No, seriously.

I criticize Tumblr a lot but that’s because I read it a lot. More every day.

Here’s the things I love about it:

1) Gives me the chance to read and to learn from people I never would’ve otherwise – people who historically have had no voice and no way to express themselves.

2) It’s a great place for righteous rage, which I enjoy. People feel more unrestrained there. I like evidence and good argumentation as much as the next nerdy white guy. But sometimes I like to let it all hang out, or let someone else do the same.

3) It reminds me of the early internet, when it was still a Wild West (in a good way) but before the worst of the misogynists had begun bedeviling and chasing women away.

4) It has a lot of women. And in general I feel more in common with women than I do with men. Criticize me as you will for that, but it’s true nonetheless.

5) Though animated gifs mostly annoy me, I can be exposed to art there that I otherwise would not get to see. It’s not heavily censored so it really is a mélange of just about everything, which fits my broad tastes.

Basically Tumblr reminds me of the early promise of the internet, before it was utterly corporatized (yes, I know Yahoo! now owns Tumblr, and will therefore probably eventually destroy it). It is freakish, odd, and everyone does just about whatever they want there and anyone can use it.

So that’s why I love Tumblr. Really.