rhivolution | (no subject)

So I keep mulling over the idea that I should change my Tumblr or get a second one to talk about political stuff. Because it seems like that is where All The Discourse is happening in real time these days, and then I get lost and confused when people bring stuff up here or on Twitter.

Except when I think about it hard enough, I realise that that wouldn't be good for my brain.

Because, see, Tumblr for me works really well to post pictures of sexy people and cute animals and ridiculous stuff and the occasional thought too long for Twitter. But I find it really intensely difficult to follow all the intricacies of a complicated discussion on there. I need responses and discussion on one page or with a diagram with easy to follow hyperlinks like a branching tree. For me, the Tumblr method is great for clicking about, a la a bored day of Wikipedia surfing, but I can't read it for srs bsns unless I'm sticking to one person.

Otherwise I miss stuff that's really vitally important and don't have the spoons to go chasing it down. Hell, I neglect to answer LJ/DW comments and I get emails about those, ffs.

It's not Tumblr, it's me. My brain is borked. It's a self-realisation that is awkward as hell. And I'm angry at myself for not getting it because there is interesting shit going on that I'm missing.

More on the psychiatrist later.

Threaded | Flat

Tumblr is horrible for discussion, which is sad, because you're right, there's a lot of good stuff going on there!

I don't think it's you. IMO, Tumblr is just about the worst place to have that sort of discourse; it's designed for instant gratification, but unlike Twitter, isn't built around the idea of interaction. It's all "here is this shiny thing for you to look at until it's time for you to refresh your dashboard and move on." It's a very passive platform.

Me three re: Tumblr being horrible for discussion. I don't give a shit who liked or reblogged shit, & when I see a huge trail of discussion w/a zillion different lines to demarcate who said what, it's fucking unreadable. I think Tumblr does much better for photobloggery (which is what the ones I follow are for) & is shit at pretty much everything else I've seen so far. If someone is having a discussion on Tumblr I will be disinclined to read it just b/c the format is so shit & off-putting.

If it's you, it's all of us, because Tumblr is an awful place for discussion. In addition to being really difficult to track things, it's also a format ripe for very abusive and manipulative behaviours, which kind of tend to shut me down, conversationwise.

Add me to the chorus who thinks Tumblr is a lousy place for discussion.

To a certain extent i just don't get Tumblr. And it wounds me to say that! I've been on the internet for a long time and much of the technologies make intuitive sense to me (i <3 Twitter). On the other hand, i've been on the internet a long time and i guess it was bound to happen that i'd officially hit Internet Oldster status and find myself saying, "I just don't get it."

Maybe it's just that stuff i'm inclined to post to Tumblr is also stuff i might want to find again later and so i'd rather just post it to my blog, which is how i archive myself on the internet (to the extent that i was thinking of leaving Twitter until i found a plugin that works to import my tweets the way i want). And if you're not on Tumblr it's hard to keep up with Tumblr, because Tumblr is the best way to see that other Tumblrs you follow have been updated, tho' i suppose i could just subscribe to everyone's Tumblr RSS feeds.

imho tumblr is for shiny things and cute animals; things that you can post/reblog without having to think too much. case in point, seen those long reblogs? they're impossible to keep up with. but I suppose they can be used for "short and dense".

I'm probably young enough for you to call me a youngster, but I'm one of very ancient souls who has trouble using a computer. Machines confuse me. Anything on the internet makes very little intuitive sense to me, except maybe email. And LJ/DW.