Tumblr and Posterous fans, I need some advice

I’ve been thinking about whether or not I want to keep running my blog on WordPress or if I want to go to one of the more simple formats like Tumblr or Posterous.  I know Rubel moved to Posterous a little over a year ago and ever since then I’ve been thinking about it.

Lately I’ve wanted to throw up shorter blogs, like a pic or a quote, but for some reason within WordPress that seems like half-ass’ing it.  I’m not sure if that’s fair, but I feel like if I was using Tumblr which is basically built for that type of post, I would post more frequently and not have blog guilt over it.

I also like the subscribe features of Tumblr and Posterous, though I realize to subscribe in that way you have to have your own account with one of those platforms, but you could still subscribe via RSS (you HAVE subscribed to this blog right? ;).

I’d love help in figuring this out. I know there are a lot of passionate users of Tumblr and Posterous out there, so any thoughts would be helpful.

Oh, and I’m not really interested in having multiple blogs, so having a WordPress and a Tumblr blog for pics/quotes isn’t really something I’m interested in…

7 Comments

  1. Tom Harris on September 27, 2010 at 12:42 am

    I’ve only been playing with Tumblr for a couple months, off and on, so I’m far from an expert. But for what it’s worth, I’ve been impressed.

    Above all, as you pointed out, it’s perfect for odds and ends that don’t constitute a Very Important Blog Post. As on Twitter, reposting is a big part of Tumblr, so simply adding a link, quote, video or picture to the mix is a valid contribution.

    Second, it’s easy. Set-up is a cinch, and the UI for posting, uploading, tweaking appearance, etc. is lightweight and straightforward. Everything works well. You can do more with it, if you like — you can buy themes and get under the hood with the CSS — but it’s good to go, right out of the box.

    From what I’ve seen so far, I expect the biggest difference will be the community vibe. This may be an odd analogy, but to me, my WordPress blog feels like hosting people at my house. With WordPress, people can come over for conversation, but ultimately, it’s your place and you decide when you’re going to have people over. So far, I get the feeling Tumblr is more like a dorm (or maybe our new office). You have your small space, but you’re in close quarters with a lot of other people. That seems like a continual source of energy. For example, with the “Ask me anything” feature, anybody can pop over and start up a conversation on your blog.

    Here’s the possible con that comes to mind:

    I wonder if you’ll run into the opposite problem with Tumblr that you’re having with WordPress? There’s nothing saying you can’ t write longer posts, but they’re a rarity in Tumblr land. Would it feel odd to write text-heavy, in-depth posts?

    Maybe you could give it a test drive for a few weeks before moving all your stuff over.



  2. Thomas L. Strickland on September 27, 2010 at 1:24 pm

    I enjoy Tumblr for what it is worth: simple posts, well-formatted, even if that post is only a quote, a photo or a slice of video. Add to that the social-aspect with re-posting and easy integration with Disqus and its a win for brevity done well.

    But it is no replacement for a fully-developed blog. What’s great is that you can add your “for real” blog’s feed to Tumblr, offering Tumblr readers fair notice via a linked headline that you’ve penned something longer and maybe a bit more profound at your “main” blog.

    Posterous just seems a bit too slapdash. Sure, you can email a quick post, but with a little effort you can do the same with Flickr or Twitter or several other services.



  3. Jeff Hilimire on September 29, 2010 at 2:51 pm

    So for someone like me that wants to have both short, quick posts (a photo, a quote) and longer, more developed blog posts, and who also doesn’t want more than 1 “blog”, should I just adapt my current blog process to include those shorter ones on the wordpress blog?

    I did that today with my REM post, so I guess I’ll see how that goes…



  4. Jeff Hilimire on September 29, 2010 at 2:59 pm

    WordPress is your “house” and Tumblr is the “dorm”. I love that analogy!

    I’ve played with Tumblr so I do “get it”, I think I’m hunting for the perfect blend between the two…



  5. Sachin Agarwal on September 29, 2010 at 4:29 pm

    Hi Jeff,

    Posterous is perfect for what you describe. But I’m biased :)

    I just want to clarify one thing. You say, “to subscribe in that way you have to have your own account”.

    That isn’t actually true for Posterous. Anyone can come to your site, click subscribe, and type in their email address. They will then get your updates in their email box every day.

    We don’t believe normal people check websites daily or know what RSS is. Delivering updates by email is the best way to get content to people. (We do have RSS and web based readers as well).

    If you have any questions, we’re here to help. You can email me at [email protected]

    Thanks

    Sachin Agarwal
    cofounder, posterous.com



  6. Jeff Hilimire on September 30, 2010 at 2:14 pm

    I did not know that about Posterous actually, that you can subscribe by email. I like that idea. I played with it in the past so I’ll check it out again. Btw, I pronounce it POST-erous (POST as in a post in the ground) and I’ve heard others call it post-erous (like post as in lost). Can you set the record straight?

    Let’s get you on the DIG This podcast – https://digthis.engauge.com/ – so you can tell us all about it ;)



  7. A peak at the future of social gaming on October 1, 2010 at 7:36 am

    […] my continued effort to figure out whether or not I want to move my WordPress blog over to Tumblr or Posterous, I’ve started to embrace the idea that if I have a thought I want to share, or a video I want […]



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