sensitivity.’ While there will always be counter-examples, and while the
zeitgeist may have changed since 2014, the examples Rugnetta gives
are still unlikely to be seen as outliers by the majority of users: ‘i made
this blog when i was 15 and now im 12 wtf,’ ‘remember swine flu reblog
if ur a tru 2009 kid,’ etc. Rugnetta cites, among others, David Crystal
(2011), who compares language usage on the internet to speech and
writing, and argues that,
On the whole, Internet language is better seen as writing which
has been pulled some way in the direction of speech rather than
as speech which has been written down. However, expressing the
question in terms of the traditional dichotomy is misleading. Internet
language is identical to neither speech nor writing, but selectively
and adaptively displays properties of both.
Crystal is right to be hesitant in assigning internet language use to either
end to the spectrum. However, his initial assertion is a useful way to look
at Tumblr text posts, at least: text posts on Tumblr may not be aiming
at approximating speech so much as aiming at the same spontaneous
appearance and informal emotional impact as speech. A comparison
might be made here with Wordsworth’s (2012, p. 514) assertion that
poetry is, ‘the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’ (p. 507) or his
use of the language of ‘low and rustic life;’ although the language used
on Tumblr may not be how one would speak everyday, it achieves the
effect of seeming spontaneity and authenticity in this specific context.
The aforementioned examples of Tumblr poets suggest that there may be
something about Tumblr that makes it uniquely suitable for confessional
poetry. When Rugnetta says that the average Tumblr text post is ‘hesitant,
even vulnerable,’ it may be rather a sweeping generalisation for the whole
site, but it does ring true when reading ‘A Prose Poem About Ghosts,’ in
which St James thinks ‘of what it will mean to take medication: the white
pill between my fingers like a secret, a pearl pressed flat on a train track.
the cold water glass. my heart unfurling.’ There are various possible
reasons for this. An obvious one is anonymity, as many Tumblr users
choose to keep their blog separate from their offline life; there is overall
a lack of stigma attached to issues like mental health; the average age
of Tumblr users (late adolescence) may contribute to the site feeling like
somewhere one is able to talk openly and informally. Unlike Facebook,
where one may hesitate to post anything too introspective for fear of
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