Hydrate or diedrate: The Studyblr community on Tumblr

Pretty notes, reminders to drink water and motivational quotes are all part of the Studyblr community of Tumblr. With their dedication to studying, they inspire people all over the world to be productive. What is the story of these "perfect" students?

Studyblr: wholesome studying

Pastel markers, ten different pens from Japan, and fifteen Moleskine notebooks. That’s what a regular blogger in the Studyblr community keeps on their desk. ‘Studyblr’ stand for ‘study’ and ‘Tumblr’, and it’s the name given to the community that shares their prettiest study notes together with all kinds of studying tips and tricks.

Instead of sharing hateful and negative comments, the Studyblr community is a positive and radiant community that focuses on helping others with their homework and making it more bearable.

The Studyblr community went viral in 2014 when students started sharing motivational texts and tips, and it became even bigger in 2015 with the addition of pictures of desks and “messy” beds.

But how did this phenomenon grow to eventually a whole online community? And how does this community fit in our mainstream society? Would we consider these students, who spend most of their time focused on their studies, as outsiders? These are all questions that arise when thinking about a community full of dedicated students. In my article, I want to research the Studyblr community and how they behave within our society.

The whole Studyblr community communicates via digital infrastructures, and in order to understand how this group functions, I have used digital ethnographic research. Digital ethnography can be described as an approach to research “on online practices and communications, and on offline practices shaped by digitalization” (Varis, 2016).

What is the Studyblr community?

As noted before, the Studyblr community is one of many interesting Tumblr communities. People all over the world share their notetaking, organizing and study tips and tricks with the rest of Tumblr, striving for the highest grades possible.

People who participate in the Studyblr community often post pictures of their own notes, their desk, or their stationery. Most Studyblr’s follow a pastel color palette combined with white tones, but everyone in the community has their own unique way of taking notes and studying. Not only is the Studyblr community for sharing your own pictures and notes. Students help each other, they create different online challenges for studying, and they share templates for organizing and planning.

https://emmastudies.tumblr.com/

Emma, also known as Emmastudies through her Tumblr blog, runs one of the biggest Studyblr blogs out there. Her templates, (free) monthly printables, and wallpapers are immensely popular in the Studyblr community, and now she even sells printables on her own Etsy shop. These printables are mostly helpful for time management and productivity or tools for studying.

The Studyblr community went viral in 2014 when students started sharing motivational texts and tips, and it became even bigger in 2015 with the addition of pictures of desks and “messy” beds. The hashtag #studyblr was born, and it’s now a global community with students who all have the same goal.

The community mostly exists of women that vary in age from 16-year-old high school students to women in their 20’s in university. There are many toxic fandoms and communities on Tumblr, like #proana, that focuses on eating disorders, but the Studyblr community is mostly without any harsh comments or abusive inspiration. Mental health and self-care are an important part of studying according to the community, so taking breaks and doing something nice for yourself is necessary to maintain a healthy and productive lifestyle.

Here are three examples of the positive and supportive community that is Studyblr. These examples show how you need to make yourself a priority, like the reminder that “you are lovely on your own”. There is a lot of awareness of mental health in the Studyblr community. People are constantly reminded to stay hydrated, have a good sleep and take care of themselves.

The negative side

Even though the Studyblr community is filled with positive thoughts and motivation, you could also look at it from a negative view. Of course, studying seems to be the main subject of the community. But there’s just as much focus on aesthetics and the presentation of your blog, as on studying and taking notes.

Yes, organized desks and expensive stationery may improve your studying, but when you spend more time trying to take an aesthetically pleasing picture of your biology notes than actually reviewing them, there seems to be a shift in the main point of the Studyblr community. This shift might also contribute to a feeling of competition and envy. People look up to their favorite study blogs, so they might feel the need to buy the same expensive pens from Japan or use the same bullet journaling techniques to make it look as pretty as all the other Studyblr’s.

Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Isaac Brekken for The New York Times

In both these images, we see the same Mildliners from the brand Zebra. These markers are extremely popular in the Studyblr community, as they are good quality products, but also because they add to the aesthetic of the picture. Because they are so big in the Studyblr community, it might feel like a requirement to have these markers if you want to become part of the community.

The brand Zebra is originally from Japan, so it can be hard to acquire these pens if you live in a different part of the world. Shipping costs can quickly add up, but still, most people in the Studyblr community go through all this trouble to get the stationery they want, because the feeling of competition might be too strong or because they feel like the way their stationery looks is more important than its use.

This creates frustration and discourages within a community that was originally supposed to motivate you in positive ways. The focus on aesthetics is also misleading. When notes look more like artwork than study notes, it gives the impression that being a student is a stress-free experience with almost no negative aspects.

And even though pretty notetaking might make studying more bearable, you still have to review your notes and work hard to achieve good grades. And even then you will not always get the grades you want. Studying comes with failure, but the Studyblr community radiates so much positivity that it seems like it’s always a fun experience to be a student.

Studyblr as a micro-population

People in de Studyblr community, as noted before, all share the same goal when it comes to studying: making it as bearable and enjoyable as possible while maintaining their grades. They motivate each other and support each other in their studies, and it’s always in a positive way. The Internet has given these people with a unique passion for studying a platform and infrastructure to share their content with the rest of the world. With the growth that the Studyblr community has been through, we can say that the community is a global micro-population.

A micro-population is a concept introduced by Ico Maly and Piia Varis (2015). In their article on the 21st century hipster, they explain that “the world has become more complex due to new kinds of migration patterns and mobilities, the influence of new communication technologies such as the Internet, as well as the neoliberal logic of consumption and commodification.” Therefore culture and social groups, as a result, are a complex translocal and polycentric affair. Even though the Studyblr community is most definitely shaped only through an online infrastructure, we could consider it as a micro-population.

The interesting thing about the Studyblr community as a micro-population is that their “culture” is not defined by their style in the sense of their own appearance, but it is defined by the style of their notes. The identity of someone who’s part of the Studyblr community is mostly shaped through their handwriting, the stationery they use and how their desk looks, instead of through the way they dress.

"Enoughness" is an important aspect of the Studyblr community. Even though the connection between members of this community can be found in their studies, being a good student does not make you a part of the Studyblr community. There are certain skills that you may need to maintain your place in the community. Think about handwriting as an example. Cursive, pretty handwriting is crucial if you want to make pretty notes. These notes also need to be structured and neat, and it is even better when combined with color coding. Because we are discussing an online community, it is also of importance to know how to maintain your blog, make aesthetically pleasing pictures, and connect with other Studyblr's to help your own blog grow. 

The identity people who run a Studyblr show online can be called a "scripted identity". "The notion of the script implies that, within computational ecologies, users may register or subscribe to certain identity templates, formats, or ideal types – and conversely, to cast off their alternatives " (Van Nuenen, 2016). On an online platform like Tumblr, the identity that is represented is scripted: they perform an identity in relation to the interface of Tumblr. This identity is about the characteristics that determine the demarcation between regular students and Studyblr students. This is a produced script, and this organizes the behavior of someone in the Studyblr community.  Making notes and studying is not enough, for example. They make pictures of it, share it, and talk about it online. 

Studyblr in mainstream society

The Studyblr community can be seen as a social group. They share the same ideas and have the same passion for notetaking and studying. But is this community regarded as an outsider community? Would they be considered as deviant, or is it part of mainstream culture? Howard Becker, a sociologist, published his book Outsiders in 1963. In his book, he explores deviant behavior and how groups are considered as outsiders. With his research and conclusions, you can connect the Studyblr community to their place in our society.

Even though the Studyblr community is definitely a unique group of people, it would be not be considered as a group of outsiders according to Becker’s opinion.  The outsider, or "the deviant from group rules "(Becker, 1963), is seen as someone who does not follow conventional rules and norms and does not stick to mainstream culture, or as someone who fails to obey group rules. But the interesting thing about the Studyblr community is that their behavior is more proper than deviant.

Striving for good grades, being an organized student, is the behavior that mainstream society would look up to. A student who runs a Studyblr is still a student. And the tips and tricks shared by the Studyblr community are often general tips that can be used by everyone. But even though they might not be seen as deviant, could you still consider the Studyblr community as an outsider community? 

You could say that their behavior as a student is different than the behavior of “regular” students. People who run a Studyblr put more effort in the way they present their notes and studying than other students would. An interesting thing is how the Studyblr community has a vintage feel to it. The material that is being communicated is mostly about notebooks, pens, and books, but the way they share it is through digital and network devices.

Nowadays, most students bring their laptop to lectures and type their notes, but in the Studyblr community students write their notes down and use proper stationery. At the same time, pictures are made of Apple products, barista coffee and other modern trends that would be associated with hipsters. The Studyblr community is unique because of their combination of "old" and modern modes of study.

This is a meme posted by Donald Trump Jr during the 2016 US elections. Twitter

In the Studyblr community, it’s all about handwriting, the color of your pen and the structure of your notes.

In conclusion

All in all, the Studyblr community can be seen as an interesting and unique Tumblr community. After they went viral in 2014, the Studyblr tag created a whole new social community. This community is full of positivity, but it also creates competition and envy when it comes to grades or even expensive stationery. Even though there might be a shift in what the community focuses on, Studyblr will always be about studying and notetaking.

People of the Studyblr community are not deviant, as they are not breaking any conventional rules or norms. On the contrary, they can even be seen as an inspiration for mainstream society. Their mindset about studying is a good example of how every student would like to be, or how their elders want them to be. The fact that they are not deviant in a negative way, does not mean that they aren’t outsiders. Because of their perfectionism, they do not quite fit in mainstream society. The way they present their notes as art is not a regular way of studying, so their behavior differs from “normal” students. The analog way of studying could also be seen as a unique thing, especially nowadays, when electronics rule the world.  

Studyblr community was an interesting subject to analyze, as they are very positive in their thoughts and very accepting. If you ever need a bit of motivation for your studies, or just need some positive energy, the Studyblr community will be there for you.But,,

References

Becker, H. (1963). Outsiders

Maly, I & Varis, P. (2016). The 21st-century hipster: on micro-populations in times of super-diversity

Stevenson, S. (2016). A Rant About The Study Community On Tumblr. The Odyssey

Tiffany, K. (2017). WELCOME TO STUDYBLR: A BEAUTIFUL, STRESSFUL WONDERLAND. The Verge.

Van Nuenen, T. (2016). Scripted Journeys: A study on interfaced travel writing

Varis, P. (2016). Digital ethnography