[7] Since its establishment in 2004, the site has shifted focus from covering various tropes to those in general media, toys, writings, and their associated fandoms, as well as some non-media subjects such as history, geography, and politics.

[citation needed] In an interview with TV Tropes co-founder Fast Eddie, Gawker Media's blog io9 described the tone of contributions to the site as "often light and funny".

[22] Essayist Linda Börzsei described TV Tropes as a technological continuum of classical archetypal literary criticisms, capable of deconstructing recurring elements from creative works in an ironic fashion.

[23] Economist Robin Hanson, inspired by a scholarly analysis of Victorian literature,[24] suggests TV Tropes offers a veritable treasure trove of information about fiction – a prime opportunity for research into its nature.

"[18] In the book Media After Deleuze, authors David Savat and Tauel Harper say that while TV Tropes does offer a "wonderful archeology of storytelling", the site undermines creativity and experience by attempting to "classify and represent" every part of a work.

[27] The site is described in Reference Reviews as "an excellent example of linked data", but pointedly "lacks accountability as a reliable resource" due to its standards on notability.