lend me your ears

Today is March 15, the Ides, and if you've ever spent any time on Tumblr, you know we celebrate the assassination of Julius Caesar every year. Nearly the first post I saw on my dashboard this morning was this rendition of Marc Antony's funeral speech by Jake Phillips, filmed in his car, performed in a Southern American accent, while wearing a military baseball cap. The reblog chain includes analysis from Southern Americans and from drama teachers, explaining the nuances of language and performance here.

One of the things I love most about Tumblr is those reblog chains. Yes, we're all sharing from our journals and commonplace books, but we're also having conversations about our special interests and making little presentations for each other. You're not just gonna look at my new favourite thing; you're gonna hear all about why it's so good. Tumblr is the enthusiast's website, which is why, I believe, it's resisted the worst of the commercialization of the modern web. (Which is why, of course, our zookeepers have decided to sell what we've made to AI—no one else wants it.)

Tumblr is not a place where you go to make money; it's a place where you go for show and tell. And I want to bring a bit of that energy back to blogging. Share what you love, gush freely, and don't think too hard before hitting the PUBLISH button. Let a million blogs post.

March 12 was the 35th anniversary of the World Wide Web, and our dad isn't happy about what it's become. Tim Berners-Lee wrote a letter explaining that the point of the web was "to allow for collaboration, foster compassion and generate creativity."

Yet in the past decade, instead of embodying these values, the web has instead played a part in eroding them.

Tumblr reblog chains is that collaboration. Reading people's blogs helps foster compassion for each other. And when you sit down to write a post, you're generating your own creativity. Make a thing and share it with the rest of us hanging out on the web. I wanna see what you can do.

(And, hey, if you need a prompt to help you: I'm making a zine to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Speed. I'd love if you joined us.)

💚 Jess

PS. The last letter I sent you was the first I sent with Ghost, and all the wires hadn't been hooked up exactly right. If you tried to send me an email reply, I didn't receive it. I'm hoping I've fixed the problem 🤞🏻 and I'd love to hear from you again.