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.