Been working on my Tumblr theme for a good while this evening, and I’m pleased with how it’s coming along. It’s been a while since I coded any html from scratch, and I don’t use programs like DreamWeaver and its ilk. I like to get down and dirty, do everything by hand. At least then it’s only my fault when it doesn’t work…
I’m constantly amused by how my desire or ability to write comes and goes. Yesterday, I was in full flow, with words coming out of me non-stop.
I was up till gone 1 in the morning, emailing amd posting because I had so much to just put out there. It was on a myriad of subjects, but they just flowed out of me.
Today, however, I’ve had nothing. I’ve not had anything happen worth talking about, nor has my mind wandered off in random directions.
Usually I can find something on the Dashboard to set me off, but even that has failed me so far today. There’s been good material to read and look at, but nothing that has really inspired me.
And yet I can write about not being able to write. Is the last resort for people with writer’s block? Going meta?
Things about Tumblr that make me want to stop tumbling
Fifty last.fm posts in a row made by several different tumblrs
Uber-reblogged religious Obama iconography with his noble messiah-face
I am losing followers with this post
But why are they following me anyway?
I don’t think I feel quite as forcefully as etrangere (I actually quite like the Last.fm posts, and they’re only once a week. Plus I have one too), but I agree that there are some things which are a touch irritating to read.
Not on the first time, but when it’s again and again and again as you catch up on the overnight Tumbling, it can get a little tiresome. I’ve dumped a few people today as a result of going to their pages and seeing very little other than reblogs.
When these posts are in the dashboard, you don’t really realise that one person is just endlessly reblogging, as they kind of get swallowed up in the stream of posts. It’s taken a trip to their page to realise it and give them the big Unfollow. No names, though.
The Obamamania is definitely one of those topics that is overly reblogged. Every bloody week there seems to be some event which is the catalyst for 100 nicely framed photos and inspirational quotes from the guy. We get it. But for us non-Yanks, it’s a touch OTT.
Having said that, Tumblr is what you make it. I post in my own individual style, and choose whom I follow. I no doubt post much longer pieces than most people, but that’s just the way I choose to use Tumblr.
Reblogged from: etrangere
Originally posted on: if i am a wild beast
30.05.08
17:48:00 - Comments (View)
17:48:00 - Comments (View)
internet, meta, tumbling about tumbling, tumblr, advertising, text,
I’ve noticed on my Following list that I’ve recently started to get semi-corporate non-person Followers who seem to Follow others just to get their own projects noticed.
I’ve decided not to link to them, to save my precious GoogleJuice, but these are the ones that I think are a bit iffy:
recordjunkie
interview
facebookgangsta
clubninja
Just thought I’d share.
I think that the formatting and style of tumblr posts pretty much says that tumblr is for sharing links, and less so about deeper thoughts.
I have to respectfully disagree. Since when does the style of Tumblr prevent you from sharing deeper thoughts? I can write text posts just as easily in Tumblr as in Blogger or Wordpress.
I use Tumblr mostly as a writing tool, as a means of publishing. Yes, it’s great that is ridiculously easy to post a picture or song, but that doesn’t mean that it is difficult to post some text.
I only really Follow people who post about their own lives, be it deep and meaningful or light and frivolous. Tumblr is a great place to find people who express themselves in so many ways, and I love it.
I write as a form of therapy, as a way of getting thoughts out of my head and into a written format. It’s cathartic, in the same way as every diary and journal since the beginning of time has been.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t care whether anyone read it or not. I check my Followers daily, if not more often. I love getting responses to what I post, be it negative or positive. Yes, I’m writing as a way of releasing certain things from within, but I’m also aware that I’m writing to/for an audience.
I post the most random shit. My Twitter is more of the same in condensed form. I love having a random thought and knowing that it can be out in the world within seconds.
I also love composing a longer post where I vent, or say something which I feel needs to be said. On an old blog of mine, which was even more diary-esque than this one, I had one post which was over 5,000 words long. I wrote it in one go, and have never re-read it. I know what it was about, but didn’t feel the need to critique it once it was out there.
So, in summary, I don’t think that you can criticise the format for the way in which people use it. My experience with Tumblr may be different from yours, but so be it. That’s the beauty of it.
As with many others here, I see some value in the reblog and the additional follower, that somebody out there thinks that there’s something to my thoughts, whatever it is. I’ve skimped on reblogging myself, because I am aware that the reblogging cycle becomes an annoyance, particularly when many of us carry the same followed tumblrs. Problem though - in a way, I’m not doing my part. I expect to get some feedback going, yet don’t hand it out as much as I should. That’s not right. So you can expect to see a healthier balance of original content and reblogging, but I’ll pass if the reblog is some inspirational quote about just being yourself and not buying fancy cars. Lovely quote, 40 times over.
I think fatmanatee gets this about right. I don’t reblog too much, as I tend to use my blog as my own outlet, be it creative or just plain ranting. But I am constantly checking to see whether anyone has reblogged my material, or if I have any new followers. Obsessively, almost.
But I don’t reblog massively, and definitely don’t unless I find something which inspires me to go off on a tangent or make what I feel is a worthwhile addition to the original.
I like how my blog is evolving and how it is right now, I have to say. Hopefully you do too.
Reblogged from: fatmanatee
Originally posted on: i am the fat manatee.
