#ofc everything OP said ESPECIALLY applies when you get into DMs

[askshivanulegacy]

Totally agree with all of the above. At the same time there are distinctly blended nuances to the Tumblr format that people on both sides of this really fail to conceptualize properly.

Your blog on Tumblr is your blog. It's your personal journal. You get to say whatever you want however you want. This is always true.

It's also true that your post is public. Anything you post in public invites interaction. This is also always true. Not everyone "knows" the (mythical and fake) Tumblr style of etiquette. They can and will interact with your post in any way the site allows. Your post is presented as random content on people's dashboards, which does even more to invite interaction (i.e., people aren't going out of their way to find you; your post is delivered on a silver platter). Don't post things you don't want your worst enemy to see and interact with.

People make opinion posts that are stated as fact. They have the freedom and right to do this, but it doesn't help them out if they don't want people to "well, actually" them. They get upset when they get interaction, despite knowing that they posted on the interaction platform in the first place.

Tumblr gives you two main interaction formats. Replies feel much more direct, like you're speaking to OP one-on-one. Traditional "etiquette" (which isn't real, remember) says that you don't use replies unless this is what you intend. But people end up using replies for any old thought dump, without considering how it comes across.

Reblogs are "traditionally" seen as you making the post your own. You have something to say about it, you are NOT directly speaking to OP unless you @ them, and you are speaking indirectly to your own followers or just speaking thoughts into the void. The post now resides on your blog, so it's effectively yours. This is a more considerate way of expressing your thoughts. It's true that sometimes it spawns "discussions" between you and OP, which can be fine. However, too many people mistakenly think that rebloggers have no business "writing on their posts," especially when they disagree. This is not true! The post on their blog now belongs to them and they can say anything at all.

Tags are the secret third interaction, which "etiquette" (fake lol) says is the equivalent of you whispering your thoughts exclusively to your followers. You can pick out someone's tags to highlight and agree with them and this is a coveted Tumblr achievement. But heaven help the person who tries to pick a fight with you over these secret thoughts, because they are a fool deserving of ridicule.

All this is to say: yeah Tumblr peeps need to do better in how they express their commentary and the method they use to express it. The methods are NOT equal. And sometimes it's just better to not comment at all and let the dash scroll by. But also, original posters need to do better understanding that they invite commentary with everything they post. Some things are probably better not being posted at all.

The rule that trumps all of this is that all of Tumblr etiquette is fake! Everything you think is "right" and "proper" is wrong. Nobody has agreed to any kind of interaction format and they're free to use any tool at their fingertips. You can school someone on "proper" use, especially when they clown on "your" post, but you are no more correct than they are.

Which is either hilarious or maddening, but here we are, lol.

there are no hard rules for human interaction but honestly i think everyone online would benefit hugely from operating under the assumption that, unless you have been given a specific reason to think otherwise in discrete instances, internet strangers do not want to be approached with:

your trauma, illnesses, or deep-rooted self worth issues

any come-ons or sexual content

over-familiar playful rudeness

information about your dnd characters/ocs

disagreements with their harmless subjective opinions

if it is your first time speaking with someone i can not highly enough recommend that these do not be your opening topics