Halsey, it seems, is subtly hinting at her extensive presence on Tumblr, following the realization that she wasn't featured in the platform's 19th-anniversary video. "I keep your lights on for years, and this is the thanks I get?" the singer quipped on X, which appears to be a playful nod to her early days on the social media platform.
The video, released on February 27th, celebrates almost two decades of internet history, including the rise of memes and the formation of large fandom communities. However, many pointed out that some of the biggest influencers of the 2010s were left out, including Halsey herself, who played a pivotal role in the alt-pop movement with the release of her debut album "Badlands" in 2015.
When "Badlands" first hit in 2015, its dark aesthetic, pastel-colored dystopia look, and diary-style lyrics were a perfect fit for the Tumblr aesthetic. The album exploded across Tumblr with fan art, snippets of poetry, and sets of GIFs, racking up over 1 million posts at its peak, according to fan archiving sites from the good old days.
Halsey was a prolific Tumblr user even before she became a household name with her original poetry and music demos. The anniversary video comes at a time when people are reflecting on Tumblr's journey. In the past, Tumblr was worth $1.1 billion after it was acquired by Yahoo! in 2013. However, the number of users has been declining considerably since the mid-2010s. According to data from Statista, the number of users has been declining from 400 million blogs in 2013 to less than 200 million users by 2016.
In the last few months, Tumblr has had a mini-resurgence, especially due to the rise of some micro-fandoms and indie music communities. However, for many users, the Tumblr experience that resonates with them is from the early to mid-2010s, especially because that was the time when musicians like Halsey, Lana Del Rey, and Marina Diamandis were dominating the musical space.
People's Response to Halsey's Post
People responded quite swiftly to Halsey's post, with some defending Tumblr and its legacy. "What kept that site running was comedy show gifs, adult content, and maybe Lana Del Rey," one user wrote, suggesting that many things came together for Tumblr. "Stopped using Tumblr in high school. What's the connection with Halsey?" another user asked. A third user was quite harsh with Halsey, saying, "She wants to be the Tumblr queen so badly. You're just not that girl."
