Tumblr
I was shocked, stunned and amazed to discover this morning that a fellow blogger had no idea what Tumblr is (actually, I'm using a fair amount of unwarranted hyperbolelets just say I was surprised). Given that I should really be getting on with something far more important, I thought I would do the natural thing on the internet, and sit here writing a blog post instead. It's the law.
I've now sat here for the last 20 minutes, trying to figure out how you begin to describe Tumblr, beyond the usually tyrannical tirades about it being badly designed, broken, fragile, and so on.
Tumblr is kind of a cross between Facebook, and WordPressonly none of the people you went to school or work with are around to stalk your posts, and most of the content has a shelf life of about twenty minutes (if you're lucky). Tumblr is far more about self expression than curation. You follow other accounts, and pretty much “live” in the dashboard, contributing, and providing feedback on things posted by those you “follow”. The dashboard that now exists at WordPress owes everything to Tumblr.
Tumblr is far from perfect, as hinted earlier. While people can comment on your posts (after following you for some time), you cannot reply to their comments. There is a system of “asking” each other things, and sending fanmail, but it all seems very fragmented compared to systems such as LiveJournal that have full private messaging facilities.
The thing about Tumblr though isn't “the thing”it's the people. Because it makes it very easy to post (it has a wonderful mobile app), and very easy to consume other's posts, Tumblr has become an ecclectic mix of all the people that you might never find or follow on Facebook. It provides a degree of anonymity that other services lack.
I have been a member of Tumblr on-and-off since it launched back in 2007. Over the years I've come to know all sorts of people, all over the world, that I would otherwise never have crossed paths withand almost without exception they are wonderful.
What are you waiting for?(my Tumblr is at recursivewords.tumblr.comif you're interested)