Today I want to share with you my rediscovery of Tumblr. Tumblr brands itself as a miniblogging platform. Where microblogging services like Twitter keep it really really really simple, Tumblr wants to do multiple things but still keep it small.

Yesterday I heard of Tumblr again when watching some videos of Gary Vaynerchuck and I decided to check it out once more. Once more because I remember that I had already seen it before when it launched – but I didn’t use it for some reason.

Those of you with a sharp eye will already have noticed that Tumblr is where the style of my current blog logo comes from. I actually didn’t make this logo when launching this blog, I still had it lying around from back when I first heard of the site. Speaking of my blog’s logo, it’s easy to see why I chose to mimic a Tumblr logo at the time, it’s almost as if it’s some form of subliminal advertising in itself with so many identical letters in the right order to spell my name.

tumblr? tmbr!

But anyway. I checked out what Tumblr offered and for some reason they sold me. But I still had a strong feeling in the back of my head that there was something wrong with the service. After all, I had seen the site before and I didn’t become a user at that time. So I did the only thing left to do: Try it again.

What started out as an enthusiastic journey into a ‘new’ platform ended up as a disappointment, but with a lesson learned. Tumblr is a great platform for a certain type of users, but that user is not me.

This is what I found out when trying to switch from WordPress* to Tumblr:

  • Tumblr can be very slow. WordPress is only slow if your host is.
  • Tumblr does not allow you to modify an existing theme. No Twitter widget in the sidebar for you unless you design everything from scratch.
  • Also, you have no FTP access to try to hack it in.
  • Also also, your domain (name.com and www.name.com) will be in use by Tumblr, so you can’t use your domain for passing around links to files anymore like your resume. (A workaround is possible with a subdomain.)
  • Tumblr boasts some pretty themes, but most of them are not free. If you’re only interested in free themes, there are a lot more to be found for WordPress. And paid ones too for that matter.
  • Tumblr wants to keep everything simple and small. That’s why their default design and dashboard is small. But do you? Do you want to post 1 photo or an entire album?
  • Tumblr looks better than WordPress in most area’s. But they don’t follow through all the way: The YouTube embeds don’t do widescreen when needed, the audio player doesn’t stretch all the way, the photo viewer doesn’t run when you don’t click on the corner of the image, and many other inconsistent details. I feel that if you are making something that relies partially on it’s aesthetics that you cannot stop at 95% finished.
  • Tumblr is it’s own social network and walled garden. No comments from outsiders is a major drawback.

When using fresh new tools or services like Tumblr it’s important to remember what you really value. In my case it took me less than 24 hours to realize that I absolutely required a Twitter app in the sidebar, a lightning fast webhost, comments for everyone, and complete control of the theme and inner code.

But don’t take my word for it, do your own research and decide what suits you best.

* By WordPress I am referring to the open source blogging software you install on your own webhost, not the hosted service of wordpress.com.