Unwrapping Tumblr for Journalists

Unwrapping Tumblrwith the National Association ofBlack Journalists at Marquette U. #NABJUT Mykl Novak • Marquette University postmarq.tumblr.com • @myklnovak

MU Class of ’92Marquette Journal staff photo • Source: ’92 Hilltop

OverviewI. What is Tumblr?II. Posting on TumblrIII. Engaging on TumblrIV. Lessons learnedV. 10 tips for journos

$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?• “...a digital incubator for all things visually stunning.” (Christine Erickson, mashable.com)• “...the Lost and Found Department of the entire Internet.” (Salon.com)• “...the most interesting party you’ve ever been at.” (Mark Coatney)• “...the end of your social life.” (urbandictionary.com)

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

Undercover Tumblr

Tumblelog public view nwkarchivist.tumblr.com

Dashboard view

Who’s on Tumblr?ohnewsroom.tumblr.com

Who’s on Tumblr?partylikeajournalist.com

Who’s on Tumblr?futurejournalismproject.org

Who’s on Tumblr?markcoatney.com

Who’s on Tumblr?

newsmediatumblrs.com

Your favorite Tumblrs?

Demographics• Top 25 websites in U.S. ranked 21st by• 56% female, 44% male• Especially attracts ages 18 to 24• College educated audience Source: quantcast.com

Tumblr vs. others Source: comScore (Feb. 2012)

18,852,719,075 total posts 47,301,908total blogs (tumblelogs) www.tumblr.com/about/

Why Tumblr for Journos• Post your own stories• Not limited to 140-character tweets• Group blogs allow multiple authors• Get visual: photos and videos• Promote your clips and other’s stories

Why Tumblr for Journos• Mine Tumblr for story ideas• Engage your readers (Tumblr followers)• Connect with other journalists on Tumblr• Selectively send posts to Facebook/Twitter• Link Instagram photos to Tumblr

Tumblr for journalism?

Reveal news gathering cjchivers.com

Curate/report news hashtagvictorjacobo.tumblr.com

Collect news quotes ofﬁcialssay.tumblr.com

Be a columnist “The Freshman” wearemarquette.tumblr.com (discontinued in August 2011)

Post photo essaysaaronjayledesma.tumblr.com and romeoandjournal-it.tumblr.com

Go free-form/creative wow. how college. [reblogged] 669 notes curryfries.tumblr.com

Accept submissionswearejournalists.tumblr.com

Cover a beat marquetteu.tumblr.com

Remember when livelymorgue.tumblr.com

Other ideas?

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, but do it)3. Tag it (optional, but do it)4. Post

Dashboard result

Tumblelog result

Photoset

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

Theme gardenwww.tumblr.com/themes/

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

dearmarquette.tumblr.com Bowl of Real Chili in 1980: $1.40; Today: $5.74

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

Send Fan Mail

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

Check archive, likes

The Tag Advantage• Only 10% of Tumblr users tag• Surfaces content for others• When posting, tags on right• No hash/pound sign needed• Comma or return after each; no hyphens in tags• Search tags from dashboard

news tag (curated)

Highlighted posts

IV: Lessons learned Tumblr loves bacon!

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)• Beware of phishing for Tumblr logins• F-bombs, even on ofﬁcial Tumblr stuff• F***yeah blogs

Tumblr downtime42.1 hoursdowntimein 2011 forTumblr Source: pingdom.com

V: 10 Tips for Journos

1. Identify yourself

2. Stick with a blog name

3.Visual, visual, visual

4. Add captions • Choose keywords in the first 50 characters • Use photo post for photos; text posts may offer you a headline but yield a 125-pixel photo in dash • Identifies which photo was rebloggedA Marquette student approaches the St. Joan or liked on dashboardof Arc Chapel. notifications

5. Consider lengthtl;dr

6. Post often but stagger

7. Post in the p.m.

8. Link your related posts 1. McCormick Hall 2. Mashuda Hall 3. Cobeen Hall 4. Abbottsford Hall 5. O’Donnell Hall 6. Carpenter Tower

9. Get Google Analytics Learn how at bit.ly/gatumblr

10. Find a niche, a voice

Questions?

Thanks!postmarq.tumblr.com @myklnovak

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http://hashtagvictorjacobo.tumblr.com	18
https://twitter.com	14
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Unwrapping Tumblr for Journalists

by Mykl Novak on Mar 06, 2012

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