>> "One of the first things I learned about Tumblr was that it's not like Facebook, Google+, or Twitter in that it's a "social network" mostly for strangers."

>> "One of the first things I learned about Tumblr was that it's not like Facebook, Google+, or Twitter in that it's a "social network" mostly for strangers." Is this not also the case for Twitter and Google+? Most people use Twitter to follow news, celebrities, and taste makers. And with Google+ it's likely you're friends and family aren't all on it and with Circles it's meant to be used to follow more than just that select group of people. Edit: >> "Tumblr did something remarkably intelligent; they made your follower count private." I think that's a very good point. It prevents users feeling 'embarrassed' that they don't have enough followers. I'm sure Twitter sees huge numbers of people drop off after a few days because they don't have any followers - it's something I've seen amongst my own friends. I would argue though the followers aren't much of a reward system. I feel much more rewarded when I see my post get reblogged and quickly pick up steam getting reblogged by people that don't follow me. I think reblogs are the main reward system, followed by likes, and finally followers.