Exclusive: Meaghan O’Connell responds to Tumblr/Pitchfork controversy

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See here, for the initial story, here for Tumblr’s response, and here for Pitchfork’s.

I asked Meaghan, Director of Outreach at Tumblr, to respond to some of the negative comments on her Tumblr post:

I think that whenever something you are a part of or a fan of, something that means a lot to you, starts to see rapid growth, or starts to evolve, that core community starts to freak out. We see this everywhere, its practically cliche–  that preemptive mourning of the loss of intimacy, that nostalgia for something before it even happens.  It’s that sense of loss you feel when, pardon the simile, everybody starts listening to a band you loved “before they were big.” People love Tumblr; they love that space of theirs on the web. And I understand that because I feel the same way. I understand the desire to not see it change, and I am not surprised by the levels of fear mongering possible when one person with false information gets everyone up in arms.

It worries me because sometimes I feel like people are waiting to be betrayed. And I hate that because these are my people and we would never do that. Tumblr means just as much to us as it does to them, and the community should know that we will always have their best interests in mind, even when we’re that band that used to be cool before everyone started listening.

Stephen Elliott is the author of seven books, including the memoir The Adderall Diaries and the novel Happy Baby. He is the founding editor of The Rumpus. His feature film debut, About Cherry, is being distributed by IFC and opens in theaters September 21, 2012. More from this author →