Tumblr Takes Blogging for a Quick Tumble

I have been remiss in writing about a company called Tumblr, a website that seems to be staking out a position in between bona fide blogging and the snippetology of Twitter.

They call it Tumblogging, and the idea is to increase the ease at which consumers can make posts to a personal presence. By enabling users to build a personal soapbox via traditional blog entries, mixed media, photos, vids, whatever they might want to use to express themselves and their opinions.

There is a real need for this, I think. One of the blogging realities is that while tens of thousands of blogs start every DAY, I'm guessing that the average number of posts made on those new blogs is 1.000000000001. Blogging is hard work -- take it from someone who averages about 40 posts a week. It takes me about 25 hours a week to keep u this presence. Now, I do it because I love it, but most people will not have the time or inclination to make this kind of commitment to a blog. They lose interest because a blog entry is a big commitment of time.

But people really WANT to express themselves, and to do so in an ongoing dialogue instead of some sparkly social network profile that ultimately limits expression to snapshots and song choices.

People need to be able to say more. In words, in video, in music, and yes in photos. And this is generational. One thing I so admire about young people in their twenties is the ability to multitask, to communicate whole ideas in seconds as they simultaneously consume other ideas.

The downside to that,in my opinion, is an inability to focus on issues in a deep way. Which we can argue. But I'll win. ;-) Anyway, perhaps the way to think about this is generational. Maybe blogging is for older farts like me. And Tumblr is for the younger set. Whether you agree with that hypothesis or not, I'll wager that if you visit the Tumblr site, you'll agree with me that this is a great concept.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.