Unwrapping Tumblr

Unwrapping TumblrMykl Novak ~ Marquette University postmarq.tumblr.com @myklnovak

OverviewI. What is Tumblr?II. Posting on TumblrIII. Engaging on TumblrIV. Lessons learned

$1,000 Jeopardy! clue (aired 12/16/11)

I: What is Tumblr?• “The easiest way to blog.”• Tumblr makes it effortless to share anything you ﬁnd or create.• Post text, photos, quotes, links, dialogues, audio, video, slideshows. tumblr.com/why-tumblr

So what’s Tumblr really?• “...the Lost and Found Department of the entire Internet.” (Salon.com)• “...the end of your social life.” (urbandictionary.com)• “...the most interesting party you’ve ever been at. That party could have a political discussion in the kitchen or people doing keg stands in the living room, but it’s all about that whole range of human expression.” (Mark Coatney)

Blogging hybrid longer posts scheduling multimedia pagesfollowers tags timeline retweets replies favorites

Undercover Tumblr“Tumblr has a chameleon quality, sincenon-Tumblr users who visit a tumblrblog see it as a more or less plain-vanilla blog: they don’t see the socialnetwork behind the scenes... [To] reallyexperience Tumblr, you have to createan account and start followingpeople.” (Stowe Boyd)

Tumblelog view nwkarchivist.tumblr.com

Dashboard view

What is Tumblr?tum·blr [tuhm-bler] noun:Fast, free, easy blogging ofrich media within ahypervisual, hyperactivesocial network.

Who’s on Tumblr?The Comic Sans Project comicsansproject.tumblr.com

Who’s on Tumblr? clientsfromhell.net

Who’s on Tumblr?Garfield Minus Garfield garfieldminusgarfield.net

Who’s on Tumblr?

Demographics• Top 25 websites in U.S. ranked 23rd by• 55% female, 45% male• Attracts ages 18 to 34• College educated audience Source: quantcast.com

Tumblr vs. others Source: comScore

15,346,507,389 total posts 39,704,179total blogs (tumblelogs) www.tumblr.com/about/

II: Posting to Tumblr

Quick account sign-up 1. 2. 3. 4.

The Dash• Read posts• Post stuff• Interact

7 types of posts

Photo driven 42% of original posts are photos Source: mashable.com, 11/14/11

Posting a photo Click Photo

Upload a photo1. Select photo2. Add caption (optional)3. Tag it (optional)4. Post

Dashboard result

Tumblelog result

Photoset

GPOYGratituitousPictureOfYourself(or any image that metaphorically describes you)

Reaction images• Exclamation points of Tumblr• Images or animations at end of a post• Express joy, shock, sadness, laughter, anger, disgust, excitement or pride

Text post• You can easily add images to text posts• Use “read more” break for longer posts

Quote post“Be ignited, or be gone.” (Mary Oliver)

Link post

Chat postOverheard at Brew Cudahy Cafe:Barista #1: I’m really tired.Barista #2: You work in a coffee shop.Do something about it.

Audio post• One audio upload per day• MP3s only with 10MB limit• Toll-free number to record

Video post• Embed YouTube or Vimeo by URL• Upload 5 minutes of video per day• 100MB max per video ﬁle upload

Publish options• Publish now — I mean, right now• Add to queue — stagger your posts• Publish on... — schedule your posts • Save as draft — stockpile your posts• Private — only for you, when logged in

Theme garden

III: Engaging on TumblrNotes• Reblog• Like• Reply• Answer

Reblog• Similar to Twitter’s retweet• Quickly shares what you love on Tumblr• Creates a copy to your tumblelog• Allows you to add your own comments• Attributes to the original author• Adds to notes on the original post• Notiﬁes author on dashboard (if set)

Reblog a post

Like• Marks what you like from Tumblr• Similar to Twitter favorites• Does NOT create a post on your tumblelog• Adds to Notes on the original post• Likes may appear in a sidebar or link (if set)• Notiﬁes author on dashboard (if set)

Reply• Replies are off by default• Can allow replies from people you follow• Can allow replies from those following you for more than two weeks• Click Reply link on dashboard posts• For comments, use DISQUS add-on

Answer a question• End a text post or a caption with “?”• Creates a question post with answer box

Submit stuff to others

Ask others a question • Click “ask” link or go to /ask • 500-character limit • Only 10 asks per hour • No web or email addresses

Following• Click follow button in the upper right• Try Spotlight: http://tumblr.com/spotlight/• Try Explore: http://tumblr.com/explore/

Check archive, likes

marquetteu.tumblr.com

dearmarquette.tumblr.com

marquetteits.tumblr.com

postmarq.tumblr.com

Tags• Great way to organize posts• Surfaces content for others• When posting, tags on right• No hash/pound sign needed• Comma or return after each• Search tags from dashboard

Top 10 tags1. GIF (animated) 6. Illustration2. LOL 7. Landscape3. Fashion 8. Animals4. Art 9. Food5. Vintage 10. Film Source: mashable.com, 11/14/11

IV: Lessons learned

Tumblr sweet spot• Visuals/multimedia• Niche topics

What interests students?

Creation vs. Curation• Strike a balance between... • Creating your original posts • Curating other’s posts (reblogs)• Remix or curate... • Be careful with copyright • Attribute the source Coach Buzz Lightyear

Follow judiciously• Follow accounts that ﬁt your interests• Initially, I followed all who followed me• Sometimes led to “dashboard noise”• Gradually, I unfollowed some accounts

Track topics with tags

Seedy side of Tumblr• Spam likes or reblogs (block as spam)• F-bombs, even on ofﬁcial Tumblr stuff• F***yeah blogs• Over the line: click unfollow

Tumblr downtime42.1 hoursdowntimein 2011 forTumblr1.6 hoursdowntimein 2011 forwordpress.com Source: pingdom.com

Think like a news editor

Think like a historianMU in Cotton Bowl: Jan. 1, 1937 (MU Archives)

Think like Hallmark

Questions?postmarq.tumblr.com @myklnovak

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Unwrapping Tumblr

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