4 ms·

I'm still trying to figure out this "quick blogging" phenomenon (and microblogging also), having no desire or apparently no inclination to do either of them. I

by KevinMS 16y ago

I'm still trying to figure out this "quick blogging" phenomenon (and microblogging also), having no desire or apparently no inclination to do either of them. I looked around the tumblr directory at some blogs and I didn't find anything that wasn't just glossy regurgitated content. Not one held my attention for even a second. Anyway this article helped me out understanding tumblr (and how it contrasts with posterous) http://arstechnica.com/business/reviews/2010/02/tumblr-vs-posterous-quick-blogging-showdown.ars http://arstechnica.com/business/reviews/2010/02/tumblr-vs-po... Someday soon I'll need to do a little blogging. Can anybody recommend something easy to use but not so gimmicky as tumblr or posterous? I'll probably want a nice way to format code, and probably a comment section. I'm a developer and not afraid to get my hands dirty but I'd rather have something self hosted because I'm not interested a potential cracking vulnerability I'd get hosting my own.

pierrefar 16y ago
Wordpress can be as basic as you want (just text posts in reverse chronological order) and can be enhanced with plugins. Host it yourself: wordpress.org. Have it hosted for you: wordpress.com. For any hosted blog, I'd put it on a domain or subdomain you own so that if you do decide to move later, you control it 100%.
- defen 16y ago
  If you're going with self-hosted Wordpress, I'd also recommend putting it on a separate machine and ideally on a separate network from your other machines, so that they aren't compromised when your blog gets hacked.
jeebusroxors 16y ago
Are you looking for "quick blogging"? If so - I can't help. I don't see the point either. For more standard software typo, drupal, blogspot and wordpress are not bad (probably try them in that order). I don't know that typo or drupal have dedicated hosting, but wordpress and blogspot do.
spencerfry 16y ago
I completely understand the appeal of "quick blogging" like Tumblr and DailyBooth (for photos) for mainstream folks. Both are serving the masses i.e. people who have a lot to say, but don't necessarily have the substance to back themselves up. They can quickly and easily post their thoughts to the world and get the instant feedback they need to feel heard in the form of hearts, pageviews, reblogs, photo comments, regular comments, etc. The feedback acts like a drug. All you need is a taste and you're hooked. If you don't get enough then you'll bother your friends to "please heart/comment/etc, my post". The act of asking and then receiving this drug is what keeps people interested. And that cycle never ends. Tumblr (as much as I respect the hell out of the business they're making) is somewhat detrimental to people. I've seen it suck up peoples' lives like World of Warcraft or another game. I guess the same could be said of Facebook, MySpace, and others, though. Sorry for the harsh reality check.
- zackgilbert 16y ago
  “While I am sure that there has always been a tempt for people to spend their time on insecurity work, new technology and ubiquitous online access has made it easier now than ever before. Data that COULD make you feel more at ease is now always at your finger tips. Much like a drug that promises instant gratification. And therefore, we always have a desire to access it - again and again. Why? Because, deep down inside, we are always wondering what we are missing. We want to feel safe.” — Reduce Your Level of Insecurity Work (http://the99percent.com/tips/5810/reduce-your-level-of-insecurity-work http://the99percent.com/tips/5810/reduce-your-level-of-insec...)
jseliger 16y ago
I can't figure this out either. A friend actually blogs on tumblr, and I find the lack of obvious comments really irritating (even after she said she turned comments on). I guess it's the design, per the Ars article. * I'm a developer and not afraid to get my hands dirty but I'd rather have something self hosted because I'm not interested a potential cracking vulnerability I'd get hosting my own.* As others have said, Wordpress.
phreanix 16y ago
I think most people are just predisposed to share. Tumblr lets you do this quite easily and intuitively. Not everybody gets it of course. I think if I were to itemize the features that Tumblr does really well: 1. Feedback gratification. I can't think of any other way to describe it. The 'like' function lets you get instant feedback on what you shared, whether it's original content or reblogged content. The reblog function gives you even more gratification because it means what you posted was cool enough to be reposted. Works great for attention-hungry teens (or people in general.) This can get out of control when tumblrs decide they want to flame someone, multiple reblogs that escalate in online dickery sometimes ensues. 2. Tumblr not only lets you share content, it gives you things TO share through its ability to let you 'follow' other users and 'reblog' their content/posts. 3. The tumblr timeline is like twitter on crack. Imagine an endless scroll of content. Funny stuff, serious stuff, links, images, porn, name it. The dashboard gives an very easy way to reply to a post, like a post and/or reblog it. (when I reblog a post, I make it a point to 'like' it, for example) 4. On that, tumblr's got a pretty liberal policy on nudity, pornography, etc. I'm surprised porn sites have not jumped on this yet. The Suicide Girls, for example, have a tumblr, and their content gets reblogged a lot and consistently. 5. Tumblr's also got a generally cool attitude towards its users. No condescension, and their staff have their own tumblr blogs that are snarky and pretty funny. 6. Tumblr activities. This is something they've got over just about everyone except twitter. Tumblr users create activities (one pretty fun one is 'topless tuesdays, I'll let ya'll figure that one out.) that many tumblr bloggers participate in, creating massive amounts of content. That's just a few of the things that have made tumblr fun. I'm basically on it all day, and have it set to send my posts to twitter. Great way to find content, share content, and just dick around online.
petercooper 16y ago
I'm still trying to figure out this "quick blogging" phenomenon (and microblogging also), having no desire or apparently no inclination to do either of them. It's a useful medium for people who are primarily curators rather than writers. Consider Dan Gruber's Daring Fireball, for example.
- petercooper 16y ago
  I was actually being serious :-)
lhnz 16y ago
Tumblr isn't necessarily quick blogging all the time. There is a poetry community for example. You friend the people that provide the content you want, just like on twitter.

by KevinMS 16y ago

pierrefar 16y ago

Wordpress can be as basic as you want (just text posts in reverse chronological order) and can be enhanced with plugins. Host it yourself: wordpress.org. Have it hosted for you: wordpress.com. For any hosted blog, I'd put it on a domain or subdomain you own so that if you do decide to move later, you control it 100%.

defen 16y ago
If you're going with self-hosted Wordpress, I'd also recommend putting it on a separate machine and ideally on a separate network from your other machines, so that they aren't compromised when your blog gets hacked.

jeebusroxors 16y ago

Are you looking for "quick blogging"? If so - I can't help. I don't see the point either. For more standard software typo, drupal, blogspot and wordpress are not bad (probably try them in that order). I don't know that typo or drupal have dedicated hosting, but wordpress and blogspot do.

spencerfry 16y ago

I completely understand the appeal of "quick blogging" like Tumblr and DailyBooth (for photos) for mainstream folks. Both are serving the masses i.e. people who have a lot to say, but don't necessarily have the substance to back themselves up. They can quickly and easily post their thoughts to the world and get the instant feedback they need to feel heard in the form of hearts, pageviews, reblogs, photo comments, regular comments, etc. The feedback acts like a drug. All you need is a taste and you're hooked. If you don't get enough then you'll bother your friends to "please heart/comment/etc, my post". The act of asking and then receiving this drug is what keeps people interested. And that cycle never ends. Tumblr (as much as I respect the hell out of the business they're making) is somewhat detrimental to people. I've seen it suck up peoples' lives like World of Warcraft or another game. I guess the same could be said of Facebook, MySpace, and others, though. Sorry for the harsh reality check.

zackgilbert 16y ago
“While I am sure that there has always been a tempt for people to spend their time on insecurity work, new technology and ubiquitous online access has made it easier now than ever before. Data that COULD make you feel more at ease is now always at your finger tips. Much like a drug that promises instant gratification. And therefore, we always have a desire to access it - again and again. Why? Because, deep down inside, we are always wondering what we are missing. We want to feel safe.” — Reduce Your Level of Insecurity Work (http://the99percent.com/tips/5810/reduce-your-level-of-insecurity-work http://the99percent.com/tips/5810/reduce-your-level-of-insec...)

jseliger 16y ago

I can't figure this out either. A friend actually blogs on tumblr, and I find the lack of obvious comments really irritating (even after she said she turned comments on). I guess it's the design, per the Ars article. * I'm a developer and not afraid to get my hands dirty but I'd rather have something self hosted because I'm not interested a potential cracking vulnerability I'd get hosting my own.* As others have said, Wordpress.

phreanix 16y ago

I think most people are just predisposed to share. Tumblr lets you do this quite easily and intuitively. Not everybody gets it of course. I think if I were to itemize the features that Tumblr does really well: 1. Feedback gratification. I can't think of any other way to describe it. The 'like' function lets you get instant feedback on what you shared, whether it's original content or reblogged content. The reblog function gives you even more gratification because it means what you posted was cool enough to be reposted. Works great for attention-hungry teens (or people in general.) This can get out of control when tumblrs decide they want to flame someone, multiple reblogs that escalate in online dickery sometimes ensues. 2. Tumblr not only lets you share content, it gives you things TO share through its ability to let you 'follow' other users and 'reblog' their content/posts. 3. The tumblr timeline is like twitter on crack. Imagine an endless scroll of content. Funny stuff, serious stuff, links, images, porn, name it. The dashboard gives an very easy way to reply to a post, like a post and/or reblog it. (when I reblog a post, I make it a point to 'like' it, for example) 4. On that, tumblr's got a pretty liberal policy on nudity, pornography, etc. I'm surprised porn sites have not jumped on this yet. The Suicide Girls, for example, have a tumblr, and their content gets reblogged a lot and consistently. 5. Tumblr's also got a generally cool attitude towards its users. No condescension, and their staff have their own tumblr blogs that are snarky and pretty funny. 6. Tumblr activities. This is something they've got over just about everyone except twitter. Tumblr users create activities (one pretty fun one is 'topless tuesdays, I'll let ya'll figure that one out.) that many tumblr bloggers participate in, creating massive amounts of content. That's just a few of the things that have made tumblr fun. I'm basically on it all day, and have it set to send my posts to twitter. Great way to find content, share content, and just dick around online.

petercooper 16y ago

I'm still trying to figure out this "quick blogging" phenomenon (and microblogging also), having no desire or apparently no inclination to do either of them. It's a useful medium for people who are primarily curators rather than writers. Consider Dan Gruber's Daring Fireball, for example.

petercooper 16y ago
I was actually being serious :-)

lhnz 16y ago

Tumblr isn't necessarily quick blogging all the time. There is a poetry community for example. You friend the people that provide the content you want, just like on twitter.