Why I like Tumblr
Feb. 19th, 2011 12:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrI can't remember if I wrote a post about this or not, if I did I tagged it badly.
Anyway! I have been quite enjoying tumblr and thought I'd explain why for anyone else who might like it or is just curious.
I have two tumblrs:
alias_sqbr is for my art.
sqbr is for everything else, and tends to be reblogs of fanart (currently mostly Homestuck) and social justice rants/info, and the very odd bit of conversation.
I was going to rec some tumblrs but it all got too stressful deciding. Click on any tags on sqbr that relate to content you're interested in and see who I'm reblogging.
The basic description: A tumblr is somewhere between a blog and twitter. Like twitter it is designed for short posts and makes it really easy to reblog other people's content but hard to keep track of a complex conversation. Like a blog there is no actual limit on post length. It is VERY easy to upload and post pictures and other fiddly content. Comments are kind of possible but the default mechanism for commenting is either a facebook-esque "like" or reblogging the entire post with added commentary, which can get unwieldy. Another way to interact is to post questions/statements in an "ask" box.
Now, there are a LOT of ways to use tumblr, and what I get out of it is clearly not the same as what other people do. YMMV. But:
How this works in practice (in my experience): People make short posts that often consist of a single image, statement, or response to another conversation/question. Their readers (and their reader's readers etc) reblog or "like" the ones they like with maybe some added squee/disagreement etc, but with the odd exception there isn't much extended conversation or argument.
What I like about this:
It's a terrible replacement for lj/dw for long indepth conversations or to make long rambly posts (something I clearly like to do :D), but I like having one as well as my dw. One rule I learned early on is don't just add people because you're friends with them elsewhere, since it's (usually) less personal than say lj it's better to find people who post the sort of content you want to read (and then maybe become friends with them too! I'm still getting the hang of the social dynamic, since there's not much overlap between the people I know well and the ones who use tumblr socially)
Also, it's a very visual environment and hardly anyone does image descriptions. There are plenty of more bloggy text-based tumblrs too, mind you. There's also no way to warn for or cut images which can make it hard to avoid surprise porn, though obviously this depends on what tumblrs you're looking at.
So! Who has a tumblr too? Can I have a link? Do you agree with my take on it or has your experience been different?
Anyway! I have been quite enjoying tumblr and thought I'd explain why for anyone else who might like it or is just curious.
I have two tumblrs:
alias_sqbr is for my art.
sqbr is for everything else, and tends to be reblogs of fanart (currently mostly Homestuck) and social justice rants/info, and the very odd bit of conversation.
I was going to rec some tumblrs but it all got too stressful deciding. Click on any tags on sqbr that relate to content you're interested in and see who I'm reblogging.
The basic description: A tumblr is somewhere between a blog and twitter. Like twitter it is designed for short posts and makes it really easy to reblog other people's content but hard to keep track of a complex conversation. Like a blog there is no actual limit on post length. It is VERY easy to upload and post pictures and other fiddly content. Comments are kind of possible but the default mechanism for commenting is either a facebook-esque "like" or reblogging the entire post with added commentary, which can get unwieldy. Another way to interact is to post questions/statements in an "ask" box.
Now, there are a LOT of ways to use tumblr, and what I get out of it is clearly not the same as what other people do. YMMV. But:
How this works in practice (in my experience): People make short posts that often consist of a single image, statement, or response to another conversation/question. Their readers (and their reader's readers etc) reblog or "like" the ones they like with maybe some added squee/disagreement etc, but with the odd exception there isn't much extended conversation or argument.
What I like about this:
- Like twitter, it encourages concise off the cuff posts, and has a sense of immediacy.
- Unlike twitter or facebook (or even lj) there's a lot less "This is what I ate for lunch today" and a lot more emphasis on content which is interesting or entertaining.
- A post can be reblogged well past the OP's own circle very quickly, it's a much less insular medium for sharing content than lj. This also makes it easier to find new cool people to follow.
- I find I have less comment angst since a lot of feedback is "like"s and reblogging without much commentary. (though this may also be a result of having less followers)
- SO MUCH PRETTY. It's a really great place to see lots of awesome art, fanart, photos, picspams etc. There's tumblrs dedicated to pretty much any topic you can imagine, making to easy to fill your dashboard (friendslist) with the sort of content you like.
It's a terrible replacement for lj/dw for long indepth conversations or to make long rambly posts (something I clearly like to do :D), but I like having one as well as my dw. One rule I learned early on is don't just add people because you're friends with them elsewhere, since it's (usually) less personal than say lj it's better to find people who post the sort of content you want to read (and then maybe become friends with them too! I'm still getting the hang of the social dynamic, since there's not much overlap between the people I know well and the ones who use tumblr socially)
Also, it's a very visual environment and hardly anyone does image descriptions. There are plenty of more bloggy text-based tumblrs too, mind you. There's also no way to warn for or cut images which can make it hard to avoid surprise porn, though obviously this depends on what tumblrs you're looking at.
So! Who has a tumblr too? Can I have a link? Do you agree with my take on it or has your experience been different?
