Flashforward
I don’t want to have this comment on my site. It is not for my users, it has nothing to do with my content. It is yours. I’ve given it to you. It is out there and now that it is on my site you can’t delete it. You can’t do anything to it. It is your feedback and you cannot refuse it. People will see it even if you don’t want them to. Even though you’ve installed a comment system on your tumblr, I’ve decided to post my comment through the intended Tumblr comment system: Reblogging.
I’ve reblogged your article, commented, and tumblr’s got my comment associated with your update - and you have no say in the matter.
You bring up good points, and one specifically that I need to address (lest I look hypocritical). This revelation of reblogs (or twitter replies or RE:Vids on Seesmic) is new to me (3 days old). I am removing my comments system on my tumblog (hopefully today). I’m doing this because I no longer think it will be useful. I don’t think we’re dealing with a publishing system anymore, my tumbles aren’t my “published content” they are things I’m thinking about out loud.
Aside from the arrogance critism (which is everyone’s issue with services like twitter/tumblr), you bring up the issue of when is publishing your thoughts on something relevant. Does your comment on my thought interest your users? Maybe not, but doesn’t that mean they aren’t interested in your thoughts? If they don’t want to hear about something you’re passionate about (at least passionate to reformate and reblog twice), then they’re clearly following you for some content you’re putting out that’s more formalized then just passionate thought. Here’s what it boils down to: I don’t have users on Tumblr, I have friends and people that think in a way I’m interested in. I’ve never met Jakob, but I think his content is interesting so I follow him, if he feels the same way he can reciprocate, there’s no implied two-way relationship. People who follow me want to know the answer to “what am I thinking about on a whole” not “what am I thinking about one predefined topic” — it boils down to what Tumblr is considered by most to be and what it is actually designed to be.
Tumblr is currently grouped in the “microblogging” category, which is (more or less) billed as a publishing tool. We have seen a trend of tools for personal expression cropping up on the internet. Websites became Blogs. Blogs became Social Network Pages. Social Network Pages are now giving rise to the Tumblrs of the world. These tools have advanced more or less at the pace of non-individuals learning how to use the tools to market themselves. I think it’s a search for purity of self-expression. Therefore tools such as Tumblr and Twitter aren’t meant for you to have “users” - they are meant for you to have conversations with the people you care about and those that care about you.
I’m not advocating the death of Blogs/Social Networking Service Profiles (which serve the same need) or websites. I have a place where I show my photos, and my videos, where I like collecting and storing comments attached with my work. But different uses call for different behaviors. We have failed in defining Tumblr, and by virtue of it’s new features and it’s design, it will demand we redefine it. That definition will look less like a “publishing utility” and more like an expression of our stream of conciousness. I admire a lot of what Tumblr offers as a publishing utility and tried to turn it into one (hence the embedded comment system on my tumblog that you mentioned), but as I watch the system evolve - it’s moving away from that use, not towards it. That’s why my personal blog isn’t hosted by Tumblr.
Thirdly, and this is most important in my mind, the fact that I have no control is what makes this platform so good for intellectual stimulation. If this had been a blog post that you and I disagreed about, I never would have responded to this post. Once you give your ideas to another place, it’s easy to walk away. When those ideas are “associated with your update” you tend to want to continue the conversation a little more. That helps you crystalize your thinking. If someone had talked to me right after I wrote my initial reblog, I wouldn’t be able to articulate my thoughts on the topic as clearly as I can now that I’ve had to defend them.
What we are now involved in is a public debate. This exposes my followers and your followers to the things we’re thinking about topics we are passionate enough to argue about. It’s good because it refines our thinking and puts more substantial thoughts out into the world (as opposed to “soundbite” thoughts). How’s it bad?
4 years ago
