WOW. I’m really glad I took the time to read that article. It was lengthy as hell, and I’m not gonna lie, I almost gave up to just skim a few times but I’m glad I didn’t. The title was a great hook to get me interested and right off the bat, I agreed with many of the authors points about how there is always someone with more out there. And that goes for just about everything. These days it feels like teenagers are obsessed with the idea of “basic”. This idea that there is such a promonent “norm” that will ensure coolness. This idea of basic I feel ties into Reeve’s point that teens love this idea of being epically relatable in every way possible. I can honestly say I have never had a tumbler or really been even remotely interested it it. However I did find all of the drama around Pizza and Jess Miller, to be quite fascinating. There was one point in the blog where Reeve’s dishes out a couple stereotypes about each social media network, and I actually agreed pretty much one hundred percent with her conceived stereotypes. This article also made me realize how there is really a webpage for almost anything these days. You think of it…..its already been thought of…is what its beginning to feel like. I loved the part of the article where Reeve explains that a difference in Tumbler is that it actually gives credit where credit is due. It seems that rather than appropriating ideas like many other social networking sites, Tumbler actually gives exposure to the creator.
The part of the article where Reeve explains teens are said to be “better marketers than anyone is the game”. This was mesmerizing to be because I have never really connected social networking say-ness to brilliance. However I guess when examining closely teenagers really are advancing like crazy in that field.
I found it to be very striking the idea that “haters ate more loyal than fans” however it does make sense when I think about it more. On Instagram I occasion click the pull down bar on comments of famous people I follow and it boggles me how many haters incessantly post comments there.
The racial comment Miller made, I agree was inappropriate but I was thoroughly impressed with how maturely she was able to look back and reflect on it with regret and disappointment. It was also astonishing to me that at 16 Miller was making more than her own mother was. This is definitely a testament to something, although I’m not sure that it’s “brilliance”, per-say. Also the diet pill scandal was pretty outrageous to me. I think it’s pretty low of adult to falsely advertise diet pills to young teens in a place they are most impressionable i.e. Tumbler.
The conclusion of the entire article was very moving to me. I honestly kind of even for the chills reading that last paragraph. Funny thing, I actually contemplated sharing it on Facebook because of how interesting I found it to be, but it also seems a bit too ironic.
I am posting the conclusion here just because I found it so captivating: “At first you loathe the teens, because you know nothing about them and think they’re idiots, beneath you. Then you love the teens because you figure out they are smarter than you, and you make peace with the death of your cultural relevance, because you know you’ll be in good hands. Finally, you recognize the shape of the adults they’ll become, corrupted by money and vanity and hubris just like everyone else. And you’ll see yourself in them because they’re relatable: That moment you realize the teens are just like you.” Elspeth Reeve
francescadominguez 