non-fandom post-tumblr alternatives

[flowerqueer]

Had a thought in the tumblr exodus discord server I'm in - we've been talking a lot in that server about post-tumblr alternatives for fandom, but what about post-tumblr alternatives for things that aren't necessarily fandom in the traditional sense? Many of the alternatives I've seen tossed around so far (dreamwidth, pillowfort, forums, etc) are certainly ok with nsfw content, but they're aimed at fandom in a way that doesn't necessarily fit for non-fandom content. 

As an example, I follow a lot of sex writers and bloggers, because sex/sexuality writing and criticism is a huge special interest of mine. While a good number of these bloggers have their own websites and twitter accounts, a good number also posted directly to tumblr, and there's a huge difference (imo) between the experience of reading a post right then and there on your tumblr dash and responding to it via reblog/reply/etc vs following a link from a tweet and responding to what is effectively advertisement. 

Not to mention the function of asks (esp. anon asks) that served as a non-judgemental and anonymized place for people to find advice and support on sex and sexuality. (There's a lot to be said wrt abuse of the anon system and harassment, but many sex bloggers kept anon on anyways in spite of it and it definitely served a vital purpose). While I've seen an alternative for anon asks called "curiouscat" pop up on twitter, it's still similar to the independent websites problem where you have to follow a link to get to the post instead of having it be integrated into the site.

Tumblr is (was, RIP ;-;) a really unique website, and I'm glad (in some strange, backwards way) to have spent my formative years there. I'm fond of dreamwidth so far, but it feels (at least to me) like more of a fandom home than anything else. I'm really hoping to find a website that serves the purpose tumblr did for me - making me feel like my expressions of sexuality are normal and everyday by placing posts about all the weird and wonderful aspects of sex right alongside and part of all of my fandom interests, academic interests, and aesthetics.

What site (if any) do you think might fill tumblr's weird blog/social media hybrid niche for non-fandom content? does it even exist yet? 

Comments

[goodmode]

i don't know if there's an alternative that fills the same niche as tumblr (i know mastodon is a popular mention but i haven't actually used it yet myself). but i DO know that people used to do "secrets" communities on livejournal (and to some extent, dreamwidth, and i saw it done on tumblr once or twice in some circles). on these communities you emailed in an image, related or not, with text on top voicing an opinion about something. mods would post the "secrets" in batches, and the community had anonymous commenting enabled.

the upside: you were basically free to anonymously broadcast a message about anything you wanted, to everyone who followed the main community. which was often a lot of people!

the downside: oh man. the drama. do i even need to say it

while i'm not keen on the idea of secrets blogs any more, i do think anonymous commenting is a massive plus for DW in general. they could easily be used as an anonymous ask system replacement, you just need a kind of...host post, i guess?

and you know what, with a little thought, i think a community for discussion like what you're talking about might take off.

anyway, food for thought. wish i could be more helpful with my suggestions!

(if you're having trouble following lots of people on different platforms, by the way, there's a good guide to RSS feeds here, though i'm aware it's kind of a clunky way to keep up with things these days. just a suggestion!)

[flowerqueer]

ooooh this is all really good info! (and same about mastodon lmao) super interesting about those old "secrets" communities - it kind of reminds me of like anonbook on facebook and [fandom]-confessions type tumblrs.

i'm totally a dreamwidth newbie but tbh if enough people were interested i'd be down to get a kind of all-purpose/non-fandom discussion comm up and running! i'd looked around for people with marked interests in sex blogging and other non-fandom topics (and honestly came up blank), but i didn't even think about communities.

all of this is definitely food for thought - thank you so much!

[goodmode]

yeah the [thing]-confessions blogs are sorta what i was talking about! it was much easier to submit secrets on tumblr since there was a system for it and email is kind of considered a weird way to do it these days, but, you know. anyway!! you got it haha

while i don't have the time to manage a comm like that i wouldn't be averse to helping out getting things up and running, and i'd probably use it myself anyway - so don't forget me if you do decide to go through with it! good luck and give me a shout if you need any help o/

[flowerqueer]

will do! thanks for all this, i'm still kind of settling into dreamwidth a bit and trying to figure everything out as i go along lmao

[goodmode]

no worries! good luck and happy, uhh, housewarming? sitewarming