Originally shared by Isaac Kuo
So, there's this big tumblr-pocalypse going on. Basically, tumblr is messing things up and a ton of tumblr users are looking to mass migrate. So, as we're looking for alternatives it may be a good idea to look out for common goals/desires/etc with tumblr escapees.
So what is tumblr like, anyway?
Are you familiar with USENET? Think of tumblr as USENET organized with hashtags instead of USENET groups. The fundamental method of interaction is to "reblog" a post, which quotes the parent post and you add commentary to the bottom.
This is what makes tumblr a great generator of humor and commentary in a shared space. Even if you've never been on tumblr, you've probably seen screenshots from amusing or insightful tumblr posts. The nested quoted text format is distinctive. There's something interesting/funny, and it's followed by replies which get better and better. That's the magic of tumblr, and you just don't see the same generated from other sites.
You see screenshots of twitter, for example, but the reply order is messed up so the humor doesn't flow as well.
The way conversations work here on G+ or diaspora, it's not conducive to the same sort of thing. And in any case, conversations get silo'd into small discussions rather than having a larger shared conversation.
I suppose Reddit has a conversation structure which is topologically similar to tumblr - quintessentially a branching tree of replies to replies - but the experience is completely different. The tumblr view of things is strictly chronological, it's just that you can see nested quoted text above each post.
Thing is...if you're on the "outside" of tumblr, chances are you've mostly only seen humor memes. But tumblr also has a lot of really insightful commentary upon commentary.
This is extremely opposite of how diaspora/Mastodon/Twitter/etc work. In these systems, you don't add any commentary at all to reshares. You have to fight the interface to kludge added commentary. The result? That sort of enlightening or humorous content simply doesn't happen. Even G+ had a broken commentary system where you could only add one layer of quoted commentary. If you reshared a post with added commentary, your own commentary would replace rather than add onto the previous commentary. And in any case, the additional commentary would be above rather than below, which works against the flow of tumblr humor/commentary.
So, any thoughts on existing or newish social media sites which have this sort of commentary upon commentary quote nesting/cascading?
So, there's this big tumblr-pocalypse going on. Basically, tumblr is messing things up and a ton of tumblr users are looking to mass migrate. So, as we're looking for alternatives it may be a good idea to look out for common goals/desires/etc with tumblr escapees.
So what is tumblr like, anyway?
Are you familiar with USENET? Think of tumblr as USENET organized with hashtags instead of USENET groups. The fundamental method of interaction is to "reblog" a post, which quotes the parent post and you add commentary to the bottom.
This is what makes tumblr a great generator of humor and commentary in a shared space. Even if you've never been on tumblr, you've probably seen screenshots from amusing or insightful tumblr posts. The nested quoted text format is distinctive. There's something interesting/funny, and it's followed by replies which get better and better. That's the magic of tumblr, and you just don't see the same generated from other sites.
You see screenshots of twitter, for example, but the reply order is messed up so the humor doesn't flow as well.
The way conversations work here on G+ or diaspora, it's not conducive to the same sort of thing. And in any case, conversations get silo'd into small discussions rather than having a larger shared conversation.
I suppose Reddit has a conversation structure which is topologically similar to tumblr - quintessentially a branching tree of replies to replies - but the experience is completely different. The tumblr view of things is strictly chronological, it's just that you can see nested quoted text above each post.
Thing is...if you're on the "outside" of tumblr, chances are you've mostly only seen humor memes. But tumblr also has a lot of really insightful commentary upon commentary.
This is extremely opposite of how diaspora/Mastodon/Twitter/etc work. In these systems, you don't add any commentary at all to reshares. You have to fight the interface to kludge added commentary. The result? That sort of enlightening or humorous content simply doesn't happen. Even G+ had a broken commentary system where you could only add one layer of quoted commentary. If you reshared a post with added commentary, your own commentary would replace rather than add onto the previous commentary. And in any case, the additional commentary would be above rather than below, which works against the flow of tumblr humor/commentary.
So, any thoughts on existing or newish social media sites which have this sort of commentary upon commentary quote nesting/cascading?
Oh good, I was about to share this here but you've already done it. <3
ReplyDelete👂
ReplyDeleteWell people are leaving tumblr due to management censoring pornagraphy and nudity. So when you say "common goals/desires/etc." what exactly do you mean?
ReplyDeleteBrad Borland Unfortunately, the reality is that tumblr's algorithm is complete garbage. It's flagging a lot of completely SFW content, and the damn porn bots (which regular tumblr users do indeed HATE) continue unabated.
ReplyDeleteFor example, Steve Thompson is a professional Disney artist I follow on tumblr. He designs a lot of Disney Christmas ornaments, figurines, etc. A lot of his posts got flagged.
isaackuo.tumblr.com - IsaacKuo's Sketchbook — WHEN MY DISNEY ART IS TOO HOT FOR TUMBLR. REALLY...
This is far from the first time tumblr has screwed around with us, it's just the latest and biggest of their screw ups. It's pushing folks like Steve Thompson to call it quits.
There are also a lot of more marginalized folks who are spooked because their stuff is getting flagged - despite living by the rules tumblr explicitly laid out from the start. They're looking for alternatives where they won't get the rug pulled out from under them by sudden changes.
That said, I'm actually one of the many (probably the majority) who are going to stay on tumblr.
Isaac Kuo Thanks for the info! Yeah, I'm not too familiar with tumblr - I just read a lot of the reports about what they're doing with the clean-up. Cool to know a lot of artists are there. They do offer a appeals process for those who feel they've been "wrongly accused."
ReplyDeleteI'll stay at tumblr... no porn will make it a better place
ReplyDelete