dicta_contrion

Previously on: Tumblr as a Coffee Shop AU: the shape of tumblr community; Tumblr 101: Setting Up Your Blog

Okay, so you’ve got a tumblr, you’re all logged in, ready to go. You need stuff to look at!

Tumblr content is pretty different from livejournal or AO3 or ff.net or youtube content. There are many more kinds of it, which use different skill sets. Some of those may be unfamiliar and therefore seem invisible (often the case with gifmakers), but still are the product of fannish passion and vision - just in many different forms.

In that sense, tumblr is a much more accessible, democratic platform. Fans don't need to have the time, tools, training, experience, education, or English-language fluency it takes to make traditional fan art or to write traditional fic or meta. That means that many more voices can participate.

Speaking of, content on tumblr is part of the conversation. When someone makes a Draco Malfoy aesthetic post or casts Harry Potter as desi, they're saying "this is how I see this world," and you can like or reblog to show that you agree or approve or want more people to see that conception of the HP 'verse. (or that you think it's really pretty and a job well done.) When you reblog something you're helping to curate your followers' experience of fandom - what the HP world looks like to them, what ideas they might consider, what ideas might inform their views of characters/ships/events.

So - what is it all, and how do you find it?

( Q1. What types of content will I find on tumblr? )

( Q2. How do I find content? )

( Q3-4. How do I find blogs and decide who to follow? )

( Q5-6. Anything I should know about posting or reblogging? (image-heavy) )

Next on: communicating via tumblr, what's up with tumblr tags, tumblr community norms

As always, questions welcome!

A caveat: this is almost certainly an imperfect metaphor. But while there is community on tumblr, it works differently than community on lj - more like building community in (an idealized version of) a coffee shop than (an idealized version of) a dinner party. And since community was at the top of so many lists, a bit of overview/context is likely useful before getting into the details.

( 1) Livejournal is a dinner party )

( 2-3) tumblr is a coffee shop )

( 4) Isn't everyone on tumblr super rude? Or: wank vs hate )

( 5-6) How/can you actually make friends on tumblr? )

Upcoming: how to set up and use tumblr, the content that's out there and how to find it, how to find blogs to follow, how different interactive tools are used, tumblr norms, how to create dialog, and reblogging as fandom participation. Also happy to take more questions!