Ostensibly these are for searching/categorization, but people often use them to write out responses to posts so that their followers can reblog the it without bringing their comment along (Tumblr just puts all replies into a single extended post so it’s a bit cumbersome to have long comment chains). The tags are visible in the “notes” section of the post, so people can still see it.
Tumblr has made a lot of… questionable UX decisions, but the users have found ways around them.
Something I forgot to mention as a possible origin for putting text in tags: Tumblr used to allow you to edit other peoples’ posts when you reblogged them, leading to a fear of Danny Devito and, infamously, the John Green post.
wtf. and they say the fediverse is confusing…
Tumblr has made a lot of… questionable UX decisions, but the users have found ways around them.
Something I forgot to mention as a possible origin for putting text in tags: Tumblr used to allow you to edit other peoples’ posts when you reblogged them, leading to a fear of Danny Devito and, infamously, the John Green post.
@[email protected] important addendum
deleted by creator