Tumblr Bug Race 2023

Bug Race is an overnight fandom originating on Tumblr in January 2023. When Tumblr introduced a polling feature, a poll by crankyteapot featuring three emoji of a bug, snail, and worm was one of the first to really go viral on the site. It was billed as a race, with more votes putting a particular creature ahead of the others.
The sports-like competitive framing garnered many fans among Tumblr's userbase. Users quickly began aligning themselves with one or more of the factions of the poll, campaigning for their preferred bug, and creating fanart and memes during and after the poll's run. The poll ended with bug winning, but fanac and appreciation for the race continued for several weeks after the poll's closure.
==Origin and Spread==
On January 18, 2023, Tumblr rolled out a Polls feature Announcement by the Staff account. Posted 18 January 2023. Like most new tumblr features, it was rolled out gradually, but users who first gained access to the feature quickly flooded the site with a variety of polls. One of the first polls to gain viral popularity on the site was which allowed users to vote for one of three emoji: 🐛 (bug), 🐌 (snail), or 🪱 (worm).
While most early polls were more in line with traditional poll usage of asking a question and receiving answers (think "Which character would win in a fight?"), Bug Race gave Tumblr users specific factions to root for and framed the poll as a race instead, which likely helped with its popularity. The poll amassed almost 170,000 votes in 24 hours before closing, with 🐛 (bug) winning.
The Bug Race remained in Tumblr's popular memory for longer, but fandom engagement mostly droped off in early February. Memes and recursive polls continued to be made as late as April 2023, but got much less engagement than the early weeks of the fandom.
==Fandom==
While voting was still open, crankyteapot made fanart commenting on the popularity of the poll.. Post by crankyteapot, 18 January 2023.
People made encouraging posts, screenshots of example posts collect by gremlin-pattie. Posted 19 January 2023. alternate link wrote poetry, by evilwizard, awritersbro, and owldart, respectively. Posted 18 January 2023. made voting stickers to support their preferred candidates while the voting was ongoing. After the poll closed, people made victory art; and other commemorative fanworks (see below). The Bug Race also inspired numerous other emoji race/contest polls (see several examples below).
===Comments on the Poll===
===Comments to crankyteapot===
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanart===
* by crankyteapot and firepestle
* by tunamoth, 19 January 2019
* by dongfangxunfeng, , 19 January 2023 -- link2
* by imconfusedallthetimehelp (Jan 20)
* by garlic-the-gnome (Jan 20)
* , knitted fanart by reiien (Jan 20)
===Other===
* by safetyrat
* by pseuglam (Jan 19)
* by abraxas-calibrator
* with Roman Senate meme, posted by never-nevermore
* , by mr-ribbit, commentary on the worm not winning and tumblr's "would you love me if I were a worm" meme
* moodboard by calciferstims (Jan 20)
* by EeveeAroAce --fanfic based on the original Bug Race poll
* by ghost-in-a-cup (references the "would you love me if I was a worm" meme, then current on tumblr)
*, by fantasynonsense13 (April 17)
===Recursive Polls===
* , another poll by trendytrashprince, inspired by crankyteapot's poll
* poll by tmmyhug (alternate link with results)
* , poll by admin-cock
* , another poll by superioronion -- using the same emotes as the original Bug Race, but each accompanied by a knife emote.
* by non-bird-nary (Jan 26)
* by teathattast (Feb 6)
* (April 2023), a Tumblr blog for setting up a bracket competition of polls (a type of event which has been popular on Tumblr throughout 2023).
==Links==
* #bug race on Tumblr
* , a digest/report on the event from Tumblr's official @staff blog
==References==
Category: Tumblr
Category:Fandom Occurrences