GENERATION TUMBLR
Me And Dripz In Our Peak Witch House DJ Duo Era
Words: MJB
I taught myself how to code/build/design in Web1.0 by reading source code then testing and learning until it made sense to me at 13. I was making GIFs and animation narratives using online bootlegs of Photoshop to tell stories because flat images didn’t say enough. I did this so that I could make fan websites for tv shows and fictional couples I shipped.
I was agonising over UX and UI when I coded my own version of social media profiles for my friends on Angelfire and Geocities long before Friendster and Bebo took off.
I was a MySpace scene girl and optimised my page daily by creative directing colour palettes/images, curating music and copywriting comments/messages/announcements.
I’m a Tumblr loyalist, who makes templates and mood boards. Whoever thinks Tumblr is dead isn’t a true community member because it’s still thriving with real fans and freaks like me.
I optimise systems for myself across multiple apps/software/platforms. I make notion templates for fun. I can touch type at a shocking speed from years of trolling/flirting in chat rooms.
I am an internet expert reduced to burner anon social media accounts because I have to hide my ability as it’s not the “correct way to behave online”.
I am a gamer in denial who shops for and designs virtual clothes in secret. I have been essentially living in the Metaverse for decades, which is my true reality that I’ve built on the internet.
I am a woman in STEM who would never formally be recognised for it because my e-girl knowledge and experience don’t follow the textbook process and my style of technical skills but lack of formal qualification would be considered unprofessional.
It takes me no time to learn a new platform/app/gameplay/language because I’ve been actively immersed online since my first AOL 30-day free trial disc arrived in the mail as a tween. I love the internet so much that I got a “Mom” heart tattoo in St Marks Place but requested the word “Mom” be changed to “AOL” in commemoration of my e-birth mother.
I am a public school princess from a low socio-economic neighbourhood and the firstborn child of migrant parents. Self-taught hacking was the only viable option. But I didn’t do it for a job or a career. I did it for creative expression. I did it for FREEDOM because I needed to find something online that was better than my reality.
The DEI stats across STEM could be easily improved if the definition of inclusion in STEM didn’t rely on a portfolio of commercial or institutionally recognised work. Yet somehow we still ask why there isn’t enough diversity in STEM? Let’s start by asking the right questions and changing our recruitment tactics. Let’s try looking harder at the problem which is BIAS.
It’s time to stop gatekeeping access in these professional spaces because the best talent you will ever find is probably making a fan site rn.
TY to Elizabeth de Luna for igniting this spark. Read her Mashable article HERE.
