We’ve been fans of Tumblr for a while now. We realized that Tumblr could not be ignored around August of 2010, when Tumblr was serving 1.5 billion page views per month and showed no signs of slowing down.
By April, 2011 we had helped launch the USA.gov blog on Tumblr, making USA.gov the first government agency to use Tumblr and paving the way for the State Department, Peace Corps, National Archives, and others to do the same.
In our rationale to recommend Tumblr as the platform for the USA.gov blog, we explained our two main criteria for selecting social media platforms:
- Large and growing user base — We never recommend wasting real resources on a social platform that no one uses or that everyone is fleeing.
- An interface that encourages sharing and interaction — For a social media outlet to be worth our time, it has to make it easy for our clients’ content to be shared and ricochet around the Internet. This is what clearly distinguished Facebook from MySpace back when they were competitors. Facebook was constantly upgrading its interface to promote more sharing, more commenting, and more liking.
As XKCD’s chart shows above, Tumblr is clearly distinguishing itself – not only from its competitors, but from the notion of the blog itself. The way I see it, Tumblr appears to have effectively upgraded the blog.
By making everything about blogging – starting, writing, reading, sharing – faster and easier, Tumblr has made tumbling the new blogging. It’s a testament to Tumblr’s focus on user experience, design, and – of course – the limitless creativity of its users.
I can’t wait to see what comes next.
It’s nice to meet you.
There are lots of reasons we’re excited to be launching the Obama 2012 campaign’s new Tumblr today. But mostly it’s because we’re looking at this as an opportunity to create something that’s not just ours, but yours, too.
Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign has just started a Tumblr blog. Further evidence that Tumblr is a powerful tool for elected officials and public service organizations.
I personally think what Tumblr wants to be is the most interesting party you’ve ever been at. That party could have a political discussion in the kitchen or people doing keg stands in the living room, but it’s all about that whole range of human expression.
That’s nwk tumblr godfather Mark Coatney speaking to Fortune as “the journalist behind Tumblr’s rise” and answering the question, “Should Tumblr be defined as a place for news or a place for fun?” [Related!] (via newsweek)
Thanks to Alex for a nice piece, and to everyone who makes Tumblr the best place to be every day.
(via markcoatney)(Source: CNN, via markcoatney)
Expert Advice: How to Improve Your Company’s Blog | LinkedIn
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We’re reblogging this because we want to be associated with Mark. Also because we agree.
Tumblr’s lack of a commenting system is perceived as a deficiency to some people, but we see it as a great feature because of the reblog. The reblog forces people to take ownership of their commentary on your content. By reblogging, people make their comments in front of their friends on their own blog. It’s a great way to encourage a more thoughtful and civil conversation.
(via markcoatney)