The 411 on Tumblr

Since part of my job is knowing what's out there in the world of social media / networking, I've recently opened a Tumblr account: http://eksidley.tumblr.com (although I'm still planning on keep this account as my primary blog).


Tumblr is a bit different than a standard blog. The main difference that I see is that readers don't have the option to comment on each post the same way most blogs allow. Instead, users have the option to "like" a post (click on the heart) or "reblog" a post (post it to your Tumblr page). This makes Tumblr much more conducive to the content going viral - it can be shared with a completely new set of readers with the click of a button. 


There seem to be two major types of Tumblr blogs: those that focus around a certain theme (such as all things Disney, all things Star Wars, all things 90s, etc) and those where users share things they like (photos, quotes, videos...). Here are a few of my favorites:

• Distracted By Star Wars
• Those Were the 90s!
• Mickey and Minnie

Although Tumblr does allow users to write out an entire post like the traditional blog, most of the content is produced even more quickly than the standard blog post: a photo, a video, a paragraph, etc.  Tumblr etiquette seems to encourage numerous posts throughout the day, which is why I find it kind of like a hybrid of a blog and Facebook/Twitter. Although Tumblr is called a blog, I think of it more as a separate beast. 


What do you think? Have you used Tumblr? How would you describe it?


Photo Credit (top): chadarizona
Photo Credit (bottom): The Nothing Corporation

Castle

I became a fan of the show Castle fairly soon after ABC premiered it, largely due to my brother telling me it was good (he has good taste when it comes to TV shows). It's a fun, one-hour show about a writer, Richard Castle, who is writing a new novel and creating a new character based on Kate Beckett - a detective that he talks the mayor (a huge fan of his work) into letting him follow around for "research."

As a fan of the show, I think it's so cool how they're getting us excited for the premiere. They've made these characters feel like they're real through social media. Richard Castle's daughter, Alexis, set him up with a Twitter account so he is constantly tweeting...but it's not just mundane details of a made up life - it's a whole story told in 140 character snippets (he's helping solve a murder while on vacation in the Hamptons). How cool is that??

Because the show is created around the fact that he's a writer looking for his next story, ABC is releasing Richard Castle's book in one-chapter increments for fans to read. Richard Castle has a facebook account so his fans can ask questions and interact with him. I think the team that came up with the idea of using social media to build up to the premiere was brilliant in dreaming this up. All of the effort to create a character that feels more real is paying off - I can't wait for the season 2 premiere on Monday, September 21.