This tumblr blog is a collection of personal pictures, propaganda posters, and other assorted visuals from the Soviet Union. Some of the content is reposted from other blogs, but the creator’s content, his/her own pictures that he/she has collected, is what takes up most of the blog. The creator of the blog remains anonymous but does reveal that he/she is Russian, was born in the Soviet Union, and collects Soviet memorabilia.
The blog layout is incredibly minimalistic. An off-white background, dark gray font for the title and bio, and a staggered assortment of pictures. This minimalist trend is carried on by the actual posts themselves. The blog runner only gives a short caption to explain the picture and leaves the interpretation up to the viewers. Ads on the blog are very minimal, as is the case with many tumblrs. However, there is a unique feature to this blog in that it has a shop. The blog creator links to an Etsy store in which he/she sells postcards and other memorabilia from the Soviet era.
He/she decides to focus more on the people of the USSR and their everyday comings and goings rather than Soviet politics. This is a refreshing take on the Soviet Union because of how it is usually portrayed visually: propaganda posters with portraits of Stalin and Lenin watching over the proletariat with vibrant reds and yellows and deep blacks. The blog’s content is such a contrast to these posters in that it shows a human side to the Soviet Union commonly overlooked by Westerners. Although he/she does include some propaganda posters on the blog, they are rather apolitical. If they are there, it is of rocket ships from the space program or children going to school. The posters reveal more about the social and cultural aspects of the USSR. The variety of the content is not too vast. It mostly sticks to pictures of people, usually children, doing everyday activities like farming and going to school. There are also some pictures of posters, postcards, calendars, and items of everyday use.
The blogger updates the blog in spurts. Posts are made en masse on the blog with original content, or reblogged from other blogs similar to this one. It is because of this sporadic posting that the following of this blog is not more massive. Their lack of a following can also be attributed to fact that pictures from the Soviet era is a fairly niche subject. The blog’s original posts average 20-80 notes—reblogs and likes from other blogs—per post. Engagement with the blog does not usually exceed passive interactions like reblogging; however, there are some questions asked from time to time. In addition to being able to submit questions to the blogger, people may submit their own content to be published on the blog.
Backtotheussr.tumblr.com analyzes Soviet life in such an uncommon way that it makes it stand out from other Left blogs on tumblr. Many of those blogs just focus on the politics of the Soviet Union, the problems or benefits therein, and about future Socialist endeavors. This blog tables the politics in favor of a look at the actual Soviet people and peeks into their lives and how that shaped the Soviet experience.