Tumblr Prose and the Ever Evolving Language of the Internet

Words: Nicole Rayner

In December 2024, in a now-deleted post, X user @regularaugust used the phrase “Tumblr Prose” to describe – and complain about – a certain tone of writing commonly found in online amateur literature. Though the term was seemingly crafted out of nowhere, the post spawned widespread discourse on X, indicating that the concept of “Tumblr Prose” is all too familiar and frustrating to many. But what is it? 

One could try to define Tumblr Prose using specific viral posts, or even using certain authors (Rupi Kaur's name seems to come up every time this discourse resurges). Overall, the consistent allegations that define Tumblr Prose are those of vapidness, ostentatiousness, and obsession with imagery over substance, all reminiscent of the Tumblr era. 

At this point, it feels redundant to explain the impact Tumblr has had on internet pop culture. From popular aesthetics to the state of online discourse, the echoes of the Tumblr era are all too familiar, and if anything, are becoming louder. From film to social networking, it seems as though the media world is experiencing a bad case of Tumblrfication. YouTuber Broey Deschenel describes the “Tumblrfication” of film as “vapid amalgamation(s) of every image, line and cliche you’ve ever seen online”, citing Saltburn and Euphoria as some of modern media's biggest offenders. In a Passionfruit article, Dr. Pamela Rutledge described a similar flattening of substance in media “from personal reflections, philosophical musings, and political ideology to collections of images and phrases of cultural signifiers” as a consequence of the Tumblr era. These same critiques are often lobbied against pieces of writing that are accused of being Tumblr Prose.
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“It makes sense that we draw this language back to a website, and cultural touchstone, that was defined by its angst and melancholy.”

A “Tumblrfied” writer might be redundant, using overly complicated and flowery language to describe very simple, often unoriginal, ideas. Their figurative language might be evocative of an aesthetic blog's timeline, littered with metaphors about baby animals, Christianity and mythology, bruises, pomegranates, blood, the moon, and other edgy, melancholic imagery. A Tumblrfied writer is dramatic, sensationalising straightforward concepts in unnecessary ways that can distract from the piece's meaning, perhaps to cover for how shallow that meaning actually is. Tumblr Prose is undoubtedly tethered to the concept of Purple Prose, which is a term in literary criticism used to describe prose that is overly ornate and extravagant, to the point that it impacts the natural flow of the narrative. Unlike Purple Prose, however, Tumblr Prose is always hyper-relevant, interacting with and responding to the key images and trends in the social media landscape.

The coining of the phrase “Tumblr Prose”, at its core, is no different than the categorisation of “brain rot” lingo developed on TikTok, or “Stan Twitter Speak” on X, in that these terms also serve as surface level, often dismissible ways to define very real etymological developments throughout the modern internet era. Anyone that spends a lot of time on social media can see the differences in memes, slang, and even dialect, between different social media platforms. None of these linguistic changes occur within a vacuum. “Stan Twitter Lingo”, as a category, is really just a gentrified repackaging of AAVE terms that have existed in the zeitgeist long before the modern definition of a “stan” ever became popularised. 

TikTok “brainrot” terminology (such as skibidi, Rizzler, etc.) is an absurdist, but ultimately natural, response to the commercialisation of social media. Etymologist Adam Alesik made the apt comparison that a lot of contemporary brainrot terms resemble SEO keywords. With all this in mind, it’s easy to trace the concept and discourse surrounding ‘Tumblr Prose’ back to similar societal influences – like “thought daughters” and the recent boom in Substack popularity, there is increasing reactionary pushback against the high-paced, commercialised and nonsensical state of the internet today. 

Brainrot is countered with intellectualism, apathy is countered with melodrama, and what feels like inevitable suffering is romanticised. All of these characteristics, of course, are identical to what ruled so much of Tumblr’s creative output in its heyday. It makes sense that we draw this language back to a website, and cultural touchstone, that was defined by its angst and melancholy.

Despite all of these traits and societal influences that contribute to our understanding of Tumblr Prose, a concrete definition of the term is still difficult to pin down. If “Tumblr Prose” is not limited to the platform of Tumblr itself, then where is the line drawn? Is “Tumblr Prose” commonplace in many of today's New York Times bestsellers? Maybe, but you’d be hard pressed to find the term used within any formal literary criticism.

Despite being a very real and recognisable form of internet dialect with identifiable origins, the phrase “Tumblr Prose” itself is less of an objective categorisation than it is an insult intended to belittle any and all prose posted online that fits its description. Like Purple Prose, many of those who tend to use Tumblr Prose in their writing are younger writers who are newer to the craft and therefore have easily influenceable writing styles, often based on mimicry. It makes sense why people are so averse to this prose, but also why people are so eager to defend it. Young creatives, specifically women, are already slandered so much for showing earnestness online in spaces that thrive on laughing at “cringe”, why should their exploration with writing be subjected to the same ridicule?

The thing is, phrases like “Purple Prose” are not utilised as insults, but are intended to provide tangible characterisation to help authors avoid clichés. It’s not impossible that “Tumblr Prose” could take on the same constructive identity as a literary criticism term for the 21st century. But such a shift would require people online to be patient and understanding with their criticism instead of quick and aggressive. And while it can be easy to see categories such as “brainrot” and “Tumblr Prose” as flimsy and irrelevant, these ideas deserve as much merit and exploration as any other linguistic concept. 

Regardless of subjective quality, “Tumblr Prose” reflects the constant development of language and the literary canon, and such an idea deserves to be treated with legitimacy and discussed positively, negatively, but above all else, seriously. If James Joyce and F Scott Fitzgerald were alive and on X in 2025, would their writing also be accused of Tumblr Prose? By the website's most facetious users, probably. And personally, I think that's incredible. Language is the only thing on earth that can define and redefine itself, and regardless of what form that comes in, I think it should be celebrated.