Certain teens on this site wonder why anyone over 18 uses tumblr, even though users under 18 make up barely 15% of the site’s user base. Because we’re older, you think we “don’t understand”.
That’s the funny thing. We really, really DO. Especially with my age group (hate to break this to some of you, but the term “millennials” encompasses anyone born from the early 80′s to the early 2000′s, so society places us all in the exact same category. Guess jeans and mall hair may have been “in” when we were born, but we’re still counted among those “darn kids and their interwebs”), we were teens on the internet ourselves. Shit–we’re sitting here and watching what we used to wear as kids suddenly come back into fashion. Imagine how weird that feels (well, actually it also feels kinda awesome, because you’re taking that fashion and doing pretty amazing things with it to create entirely new, distinctive subgenres of fashion that look hella cute, so keep on with that). Aside from a few positive changes in regards to clothing, the only real difference between then and now is how much easier it is to share your thoughts, share your art, and share your porn. We said the same things back then that you say now, we took “selfies” (even if we didn’t have that term for them yet), and drew just as much porn–we just didn’t have anywhere to put it, and mostly had to hide it. We were made to be paranoid about interacting with others (though, on some points, we know our parents had every right to worry). There weren’t really “places” for us yet, and most of us look back and thank our lucky stars that we DIDN’T have the kind of social media we have today to make the worst mistakes of our lives into a permanent stain on the internet.
Growing older is the most surreal thing you will ever experience in your life. You will watch others walk the wrong paths. You will watch others make the same mistakes you did. You will understand your parents on a level you NEVER expected to, especially if you’ve spent most of your life trying to be their polar opposites out of typical offspring rebellion (I do not deny taking part in this myself. Still can’t seem to convince my mother after 32 years that I will NEVER wear the same clothing that she likes. It really doesn’t end).
You will reach an epiphany. You will have “Oh my god…” moments. You will feel super weird. You will wonder when you started actually being an “adult”, because you’ll never feel it.
We’re what happens when “teens on the internet” grow up. The same will happen to you. One day, you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of having your age be used as a reason for why you should allegedly no longer be using the internet, as if your personal interests are discarded at adulthood in favor of a taste for jazz music and mediocre sitcoms, and an inexplicable lack of understanding of new technology.
This is the never-ending cycle of life. It’s only gonna get stupider from here on out, folks. Hang on to the railings, and keep your hands and feet inside the cart at all times.
