Download - Unwrapping Tumblr
Unwrapping Tumblr Mykl Novak ~ Marquette University
postmarq.tumblr.com@myklnovak
Overview
I. What is Tumblr?
II. Posting on Tumblr
III. Engaging on Tumblr
IV. 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
followers
timeline
retweets
favorites
longer posts
pages
scheduling
multimedia
tags
replies
Undercover Tumblr
“Tumblr has a chameleon quality, since non-Tumblr users who visit a tumblr blog see it as a more or less plain-vanilla blog: they don’t see the social network behind the scenes... [To] really experience Tumblr, you have to create an account and start following people.” (Stowe Boyd)
Tumblelog view
nwkarchivist.tumblr.com
Dashboard view
What is Tumblr?
tum·blr [tuhm-bler] noun: Fast, free, easy blogging of rich media within a hypervisual, hyperactive social 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.
• 55% female, 45% male
• Attracts ages 18 to 34
• College educated audience
Source: quantcast.com
ranked 23rd by
Tumblr vs. others
Source: comScore
15,346,507,389total 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 photo
1. Select photo
2. Add caption (optional)
4. Post
3. Tag it (optional)
Dashboard result
Tumblelog result
Photoset
GPOY
GratituitousPicture OfYourself
(or any image that metaphorically describes you)
Reaction images
• Exclamation points of Tumblr
• Images or animationsat 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 post
Overheard 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 Tumblr
• Reblog
• Like
• Reply
• Answer
Notes
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)
2. LOL
3. Fashion
4. Art
5. Vintage
6. Illustration
7. Landscape
8. Animals
9. Food
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 CoachBuzz
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 hoursdowntime in 2011 forTumblr
1.6 hoursdowntime in 2011 forwordpress.com
Source: pingdom.com
Think like a news editor
Think like a historian
MU in Cotton Bowl: Jan. 1, 1937 (MU Archives)
Think like Hallmark
Questions?
postmarq.tumblr.com@myklnovak