It’s been about two months since I bit the bullet and started a Tumblr. Being the anti-Hipster that I am, I tried really, really hard to delay creating a Tumblr like every other 20 year-old girl mildly interested in fashion and cats. I tried, I really did. I failed.
Since that fateful night when I birthed “Cat Nap Couture” (shameless self promotion will ensue, be warned), I have not been able to escape Tumblr’s addictive grasp. I Tumble at work (as a Social Media Agency intern, this addiction is applauded), I tumble at home, I tumble on my iPod touch and Android phone. Tumblr has filled the void left in my heart since I abandoned my personal blog on WordPress in September.
And apparently I’m not the only one.
Are You Ready to Tumbl(r)?
Mashable released an article Thursday declaring Tumblr’s official surpassing of 8-year old WordPress for most blogs hosted. In January, four-year-old Web site Tumblr only had 7 million blogs. Today, they host almost 21,000,000.
As someone who uses both platforms extensively, I’m not surprised at all by Tumblr’s rapid growth. My WordPress blog was professional, clean and…complicated. The lack of a social media feature allowed a very limited dialogue between my readers and me. Some readers added me on Facebook, some readers left nasty comments criticizing my outfits (too bad I have their IP addresses), but I was mostly limited to Facebook links and Twitter updates to publicize and discuss a new post. Plus, posting on WordPress while inserting pictures and videos was often a glitchy and lengthy ordeal.
Where Tumblr wins the blogging battle is in its accessibility and simplicity. A blog can be created in minutes; I input my email address, chose a domain name and “Cat Nap Couture” went live. I immediately started searching for my friends, found blogs to follow, and began reblogging my favorite 30 rock memes, cat pictures and Lady Gaga GIF’s.
On Tumblr I get instant feedback from complete strangers about a new pair of shoes or a funny video I found. On WordPress, all I got was a comment from my Grandma saying, “oh, honey, you look so tired xoxo!”
It’s not the destination platform, it’s the journey
As a social media agency intern for LGD Interactive, a digital marketing and advertising agency in Miami, I get to admin and write blogs for major luxury real estate brands on both WordPress and Tumblr. I’ve learned since starting to work for LGD Interactive that SEO’ing and keywording a blog can bring in tons of traffic.
So I started tagging all my posts on Tumblr with “cat”, “kitten” and every variation thereof. As I watch my followers grow, I’ve learned that creating a successful blog can be done on any platform, Tumblr, WordPress, Blogger etc. It’s what you do with the blog that determines the results.
So for now, the easy interface and convenience of Tumblr allows me to quickly post words of wisdom such as “me want food” and GIF’s of cats playing drums. But while Tumblr will continue to grow with mindless (but hilarious) blogs like Paula Deen Riding Things, WordPress will always remain the standard professional blogging platform.
