That's kind of been the problem with it, actually. It's just the peers are terrible and the impact has been worse.
(Anecdata - in middle school, we were forced to write "essays" on a weekly basis and they were hell and most of us wrote bullshit, so to me, "essay" is some bullshit, lol)
A long post on tumblr or anywhere else is an "essay" in any case; the peer-reviewed document is a(n) (academic) "paper".
(so kalloway, your assessment of school bullshite is spot on, lol ~)
//
essay
1 of 2
noun
es·say ˈe-ˌsā
senses 2, 3 & 4 also
e-ˈsā
Synonyms of essay
1
a
: an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view
b
: something resembling such a composition//