Follow me, and I'll follow you.

May 12, 2010 12:45 PM

After the success of the MeFi Twitter group hug, I thought we could do the same for Tumblr. So post 'em up already, so we can follow each other on yet another service.
posted by defenestration to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:45 PM (85 comments total)

postmodem
posted by defenestration at 12:45 PM on May 12, 2010

ThinkStank
Useless Fliers
Signboards & St. Johns
Meeting Metafilter
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:51 PM on May 12, 2010

Irreal
posted by dhruva at 12:59 PM on May 12, 2010

Me = joethedough.com and the (slightly more divisive than I realised) This Is Just To Say
posted by Jofus at 1:03 PM on May 12, 2010

Somebody, presumably, should register lookatthisfuckingmefite and collate all of these.
posted by Jofus at 1:04 PM on May 12, 2010

Somebody, presumably, should register lookatthisfuckingmefite and collate all of these.

This potential book deal confounds me.
posted by griphus at 1:15 PM on May 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ethosophical
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 1:16 PM on May 12, 2010

Meet The Lady

Monster Personals
posted by hermitosis at 1:25 PM on May 12, 2010

Mine is weird -- I used to use it as a scrapbook for things I wanted to eventually turn into blog posts for my real blog, but I recently turned it into a place to keep track of my recipes. It's only meant to be useful to me, but here it is.
posted by Jaltcoh at 1:25 PM on May 12, 2010

Also, mefite Help, I Can't Stop Talking! runs the male counterpart to Meet The Lady:

Well Hello, Sir!
posted by hermitosis at 1:28 PM on May 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Dr. Larry Salt is where I keep track of all the dumb things that amuse me. Mostly images, occasionally video or words. 95% SFW.

klophoto is what I use in place of actually getting around to putting any sort of RSS feed on my 'portfolio' site, where I post only the best of my photos (as opposed to my Flickr account, which gets everything).
posted by komara at 1:40 PM on May 12, 2010

Voulez Vous Basketball

i really do like basketball
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:49 PM on May 12, 2010

Apres Garde
posted by mattbucher at 1:56 PM on May 12, 2010

Alpaca Queen.
posted by pxe2000 at 1:58 PM on May 12, 2010

Huh, you can follow one another on Tumbler? I thought it was just a blogging service, not a social network.

But what do I know? I'm still on LiveJournal.
posted by Eideteker at 2:01 PM on May 12, 2010

Man, I can't keep up with all of this social media stuff. I thought tumblr had fallen out of favor and never amounted to much, so I never bothered even trying it out. But looking at the few pages above it seems like a better alternative to my neglected Blogger blog. Or at least an easier alternative. Yet another thing I need to try out when I get time.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 2:02 PM on May 12, 2010

I am in the predictable place. I don't use it but I keep it just in case.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:07 PM on May 12, 2010

Also Travelin Boots which really makes no sense at all.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:09 PM on May 12, 2010

Eideteker: "Huh, you can follow one another on Tumbler? I thought it was just a blogging service, not a social network."

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When I saw it the first time, I saw it as just a blog too. But, imagine for a moment that you and all your friends have one, and you use it to keep track of all the creative stuff you like, and all the creative stuff you make. You "follow" each of your friends, see their stuff, and can decide whether to "like" it (that is, favorite it without comment) or "reblog" it (that is, favorite it with or without comment but project it to all the people you follow). The barrier to entry is certainly larger than Facebook, but in many ways it eliminates Facebook's biggest problem - needless messages about apps and "pokes" - and cuts it down to a nice conversation about creative stuff.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 2:24 PM on May 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

l33tpolicywonk, I agree completely. That realization was actually what got me to start using it in the first place. Been trying to convince friends to sign up ever since.
posted by defenestration at 2:26 PM on May 12, 2010

I've been making a whole bunch of mini-Tumblrs recently for various purposes.

Here's my bloggy one. Here's my rambly one. Here's my pictury one. Here's my questiony one. Here's my doodly one.

"Huh, you can follow one another on Tumbler? I thought it was just a blogging service, not a social network."

This has been the big dilemma of Tumblr (and by big I mean "really small"). It started off as a small elegant blogging platform. Geeks used it because it was very stripped-down and beautiful and simple. (The design team is absolutely killer.)

Then, at some point, they added the ability to follow other blogs. They also added something called "reblogging" which lets you take things other people posted and post them to your blog. If Tumblr was a scrapbook, this was like lifting somebody else's clippings and putting them inside your own. But the offshoot of this was that Tumblr developed a very hyperactive niche community of young bloggers who posted seventy times a day and reblogged everything ever.

Then Tumblr's staff began encouraging this hyperactivity more and more. They hired two of the louder bloggers as Community Relations, they added a shitload of features to promote people who like to jerk each other off (the worst was something called Tumblarity which ranked every single blog based on how popular they were), and they generally muted their sleek designer voice in favor of the "Tumblr culture", which some users love and other users actively rebel against.

I use Tumblr and love it because it gives me an easy way to reach a really large audience of people, to maintain multiple blogs with utter ease, and to generally get instant feedback when I post things. But I hate the parts of it that insist I belong to a great group circlejerk, especially when those features actively compromise the site's simplicity.
posted by Rory Marinich at 2:42 PM on May 12, 2010

Oh, I forgot three. My quotelog and my poetry curation and my music blog.
posted by Rory Marinich at 2:48 PM on May 12, 2010

drivethruthis (a fair bit of Americana)
Fuck Yeah Bristol! (celebration of Bristol, UK)

And erm, Back on the WoWgan because I'm back to playing World of Warcraft...
posted by saturnine at 2:52 PM on May 12, 2010

Here's my minutes old tumblr: slackagogo. Right now there's just a test post of an MP3 shuffle, but I promise next year at this time there will be at least 3 posts. My tumblr blog will probably end up mostly being mini music reviews and music links, but by tomorrow that could all change.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 2:52 PM on May 12, 2010

all kinds of random things to be found at etourneau.
posted by alynnk at 2:54 PM on May 12, 2010

Though at first glance we're in conflict, I think Rory's right too. The ranking features and the directory put a certain premium on masturbatory behavior on Tumblr. But, one of the beauties about Tumblr (Twitter too) is, because of uni-directional following (I can follow you, you don't have to follow me), you can pretty much avoid all of that if you want to. It's a pain in the ass to avoid Farmville on Facebook, though...
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 2:59 PM on May 12, 2010

The Merch Girl
Awesome GRRRLS
Fuck Yeah Burlesque
posted by divabat at 3:02 PM on May 12, 2010

one of the beauties about Tumblr (Twitter too) is, because of uni-directional following (I can follow you, you don't have to follow me), you can pretty much avoid all of that if you want to

That's one of the best things about the new wave of applications. It's so good that for the first time on the Internet I've been in a position to resent the community around me. With Twitter it's the fact that you can't hide follow/follower count; I disabled my Twitter account partly in irritation over how having followers changed the way my friends and I perceived one another. On Tumblr I wish I could hide note counts and the radar (though that's at least not something that affects other people specifically).

But l33tpolicywonk: You'll be glad to know Facebook can achieve a similar state! Either block Farmville outright, or ban people from showing up on your feed. My feed's completely empty; I only see people when I visit their profiles. It makes Facebook a hundred times more awesomer.
posted by Rory Marinich at 3:06 PM on May 12, 2010

Tuck and Roll Radio - podcasty
Catastrofeet - Mix tapey
posted by tuck_nroll at 3:13 PM on May 12, 2010

It's a pain in the ass to avoid Farmville on Facebook, though...

Funny, I did with just one click. It wasn't that hard.
posted by Jaltcoh at 3:13 PM on May 12, 2010

This is weird because mine is brand new, and I've just made my first (test) post today.
Title Goes Here
I've been editing it and tweaking it all night trying to figure out themes and whatnot. Is it possible to disable the "download" link on photos?
posted by Eumachia L F at 3:14 PM on May 12, 2010

Yo Rory, I've been following (some of) your Tumblrs for a bit now. (Are you going for one hundred or something?) Glad to see you followed back.
posted by defenestration at 3:19 PM on May 12, 2010

Also, I feel like my brain automatically tunes out the bullshit that is Tumblarity. I like to Reblog every once and a while, because I feel like I'm sharing something cool or interesting while giving credit to the person who originally "found" or created it. All in a single click.
posted by defenestration at 3:23 PM on May 12, 2010

sillygwailo.com is my Tumblr, mostly about baseball stuff these days (and where other ephemera lands).
posted by sillygwailo at 3:23 PM on May 12, 2010

Rory also followed me back, which means that I'm gonna have to think a lot harder to make sure I reach the standard of awesomeness he generally sets...
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 3:32 PM on May 12, 2010

I'm going for one for each letter of the alphabet. I'm in the middle of finishing the design for the next two right now, actually.

Tumblarity now isn't so bad. They got rid of the big scoreboard. But it was always fluctuating, meaning you were constantly losing points. So there was this constant nag to post another hundred times and to only pick things that other people would reblog. And of course the people up top were 15-year-old atheist girls without fail. That mix of high school/virulent godhating/being a girl were just killer.
posted by Rory Marinich at 3:38 PM on May 12, 2010

SHIT TUMBLR RUINED.
posted by boo_radley at 3:40 PM on May 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm still trying to figure out home I'm going to use it. Hopefully as I work on being less lazy, it'll become more and more original content. We'll see.
posted by defenestration at 3:41 PM on May 12, 2010

home=how / it'll include ...EDIT feature!
posted by defenestration at 3:44 PM on May 12, 2010

i don't like that one X(
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:45 PM on May 12, 2010

Oh! Because my summer just started, and because I'm currently sitting around bored, if any of you are looking for fancy pretty themes let me know and I'll gladly make y'all something badass.
posted by Rory Marinich at 3:46 PM on May 12, 2010

Mizu's Miscellany

Y'all, it's full of the most random stuff. Fandom blather and picspams, hipster graphics, regular kitten breaks, the occasional revolutionary feminist rant followed by some sound objectification of Kunal Nayyar... I don't think I've had such an accurate reflection of that jam-like layer of my brain (the one that resides somewhere between my lizard brain and the face I try to present to the world) since Livejournal 2001. Unfortunately it started out as a place to put my original artwork noodlings. One of these days I'll have to make an offshoot tumblr for those instead.

In other news, I've been meaning to request te very tiny pony of being able to put our tumblr on the other social services sections of our profiles. Can we do that yet?
posted by Mizu at 3:59 PM on May 12, 2010

Eureka Freak! - a music webzine done (mostly) by a friend and I.
posted by porn in the woods at 4:01 PM on May 12, 2010

hi folks
posted by chaff at 4:11 PM on May 12, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm bluefly on tumblr as well. I mainly use it to bookmark things -- a lot of times fun things I find on MeFi -- but also a lot of boring math/bio stuff.
posted by bluefly at 4:29 PM on May 12, 2010

random stuff that tickles my fancy. lots of LOST related stuff lately

maps... mmmmm, maps
posted by desjardins at 5:31 PM on May 12, 2010

shitigooglewhenimdrunk - self explanatory, just started a couple a weeks ago.
posted by doublesix at 5:50 PM on May 12, 2010

I skipped/missed the twitter thing, and only recently started up a project on tumblr, so it's light for now, but yeah, here's my non-educational list of my favourite songs of all time.

The Top X Of All Time <- I aimed low, so as to create something I can keep up.
posted by Richat at 6:18 PM on May 12, 2010

Mine is like 90% music videos that I think are great when I'm drinking and 10% boring screencaps, and for some reason I keep being like, "Why isn't anyone following me?"
posted by oinopaponton at 6:59 PM on May 12, 2010 [1 favorite]

Same name there as here. I'm boring that way.
posted by divka at 7:00 PM on May 12, 2010

Mike's Net Roulette.
posted by WCityMike at 7:26 PM on May 12, 2010

Secret Pamplemousse.

It was supposed to be a secret, but that lasted maybe five minutes.
posted by sugarfish at 7:46 PM on May 12, 2010

You'll find me in my angrydome.org
posted by mrzarquon at 10:29 PM on May 12, 2010

Come share the adventure (and grainy cell phone pics) that is cooking with a weekly CSA subscription with me as I learn to appreciate nettles and other greens at learningtolovenettles.tumblr.com. Even better--show me how way more awesome you are at cooking your CSA stuff. Fellow mefite kaiserin swears she's gonna add some posts to it one of these days.
posted by mandymanwasregistered at 11:29 PM on May 12, 2010

Pied-à-terre is mostly about building, architecture and homes with a greenish tint.

The Demo Scene is all about showing off some of the great stuff the demo scene produces.
posted by Z303 at 1:44 AM on May 13, 2010

Mine is here. Random quotes and, at least for the forseeable future, Lost macros.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 3:55 AM on May 13, 2010

Does having a Posterous rather than a Tumblr blog make me lame? It does, doesn't it?
posted by chorltonmeateater at 3:59 AM on May 13, 2010

handsome young stranger, music and architecture and probably needing two separate blogs with clearer remits.
posted by carbide at 4:21 AM on May 13, 2010

I got this one where I post design-related scraps found around, and this one where I post everything else.
posted by _dario at 4:27 AM on May 13, 2010

Rather outdated because she's discovered she prefers the garden to YouTube - stuffmycatlikes.
posted by featherboa at 6:10 AM on May 13, 2010

Well I gotta say that coming back to this thread this morning wasted a huge chunk of time, and I'm grateful to have a few new people to follow. Thanks for the idea, defenestration.
posted by komara at 7:39 AM on May 13, 2010

I run two. filmspool which is where I post and write about photos I like, and I'll iPhone You about the iPhone and iPad and junk like that.
posted by chunking express at 7:57 AM on May 13, 2010

You all inspired me to start that blog I've been wanting to start for a while: Look at this little thing!
posted by sarahnade at 11:06 AM on May 13, 2010 [3 favorites]

I also run two. My personal one is with photos I like, quotes, etc. is blueberrybridges and my style/decor one is the substance of style.
posted by questionsandanchors at 11:18 AM on May 13, 2010

I'm not sure I'm proud of this exactly, but there now exists a tumblr blog called Poopetry, so, you know, go crazy.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:40 AM on May 13, 2010

1. A scrapbook of internet ephemera, named after a phrase I kept seeing on MetaTalk: i ate a bee
2. A list of things I don't want you to say, to help you keep track: DON'T SAY INDUSTRY
3. A very stupid and rarely updated comic about a little guy shaped like a biscuit who really likes Kevin Bacon's penis: egg soda
posted by hot soup girl at 11:40 AM on May 13, 2010

cortex, it should have been Pooetry; Poopetry suggested puppets (or even Muppets) to me, which would have been much more awful/awesome.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:57 AM on May 13, 2010

Oh hey, you couldn't have posted this at a better time. Here's my new photo 365 tumblr:

A Year in the Life of a Young Man from Long Beach
posted by malapropist at 11:59 AM on May 13, 2010

bluishorange! Almost exclusively reblogging things from friends who reblog things from somewhere else.
posted by bluishorange at 11:59 AM on May 13, 2010

Going through these tumblogs, I can't help but notice that there's a surprising amount of owl-related content.

I mean, just more than you would think.
posted by malapropist at 12:37 PM on May 13, 2010

Dude, malapropist, owls are the new black.
posted by komara at 1:19 PM on May 13, 2010

On Tumblr, at least, that is. I see owls on Tumblr every freaking day. It doesn't help that I'm adding a few myself. I'm totally owl-school, though, I've been liking owls since before they sold out.
posted by komara at 1:20 PM on May 13, 2010

brainsaretasty ... because I'm creative like that (and tastybrains was already taken).
posted by tastybrains at 2:08 PM on May 13, 2010

owls? I mostly have kittens and the occasional shark. The guys at tumblr made a shark/kitten week a while ago, I think they were keeping the tally of the kitten vs. shark posting across Tumblr. (they're a talented, good-natured bunch. Marco Arment, also of instapaper fame, works there)
posted by _dario at 5:03 PM on May 13, 2010

i've been looking at tumblr for a week or so & since criticalbill was available I snaffled it up, but I dont know what I'll put up there. I'm doing blogger daily at the moment, so maybe I can just feed that into tumblr, or is that just incomprehensibly stupid?

Also is there some way of collecting all of these Metafilter tumblrs in one place so people can just click one thing and follow them all?
posted by criticalbill at 1:03 AM on May 14, 2010

also that long list of what other social apps you're on, in the MeFi profile, doesn't seem to include tumblr
posted by criticalbill at 1:55 AM on May 14, 2010

Does having a Posterous rather than a Tumblr blog make me lame? It does, doesn't it?

I was wondering about the same thing... do you think we should start tumblrs?

sulks because the posterous got feeped
posted by infini at 2:59 AM on May 14, 2010

RiverThoughts
posted by HuronBob at 5:36 PM on May 14, 2010

Perverse Access Memory. It's my book of web commonplaces and it's not random-access, just weird jumps between topics.
posted by immlass at 6:11 AM on May 15, 2010

Hokay, I think I figured this newfangled stuff out

Infinity is but a moment in time
posted by infini at 6:29 AM on May 15, 2010

and somebody already got to "infini" as an URL boo
posted by infini at 6:29 AM on May 15, 2010

I have to make dinner, back in a bit, OMG this is disturbingly addictive and I'm still barely a few comments through everyone's tumblrs
posted by infini at 6:51 AM on May 15, 2010

Privacy and technology.
posted by rjs at 11:14 PM on June 12, 2010

I have just started two, a miscellaneous one and one about thrift store oddities.
posted by soelo at 12:01 PM on June 15, 2010

my buddy and i run nuevaciudad
posted by artlung at 7:38 PM on June 18, 2010