7. I: What is Tumblr?
• Place to “follow the
world’s creators.”
• “Tumblr makes it
effortless to share
anything you find
or create.”
tumblr.com/why-tumblr
8. So what’s Tumblr really?
• “...a digital incubator for all things visually stunning.”
(Christine Erickson, mashable.com)
• “...a swirl of photographs, songs, inside jokes,
animated cartoons and virtual warm fuzzies.”
(Jeff Bercovici, Forbes)
• “...the Lost and Found Department of the entire
Internet.” (Salon.com)
• “...the end of your social life.” (urbandictionary.com)
28. Demographics
• Top 15 websites in U.S.
ranked 13th by
• #2 U.S. mobile website
• 56% female, 44% male
• Especially attracts ages 18 to 24
• College educated audience
Source: www.quantcast.com/top-sites/US
29. Tumblr hyperactivity
41.4 billion
total posts on Tumblr
91.1 million
total blogs
www.tumblr.com/about/
30. Google search trends
“Tumblr” surpassed “blog” as a Google search term in Dec. 2012
Google Trends: bit.ly/googletumblr
31. Tumblr culture
“The core of Tumblr‟s „social‟
experience is how people
consume and share content
based on their interests,
rather than through a
conversation with
their social circles.”
(emphasis mine)
— Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch
32. Why Tumblr for Writers
• Post your own stories and other’s stories
• Mine Tumblr for story ideas
• Engage your readers (Tumblr followers)
• Connect with other writers on Tumblr
• Group blogs allow multiple authors
46. Use top-right corner
In dash...
• Hover over
a post’s top-
right corner
for date/time
• Click to view
post page
47. Access Blog Settings
• From dash, click
Settings icon
• In the left column,
click your
blog’s name
48. Blog Settings
• Upload your avatar photo to replace...
• Replies – I suggest checking both:
• Allow replies from people you follow.
• Allow replies from people following you for
more than 2 weeks.
• Ask – I check “Let people ask questions” but
I do not check “Allow anonymous questions”
• Set the time zone (MU is GMT -6:00)
49. 7 types of posts
Choose wisely. Once selected, you cannot switch post types.
If text should be a photo, you will need start a new post.
50. Image driven
of original posts
are photos
Source: mashable.com, 11/14/11
51. GIF: Word of the Year
(as picked by Oxford American Dictionary)
53. Photo uploads
• 10 MB limit for most images
• Animated GIF limit is 1 MB
• Use JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP
• 500 by 700 pixel default for dash
• 1280 by 1920 pixel limit for larger
version
65. Styling the post
italic
(Ctrl-I insert/ number bullet block edit
or ⌘I) edit link list list quote HTML
bold strike- unlink read upload spell
(Ctrl-B through more image check
or ⌘B) break
66. Upload photo in text
1. Place 2. Click & select photo
cursor
at insert
68. “Read More” break
read more break
• If your all-text post fills more than your
whole screen (5+ paragraphs), consider
using the “Read More” break.
• After your compelling intro text, the
“read more” break offers a link to more.
• It’s optional but good Tumblr etiquette.
73. Tag the post
• No pound sign needed; Tumblr adds the #
• Spaces allowed in tags
• Comma or return after each tag
• No hyphens in tags
• Search tags from dashboard or use a URL like
www.tumblr.com/tagged/marquette
75. Share draft for feedback
• From your Drafts
page, click the upper
right corner to access
an unpublished draft
page.
• Copy the URL of the
resulting draft blog
page and send it to
someone for review.
• Reviewer cannot make
changes. After the
post is published, that
URL stops working.
76. Where are my drafts?
only appears if
you have drafts
88. Pages
• For FAQ, about, résumé or resource content
• Followers cannot like or reblog pages
• To create pages...
• On public blog, click (usually upper right)
• Scroll down the left column to Pages (click to open)
• Click “+ Add a page”
• Resembles text post creation
90. Reblog
• Before Twitter’s retweet, there was reblog
• Quickly shares what you love on Tumblr
• Creates a copy to your Tumblr blog
• 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)
91. Why reblog?
• Share other’s ideas, stories and images
• Strike a balance: creating vs. curating
• Add your own comments and images
• Engages followers; converts non-followers
• Founder/CEO David Karp saw it as a more
thoughtful way of engaging online...
92. Visit the David Karp video link below.
Start at the 8-minute mark and go for 4 minutes.
bit.ly/karpcomments
95. Reblog
form
appears
If you like,
add your comments here
Add your tags here
Click reblog post
96. Reblogging longer text
Tumblr may
truncate longer
text posts to a
link post to
save space on truncated here
the dashboard.
But you want
the whole
post...
99. Like
• Marks what you like from Tumblr
• Similar to Twitter favorites
• Does NOT create a post on your blog
• Adds to Notes on the original post
• Likes may appear in a sidebar or link (if set)
• Notifies author on dashboard (if set)
100. Reply
• Replies to your posts are off by default
• Can allow replies from people you follow
• Can allow replies from those following
you for more than two weeks
• For comments, use DISQUS add-on:
disqus.com/admin/tumblr/
101. Reply to a post
• Reply to those you follow
• Click Reply icon on dashboard posts
• 250 character limit
103. Making a question post
• Start a text, photo, link, audio or video post
• End a text post, headline or a caption with “?”
• The ? prompts this option on the right
• Check “Let people answer this”
• Creates a question post with answer box
106. Ask others a question
• Click avatar, ask link or go to /ask
• 500-character limit;10 asks/hour
• No web or email addresses
• No “sent items” folder
108. About Fan Mail
• Must follow for 48 hours to send Fan Mail
• Click mail icon in upper right of blog home
(or click the avatar on the dashboard)
• Unlike asks, Fan Mail allows URLs
• Limit of 500 Fan Mails per day
• Fan Mail cannot be disabled, but you can
ignore the user to stop unwanted
messages
109. Your Inbox
• Watch for the new message indicator
• Inbox gathers asks and fan mail
• Settings > Email > New Messages for alert
• Fan Mail responses go to their Inbox
• For asks, either publish response to your
blog or answer privately to their Inbox
110. Tie to Twitter/Facebook
1. Set up in Blog Settings 2. Select when posting
Integrates to Facebook’s Timeline, News Feed and Ticker.
Shares replies and likes on Timeline.
111. Promote this post
Be careful with promoted posts;
not all Tumblr followers like them.
114. Following
• Follow accounts that fit your interests
• Click in the upper right of blog
• On the dashboard, click + to follow
115. Following suggestions
• Spotlight: 55 categories
tumblr.com/spotlight/
• Storyboard:
storyboard.tumblr.com
• Media Tumblrs:
unwrapping.tumblr.com/media
• Marquette Roster:
postmarq.tumblr.com/roster
116. Seedy side of Tumblr
• Spam likes or reblogs (use “ignore”)
• Beware of phishing for Tumblr logins
• F-bombs, even on official Tumblr stuff
• F***yeah blogs (100,000+ blogs)
127. 6. Formatting matters
• We read text 25% slower on screen
than on paper.
• Use subheads to emphasize your points
and create a clean, visual structure.
• Making several points? Consider a list.
128. 7. Post often but stagger
• Post too often and you
may receive less notes
• Post infrequently and
you may not gain a
following
• Undercurrent.com
study: One post per day
134. 12. “Write about what you
care about and do it often.
Build up a portfolio of work.
Eventually, if your work is
good, someone will notice,
and if they don‟t, start
pitching it to places and
people you respect.”
— Anthony De Rosa (soupsoup.tumblr.com)