Not to long ago, I admitted to myself that I’m addicted to
the social media site, Tumblr. I found it strange how this website had slowly creped
into my life and found so much meaning. It had allowed me to share music,
images, and ideas. I had created an online environment where I could talk about
social justice, my favorite bands, artist, designers, pop culture with other
creative people of color (and anyone else who indefinites as ‘other’). It gave
us a place to voice our opinions and frustrations with the world.
It was refreshing. Tumblr
allowed us to claim media space for ourselves and say what we pleased. It helped
me, as a black female, to find my identity, and critique everything. Helping me
to be aware of how I had been wrongly portrayed in the media, and caused me to
develop a fierce appetite for better representation for people like me. I will
admit it’s a bit embarrassing claiming a website as was one of the things that
“woke” me, but it really did open my eyes. I deleted my Tumblr a couple weeks
back, since my time spent on the website was becoming unhealthy. However I
recognize all the good I was able to take away from it.
I needed a break from it, but my relationship with media is still
tricky. Even though my time isn’t consumed with Tumblr anymore, I’m still
constantly on social media and always consuming media. Whether its Instagram,
Facebook, Youtube, or Vine, I’m always online. However recently, I have decided
to use my knowledge of media, and to create my own media platform, an online magazine
called Nonsense. I believe this is a perfect way to combat media, by taking it
and creating our own outlets where we can properly portray ourselves and put
out the type of content we want to consume.
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