What Is Tumblr?

[Norman 202]

From a photographer's point of view, is it like the old myspace?

[William Kahn]

<p>I don't use social media, but based on Wikipedia articles on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace">myspace</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumblr">tumblr</a>, they look to be similar, and neither seems to have much to do with photography, per se...</p>

[Matt Laur]

Tumblr is a place where people go to get social affirmation for posting stuff they've ripped off from somewhere else.

 

Though it happens everywhere, Tumblr is nearly unique in its cheerful embrace of rampant copyright infringement.

[starshooter]

<p>Well, Matt, unfortunatlely for you the truth is in disrepute these days. In other words I agree with you but we're voices howling in the wilderness.</p>

[dan_south]

Matt's description sounds a lot like Pinterest, but I'm guessing that there's some subtle difference.

[JDMvW]

<p>I'm guessing it is Flickr with a <em>Tumbl</em> instead of a <em>Flick</em>?</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Tumblr is a photo blogging site. Most of the Tumblrs I visit feature the photographer's own work.</p>

<p>What Matt described does sound more like Pinterest than Tumblr, although some folks do use Tumblr the same way - to repost stuff they swiped elsewhere. But that's not all there is to Tumblr.</p>

<p>Tumblr has a very different vibe too. Initially it was mostly teens and youngish folks using it as an alternative to Facebook after their parents, grandparents, aunties and teachers began using Facebook to comment on everything the kids posted on FB. Tumblr had an underground vibe and in the early days it took some effort to find - it wasn't prominent on Google - so most Tumblrs had a very limited audience via word of mouth.</p>

<p>But some photographers like Terry Richardson began using Tumblr as a daily photoblog. And organizations like Getty and the New York Times began using Tumblr to promote their hipper content. It's become more mainstream and changed the vibe away from "Hey, lookit the cool stuff I found somewhere online" to more original content. <a href="http://photodoto.com/tumblr-blogs-for-photographers/">Here's a January 2013 article with a list of 50 photo oriented blogs</a>.</p>

<p>I think photo.netter Steve Gubin recently added a Tumblr to his web presence. For many folks it's part of an overall strategy of making good use of social media to promote ones projects to help spark interest in <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/steve-gubin/a-balkan-state-of-mind/paperback/product-21534063.html">photo books</a>, upcoming gallery events, fine art print sales and getting hired for paying work.</p>

[lachaine]

Tumblr is a blogging platform. What you put in it is up to you. It has two completely different interfaces. The first is when

you look at posts within Tumblr itself, which is sort of like using Twitter but without the character limit and much better for

images. The other one is like your own free website. People who look at your blog that way need never know it's running

on Tumblr at all. It's just another website... and you can even give it your own custom domain at no cost if you already own one. Quite a good deal, I would say.

 

Many people who already have their own portfolio site use Tumblr as a photo blog, the same way others might use

blogger or WordPress. The only difference is that people can easily repost any of your posts to their own Tumblr blog if they wish, the same way you can retweet on Twitter. Some post only original material, some curate other stuff.

[sknowles]

<p>Lex is right to a large extent, many photographers, organizations and companies use Tumblr for a variety of reasons and allow repost of content, including photos and images. You'll find a lot of excellent images there. I have a Tumblr account but more for commenting than photos. And yes, while you'll find a lot of useless (to you) posts, you'll find a lot of other interesting stuff besides photos because it covers the range and diversity of mostly young people.</p>

<p>As Pierre notes, mostly there are posters or reposters, but it's an interesting way to spend a few hours when you don't want to do anything. You'll be surprised. My only warning is that images get reposted where the original credit and source are lost over several repostings, so only post images and at a quality you don't mind getting "borrowed" and you become lost in the process.</p>

[photomark]

<p>There is undoubtedly a lot of 'sharing' (*cough, cough*) on tumblr. The culture seems to embrace a curatorial stance

toward borrowing material from other sources, mostly, it seems, without permission. But there's no

reason you can't use it for original material. It's a very nice platform to work with.</p><p>I used Tumblr for a small personal project because it was so easy to set up with minimal

maintenance. And I wanted to encourage sharing within the Tumblr ecosystem. It turned out to be quite good for that sort of thing.

</p><p>The <a href="http://windowseasons.tumblr.com">original project</a> has since been feature on <a

href="http://www.featureshoot.com/2013/09/stunning-photos-of-alaskas-four-seasons-photographed-

through-one-window/">FeatureShoot,</a> <a href="http://petapixel.com/2012/12/27/minimalist-

photographs-showing-the-view-through-an-alaskan-cabin-window/">Petapixel,</a> a zillion blogs, has a

two-page spread in this May's Popular Photography, and I'm currently working on prints for a show.</p><p>I don't really think it compares with myspace. At least not more than any other social

media/blogging platform</p>