Tumblr is a microblogging site like twitter but with more abilities. Unlike Twitters basic short posting and the occasional picture or link, Tumblr adds the extra needs for today’s visual world.
Micro-blogging is a term described by Wikipedia as "a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates (usually less than 200 characters) and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user" Tumblr is a very enhanced, easy to use micro-blogging platform. Its core is on simplicity and posh. Users can share a multitude of items including text, photos, quotes, links, chats, or videos.
As with most web 2.0 tools, Tumblr is easy to set up and personalize. They offer hundreds of user made backgrounds, though they are sorted by keywords so you have to just keep scrolling through to find one that’s appealing. Once you have your appearance set up, add services like sending your Tumblr to your twitter. There’s nothing like posting on two places with one posting. Also, there’s a FaceBook application as well, so really you can post to three locations with one post! No friends on Tumblr yet, you can find others to follow from the staff suggestions or by category.
Sharing you links is super easy. There’s a tab in the top menu called goodies that offers widgets and ideas for expanding the usability of the site. The very first item is called bookmarklet, all you do is drag and drop the button to your bookmark bar on your browser. Now when you have something to share you just click that link and a window opens for you to add the page to your Tumblr. Othe goodies are the facebook app, iphone app, and dashboard widget for mac users.
I’ve only scratched the surface with this tool. With all of the abilities to share various types of media make this a useful tool for students and classes.
http://jferguson.tumblr.com/
Other useful resources:
http://www.ikirudesign.com/2008/01/11/showdown-tumblr-vs-wordpress/
http://mashable.com/2009/03/27/tumblr-extras/
http://speckyboy.com/2008/01/30/a-rough-guide-to-the-excellent-tumblr/
Java, A., Finin, T., Song, X., & Tseng, B. (2007). Why We Twitter: Understanding Microblogging Usage and Communities. Procedings of the Joint 9th WEBKDD and 1st SNA-KDD Workshop 2007.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9 (5), 1-6.
Reference
Microblogging. (2009, October 9). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:12, October 11, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microblogging&oldid=318962376
Other useful resources:
http://www.ikirudesign.com/2008/01/11/showdown-tumblr-vs-wordpress/
http://mashable.com/2009/03/27/tumblr-extras/
http://speckyboy.com/2008/01/30/a-rough-guide-to-the-excellent-tumblr/
Video from: http://speckyboy.com/2008/01/30/a-rough-guide-to-the-excellent-tumblr/
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Let me know how Tumblr works for you. I haven't seen this until now and I might want to use this in place of Twitter. Many times I run into problems with the limited number of characters to get a message out. Fantastic job on week 2!
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