidge different for a subgroup of users who rely on likes.

Some people get legitimately angry at others for rb their post with comments or tags, or going through their blog for a like/rb spree. I’ve personally encountered the later and it always kills the mood. (Imagine being so happy to find such quality posts on someone’s blog and they kick you out for using the site how it’s supposed to be used lol Not a huge issue but still funny.) At least now we can disable rb on posts now tho.

I don’t have the post on hand, and I doubt I could find it again, but I do remember a staff saying that despite what we’re all seeing in fandom spaces, with more likes and less rbs, the like to rb ratio has not actually changed all the much on this site as a whole. I personally think it’s just that fandom spaces are getting more black and white with some new fans and it makes the environment hostile. I mean, it is much easier to talk to like minded people in a closed space like a discord server than so out in the open to harassment.

There’s a lot of things, I think, that contributes to the lesser amount of rbs that we see for fandom posts on here. And, I guess some of these points seem to contradict each other, but they’re not really any hard hitting stats or anything. The points are honestly just observations that I’ve had the last couple of years.

As an artist myself, would I appreciate more rbs? Hell yeah; and I wouldn’t mind getting enough engagement to be able to make it a profession. But I won’t hate or chastise others for not interacting with my posts.

Hmm idk where i was going with this really, but it just feels like every time i see a posts about rbs on this site, it’s always lamenting that people are killing fandoms with not engaging with their art or fics. But it just somehow always feels like… they don’t seem to take into account what exactly is happening on and off this site. Just feels a little disingenuous

Re that post about likes vs reblogs it's soooo weird to me when ppl act like this is a New phenomenon in Fandom like... hello. "Lurker" has been a whole Fandom Identity for decades