Social Media 101 – What is Tumblr?
We have written about blogging, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter in our Social Media 101 series. In this post, we talk about Tumblr.
What is Tumblr?
Tumblr is a free user-friendly micro-blogging platform. It allows you to mix social networking and blogging in a single website. The platform lets you share original content in the form of text, links, quotes, music, and video content. It has a loyal user base and if people like your posts, they ‘reblog’ them.
Why is it important?
There is a strong sense of community on Tumblr. It gives users the opportunity to show their personalities and give insights into their lives and businesses. The content format is ideal for sharing photographs from events, audio clips, videos of your working environment, and interviews.
How to set up a Tumblr account
- Set up a page for yourself or your brand by visiting Sign Up Tumblr.
- Tumblr will assign you a URL, but you can change it. The one for Writers Write is writerswritecompany.tumblr.com
- Choose an avatar (your profile photo) and a theme for your Tumblr (there are around 200, many of which are free) and start tumbling. It really is that easy.
How to use Tumblr
- Tumblr allows you to share seven different types of posts — links, conversations, photos, quotes, audio clips, videos and text-only blog posts. Find content you want to share. Go to your Tumblr dashboard and click on the appropriate icon for your type of post. Add anything extra you want. And blog it.
- Tumblr posts are longer than those found on Twitter, but shorter than a usual blog format. Use it to combine images, videos, or audio with text.
- Reblogging other Tumblr profiles’ content is important in this community. If you share what you are interested in, others will reciprocate.
Tumblr Tips
- This is a great platform if you or your business are associated with culture and the arts, including books, literature, and libraries. It also has a strong community following in history, education, medicine, and science.
- Animated GIFs and pictures attract more attention than video and audio content. Spend time choosing great images – Tumblr has a visually driven audience. Make sure your pictures are cropped and adjusted if necessary.
- Tumblr demands that you post regular interesting content.
- Use hashtags to make sure your content is sorted into the correct categories. This allows it to show up in other user’s searches and interests on Tumblr.
- You can choose whether or not you allow comments on your posts, which is a relief if you don’t want to monitor everything you share.
- Always link to the original source of any third party content you post so the owner gets credit.
- If you want real engagement with your community, it’s there for the taking.
TOP TIP: If you want to learn how to blog, join us for The Complete Blogging Course in Johannesburg or sign up for the online version.
