Tumblr is a popular blogging service that adds the following aspect. I don’t see whats special about it since there is nothing that I can’t do in WordPress and then some. Sure it does not show who is following your blog, but its tenfolds more powerful than Tumblr will ever be…
One of the things that bother me is custom themes. WordPress, it’s really easy to create a child theme of a theme and customize the crap out of it. On the other hand, Tumblr custom HTML system is a mess as you see bellow:
The lack of separate template files makes the code a lot more complicated… meaning you will be pulling your hairs out trying to make your own theme. Also, there are well established Mobile Themes on WordPress that provides smartphone users a better experience compared to Tumblr, which the site only provides a basic mobile theme.
Not to mention, Tumblr, unlike other blogging software does not have a built in commenting system. The user must use a third party service like Disqus or IntenseDebate to feed in the comments. The drawback is, if the commenting service goes down, there goes your comments.
The posting functionalities of tumblr can also be done with WordPress and P2 Theme. P2 is perfect for a sideblog or a tumblr like blog, which gives you an instant posting interface right on the home page! WordPress can also do the reblogging stuff with the “Press This” bookmarklet.
Tumblr in the end is a simple blogging platform for casual use, nothing else. WordPress will always provide a better experience, especially if a blogger is already running a self-hosted WordPress on their site. With WordPress 3.0, the blogger can just enable multisites and create their own “Tumblr” blog of their own and use the same WordPress plugins and theme in the same installation. WordPress is just more powerful and benefits the blogger more than tumblr and can insure their ownership of the content. This is important because most services, they can do anything with your content and you can’t do anything about it. For instance, they can use your content to sell to advertisers and stuff like it.
Overall, do Anime Bloggers need to get pulled into the Tumblr hype? The answer is no, but its up to you. If you really want a sideblog or a “Tumblr” like blog, just convert your own existing installation of WordPress to a Multisite installation and create your sideblog from there. If you interested, just follow the directions from WordPress and you will have it up in no time.
But I think the simplicity and casualness of Tumblr are its strong point. The lack of automatic comments. It lends itself to a very direct kind of communication—Twitteresque concision but with complete sentences and coherent thoughts. I like it a lot.
Yes, Tumblr is better suited for person to person communication since its similar to Twitter in a way. However, for a personal sideblog, I don’t think it has the features to be a great sideblogging platform, especially the lack of content. Its good enough for communicating and share stuff among your friends or people. It’s one step above Twitter, but one step below WordPress or other blogging software.
Think of it as a Macroblogging platform in a sense since you aren’t bound by character limits and shit like that.
i’d say it’s more than one step below wordpress, and i’d also say it’s not exactly a step above twitter–it doesn’t have @replying, mostly. but eh. it is what it is. and i like it.
You keep making an assumption when you write these “critiques”. That is that people want to customize their HTML, and live in a world of their anime blog and sideblog, and reblog, etc… There’s a simplicity to these other services that serves a different purpose for different kinds of people. I get that you want complete and utter control of every tiny minute detail, whereas, I really don’t. For every one of me, there’s a 1000 who want even less than I do.
So I guess I’m saying, don’t assume that because everyone is getting a tumblr now that it’s going to kill anime blogging as it stands. Blogs are blogs, twitter is twitter, and LK said, tumblr is something in between. It easy (unless you’re me), and works, albeit a bit slowly. The added benefit of it having some social interaction in the back end is also nice, because unfortunately, there isn’t a good source to aggregate all of these single blogs and side blogs. I think there will be sometime soon, but aggregation is up to the end user at the moment, and that’s just hard to control and even worse to share. Don’t get me wrong, there are some tools for that, but they’re kinda like islands, and not connected very well.
My reason for getting a Tumblr account has nothing to do with my anime blog, it will be about anime, but I don’t plan to reblog my stuff. I don’t even really know how it all works yet, but I like to try new things.
Look…I rambled again. wheeee
Well, Tumblr is considered blogging still, so it’s not exactly killing blogging or anime blogging. Its possible to have an Anime Blog on Tumblr, but relying on third party commenting could become a mess.
I never said that Tumblr would kill anime blogging. I simply said if users wanted a sideblog and not going to use the social features or see no need for it since they have Twitter, WordPress is a better choice and most people use it already.
I know its possible to syndicate content via feeds from your WordPress blog to tumblr, thats fine. Tumblr is still blogging, so it’s not a valid reason for killing off blogging opposed to Twitter, which is actually killing some aspects of blogging. Still, for most power users like myself, unless they are going to use the social aspect of tumblr, they are not going to get any benefit from it. I’m just going to use it to socialize with people, not a replacement of what I have going right now…