Tumblelogs vs Blogs
September 6, 2007
Not that you need another site of mine to check out, and that I really need a different site, but I thought I’d play around a little bit with Tumblr. For those of you who don’t know, Tumblr is a site that can pull in all of your RSS feeds for different web applications you might use, and put them all on one site. For example, my Tumblr page now pulls in my feeds for my blog, my Flickr page, my del.icio.us links, my YouTube videos and anything I Digg. So, basically, if you want an RSS feed for most anything I do and upload to the web, this is the feed you want. Now, why you would want that, I’m not entirely sure, but there it is.
There has been some fuss about new “blogs” called tumblelogs - which are supposedly more true to the original form of blogging. In the past, people just made quick posts, links and logs of the internet. However, now blogs have turned into more essay-length posts, and has gotten away from what some call the more “true” web-logging experience. Some have started to switch over to this new “tumblelog” form of blogging like Lo-Fi Tribe; though blogger Ben Gray at Openswitch, who had a “hybrid tumblelog,” decided to switch back to the more usual form of blogging. He describes his switch here. There are others, I’m sure, who are experimenting with this old/new (might we say ancient/future?) form of weblogging. What do you all think of tumblelogs? A step forward, or backward for weblogging? If you’re interested in this - here is some reading for you:
- Kottke’s definition of Tumblelogs
- Anarchaia: Self-proclaimed first tumblelog
- Some other tumblelogs: Church Burning, Moisture and Projectionist
- How to make a WordPress blog a Tumblelog
- How to design a Tumblelog for WordPress using the Sandbox theme
Posted in Technology ShareThis
Adam Walker Cleaveland: I am a 28 yr old 
September 6th, 2007 at 9:40 am
“Ancient Future.” Have you been reading Postmodern Pilgrims by Leonard Sweet by any chance? Oh yeah, and thanks for the links ;)
September 6th, 2007 at 10:42 am
Nah, I’ll put my money on Robert E. Webber as the reference. :)
Thanks for the link, Adam.
September 6th, 2007 at 10:59 am
I tend to subscribe to blogs either because 1) I’m interested in the person, or 2) I’m interested in what the person has to say. In both cases, the occasional “This is what I’m doing out and about the Internets” post is kinda nifty. However, I’d prefer blogrolls or posts that have a paragraph or two about *why* you find something particularly interesting instead of just a bunch of links.
If I wanted that, I’d just pay attention to Digg or Decently.org
September 6th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Shawn - yup - it was a Robert Webber reference.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
Tumblelogs are pretty whatever to me. I consume all of my reading through feeds, so if I was actually interested in a person’s Flickr, del.icio.us, etc., I’d just subscribe that way. In most cases, I’m not interested.
As for short vs longer posting styles, whatever. Some people prefer to write short posts, others longer. Totally a matter of personal preference and style. Neither is “purer.”
So, I guess I don’t think much of tumblelogs.
September 6th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Yeah, I tend to agree re: the pure Tumblelog. It’s basically just links. I do like the idea of posting non-text based posts every now and then. So, I went somewhere in between Tumblelog and traditional blog. I can toss up a few non-text based posts, and still post traditionally. I also like to have the main cats styled independently, but that’s just aesthetics. I don’t think I could do the pure Tumblelog.
September 6th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
i love tumblelogs. in fact, the site for the plant i’m working on getting going is tumblr based. http://churchinshadyside.com/
September 9th, 2007 at 10:34 am
I’m experimenting with tumblr, too, and I love it. I find tumblelogs really refreshing - and a lot speedier than my regular blog.
September 11th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Great tumblelog aaron!! It stands as a fantastic example and almost convinced me to get a tumblelog myself. I think they are refreshing and fun, but what do you do when they get over 12 pages??? They seem hard to navigate at that point. So it seems you loose functionality for users and writers. Tags seem like an intrinsic part of the great part of new media these days.
I don’t like the lack of comments. This also seems like GREAT part of the interactivity and two way conversation. I’ve noticed that the Vox platform seems like a nice compromise between blogging and tumblelogs and offers a community around the blogging platform (so more oriented toward social networking or community like My Blog Log or Blog Catalog)
Are there any other alternatives that capture tagging or comments or more functionality?