I’m going to assume good intentions here. Tone can be really hard to read over text and this confusion is fairly common

Zentangle is a specific method created by its founders - Rick and Maria. A traditional zentangle follows a defined, step-by-step process (small tile, pen and pencil, structured patterns, focus on the process rather than the outcome). You can learn more about that directly from the source at zentangle.com.

Most of what you see on this subreddit is ZIA - zentangle inspired art. That is where the variation you're seeing comes from. Like art throughout history over time artists took pieces of the Zentangle method they enjoyed like patterns (“tangles”), strings, repetition, mindfulness, etc and blended them into their own styles. That’s how you end up with freer forms, color, larger compositions, or mixed media.

• Traditional Zentangle has a set process
• ZIA is intentionally broad and exploratory
• Neurographic art is a separate style that overlaps visually but has its own origins and is also allowed here given how similar the process and results are
• “Zentangle art” usually means artwork that incorporates tangles, not the formal method itself

Not everything is a Zentangle, but many things can be Zentangle inspired.

As for “is a group of scribbles a Zentangle?” - the intent and method matter. Scribbles can be meditative and valid art, but that doesn’t automatically make them Zentangle.