I have a friend that's recently been getting into role playing on Tumblr. It bothers me, because I've been there before and I admit it's a hard trap to get out of. For those that don't know yet, Tumblr is the place online to be if you just happen to be fandom crazy.
If you want anything related to TV shows, anime, movies or anything else in popular culture - it's a good bet you'll find everything you need on Tumblr... and then some. You can't get on Tumblr without soon finding out about shipping or OTPs. Basically for every fandom that exists there's going to be someone who wants to see a relationship between two characters (or three!) that you'd probably never thought of before.
Such is the life of a fandom obsessed Tumblr addict - ship wars, opinionated blog posts and doctored images all to boost the popularity of your favourite TV show, anime or movie.
Delving right into your fandom
Role playing blogs are rife on Tumblr. You can be anyone you want to be. Pick a character, make up a character, it doesn't matter because you'll always find someone who shares your interest (or is bored) enough to play along with you.
By all this I'm sure you're thinking Tumblr is a safe haven for 13 year old girls who want to express themselves and to talk about boys, girls and whatever they're into. But Tumblr is no safe haven.
Not safe for anybody
Tumblr is full of NSFW images, stories and roleplays and countless thousands of NSFW entries are put up on the site every single day. It's almost unavoidable for anyone on the site, even though most posts with the content are supposed to be tagged.
What is NSFW, you ask? The term means Not Safe for Work. So if you're browsing the internet while you're on duty, you should know well enough to stay away from that tag. To put it bluntly, it's porn. But this pornographic material is not filtered. Every blogger on Tumblr has a 'Dashboard' where literally anything can show up.
Tumblr, your bias is showing
Tumblr is not kind to Christians, especially those that hold to a conservative position. I know Christians who have tried to be a light on Tumblr and all that results is they get a beat down from the thousands of LGBT protesters on the site who seem to push the stereotype that all Christians are bigots on anyone that will listen.
Or, there's the militant Evolutionists who spew the same lie that Creationists are science-deniers. You will not get honest debate. You will get uninformed teenagers who take advantage of the anonymity of the internet.
My secret role playing life
So now I've told you what the site Tumblr is all about, I'll be honest about my involvement. I've spent a good amount of my leisure time in years past role playing. Okay, I'm a dork. I admit it freely and with only a little shame.
At first I thought what I was doing was completely innocent. Just something to ease the boredom with life we all feel from time to time. Some works of fiction are so beautiful you just want to delve further into them. I spent a certain portion of my life working for the Lord so it was only right that I got my leisure time, right?
But as with anything it becomes an addiction. When you're checking your 'dash' more than twenty times a day, that means you have a problem. I had a problem. A bizarre problem. Normal people have an alcohol, drug or sex addiction. I was addicted to online role playing.
The darkness corrupting the light
With some help from the Lord I started to see Tumblr for what it really was. A place where God is completely shut out. I realised that wasn't a place I wanted to spend my time. Can you really be the light in a place where there is no light? Or will you get sucked into the darkness?
I got sucked into the darkness. So I write this as a warning to all my young (and not so young friends) out there who spend their time on sites like this. Maybe it's not harming anyone, but is it distracting you from being a witness to the God who called us to be one of His children?
Think about it carefully and you be the judge.
Bridget Brenton has been researching apologetics, philosophy and the paranormal for years. You can check her apologetic effort out at 101arguments.com
Bridget Brenton's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brenton.html