Rough and Tumblr

By Lisa Bain (LCBain@gmail.com)
Student Editor

I remember using our first home computer, an old Apple II [http://www.apple2.org/] with the black background and pretty green text. My dad is a full-on computer nerd, so we were always at the forefront of new technology and to see how quickly things change.

This is reflected in the world of online media, which changes, literally, by the minute. The focus for today: Tumblr. Tumblr is yet another innovation in the world of multimedia resources. This site allows you to organize and post links, photos and other web content with a simple mouse click.

This week, our journalism class took to the task of creating our own Tumblrs (many of which you’ll find links to in the articles that follow) and familiarizing ourselves with one more new tool. The reviews were overwhelmingly positive. If you’d like to create your own Tumblr, feel free to visit tumblr.com. It’s easy -- we promise!

Technology is Tumbling

Tumblr is another new tool in the workshop of online media. Not only can people put links to their favorite and most pertinent websites, pictures, photos, videos and quotes -- they can have their own web page, which is easy to navigate and set up.

Tumblr is a relatively unknown feature on the Internet and is sure to gain popularity, especially with the likes of Second Life, Twitter and Eye Spot all grabbing seats at the table of media plenty.

People are able to use this as a business agenda file website, with links to daily news information. Also, professors like Mo Krochmal, of Hofstra University's School of Communication, use it to file links for their classes.

Some are more comfortable with sending links to people in e-mails, but this site allows you to put as many links as you want on a web site. Then, you can send one link, which is clean and smooth.

If you're looking for a job, or trying to impress a recruiter for internships or monetary positions, send out a Tumblr link with your material on there. If they've never heard of it, then you're one step ahead of them and on your way to teaching people about the rapidly growing innovations of our technologically-enhanced society.

You can also change the look and feel of your Tumblr on the settings page. The color scheme, overall structure, font sizes and shapes can be adjusted with a few easy clicks.

Check out my Tumblr.

-- By Chris Vaccaro (C.R.Vaccaro@gmail.com)

What Have You Got to Lose?

Tumblr has been added to my daily web-surfing routine. Perhaps, someday, it could be moved up in the rotation. But for now, Tumblr is like that rookie baseball player, who surprised everyone by making the big league team. You don’t expect a lot out of him, yet he adds another dimension to your repertoire, and most importantly, completes your lineup.

How many times a day do you cut/copy and paste links that you would normally bookmark? I have been looking for a tool like Tumblr since I began using the Internet as a primary source for information.

Journalists of the technology era can now add another tool to their ever-growing apparatus. Best of all, Tumblr is easy to find. A typical Tumblr site is like an Internet menu, only you don’t have to visit an assortment of restaurants to order your favorite dishes from around the globe.

-- By Ryan McCord

Stumbling Into Love with Tumblr

While skeptical at first, constructing and using a tumblelog was quite simple. With a bookmark located on my toolbar, adding a Web site to my tumblelog could happen in an instant—with the click of the mouse. Customers then have an option to add a description.

In just second a few seconds, members can quickly share with colleagues, friends or family. This tool offers multimedia options that are easy to navigate and can be customized for each personality. You could use it at work, but its simplicity allows even those less “computer-literate” to be successful in producing a Web site. Unfortunately, one feature not available is an option to add more than one picture in each post.

Tumblr allowed at least one individual to step out and share their thoughts with the world, after keeping a journal for over five years. Virginia Tech’s tragedy reminds us to always appreciate those close to us. Why not take a few seconds to share something special with them? Every journalist should keep a multimedia diary, using this system, to organize work and home.

-- By Maggie Biunno

Tumblr Blog Experience

Tumblr.com is a convenient site for organizing data. It’s a great place to post links I want to remember, so that I can keep track of important sites. Designing my blog was fast and uncomplicated, thanks to simple instructions and a preview section where I can see how my blog will look even before I save the changes. This feature is very helpful for people who do not know how to use HTML codes, although Tumblr also allows users to design their blogs with HTML if they prefer to.

Uploading images is also an easy feature to use -- the only problem I had was that I could not upload .png images that I wanted to put in my description. Other than that, I had no problems when posting images to my blog.

In my Tumblr, I posted links to sites having to do with the class, new technology that’s soon going to be available to consumers, and random interesting gadgets. One feature that I think will come in handy is the ability to decide how many posts will be visible on the blog at a time. I like to be able to scroll down a page and see all of my posts, rather than having to go back a page or two.

Overall, I’ve found that the Tumblr blog was extremely easy to design, update and edit.
http://remy-melina.tumblr.com/

-- By Remy Melina remy.melina@gmail.com

Fooled Around and Fell in Love ( With Tumblr)

Normally, I am very hesitant about revealing personal information to anyone or anything, especially online. Some people in my family, and those I know, have had problems with online fraud and stolen credit card information, some of which has taken them months to straighten out. (If you are one of these people, you can click here: http://www.ic3.gov/ to report a claim.)

Others that I know who have signed up for a Facebook or Myspace account have been stalked online, or had to deal with people who bully through the web. Though I have been encouraged by friends (especially long-distance ones) to sign up for a Facebook, MySpace, or other such web account, I have adamantly refused, again and again. I just don't feel comfortable.

So, when we were asked to create a Tumblr account, of course I was naturally thrilled (insert sarcasm here). However, after fooling around with making my Tumblr page, I realized this was something I actually liked.

One of the main reasons I liked it, is the security features the site offers. Tumblr does not ask for any information, besides your name, email address and a password of your choice. Editing is very easy, as are changing settings on one’s Tumblr page; and passwords can be updated at anytime.

Organizing one's page is almost effortless, as a person only has to click on the picture of the thing they would like to import onto their Tumblr, then copy and paste the link or picture (or type in text) and click to publish it. Layout is also simplified, and users are allowed to preview and change their site's look at anytime.

An important feature for me, that I found particularly inviting, was the fact that there was no way to contact me on the site. None of my personal information (email address, screename etc.) are featured on the site. Also, the site does not allow people to post a response to anything you put on it, eliminating the stalking and online bullying anxiety one might face with a Myspace or Facebook account. This might be because of the nature of Tumblr itself, creating a place where people can easily post to the web, but not necessarily keep in direct contact with each other.

Of all the websites we have used this year, I have definitely liked this one the best, and truly felt comfortable with using it. However, should you feel concerned, unsafe, stalked or bullied using any website, go to http://www.isafe.org/ for more information on how you can get help.

-- By Bonnie McKasty (bonnie.mckasty@gmail.com )

Tumblr: Half The Effort, Twice The Fun

Need an interesting and innovative way to keep track off all those important, random, or just plain interesting bits of information gathered from the Internet? Want some place to store pictures, movies, conversations, links and quotes? Ever just want to make a short post, instead of putting the time in to really blog? Then Tumblr.com is for you; this is what that site was made for.

Forget opening multiple browser windows, saving web pages to history, or logging instant message conversations. All that can be done on Tumblr, and it can be shared with the rest of the world. It is the perfect (and free) service to use to mini-blog. Tumblr allows you to create a "tumblelog.”

Tumblr is quick, easy and, yes, even a bit fun. In fact, it is simpler to use than some blog interfaces. All that needs to be done is to pick what kind of media you want to post on your tumblr: regular post, photo, quote, link, conversation or video. Once selected, you need only to plug in the information you want to see appear on your tumblr and, ta da, you're done!

Tumblr.com really does seem like the way to go and, even though it was made for mini-blogging, that doesn't stop you from posting a larger amount of text every once in awhile. It allows for more content and detail than a service like Twitter (twitter.com), without making you put in the extra effort in that you would for a regular blog entry. I had a ton of fun with it because I didn't feel the pressure to explain everything I posted. (http://www.audra.tumblr.com/) The links and pictures often just spoke for themselves.

According to Tumblr.com's FAQ page, Tumblr was inspired by project.ioni.st (http://project.ioni.st/). It was created by a small web-development company, based in New York City, called Davidville (http://www.davidville.com/). Davidville has also produced other projects like Senduit.com (a service that was made for uploading and sending large files), Channelfrederator.com ("the world's original cartoon podcast"), and other sites and services. The Davidville blog can be found at http://blog.davidville.com.

· By Audra Kincaid (Audra.Kincaid@gmail.com)

Rise of Tumblr

Tumblr is an up-and-coming service that lets you set up a "tumblelog". This is a way to post small items such as pictures or links. This makes blogging an activity that is shorter in length, but perhaps in the hope that members will post more often. Tumblr seems to be a really nice fit for some bloggers thus far. It is also somewhat limited in the way it can be customized, which is a tool to help fight against having a poor community.

Tumblr is worth the sign-up, just to check out the design and setup. It follows all the usual current trends of blogging, like clever writing and exquisite style fonts. It appears to be basic and broken down to the simplest point, which is a good change of scenery nowadays, at least in my opinion. The stuff to do on the site is extremely accessible and fast-paced. All in all, it seems that the blogging community can't help but be in love with Tumblr

-- By Thomas Palermo

A Tumblr Experience

Tumblr.com is a useful tool in multimedia journalism. Somewhat like Twitter, Tumblr is a website where users can post ideas, links, photos and videos. This is another aspect of citizen journalism. As I browsed others' Tumblrs, I found many users paying tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings. Students have posted comments, pictures and videos pertaining to this tragedy.

In my own tumblr, I created a log of the progress of Alex Rodriguez as he continues his amazing run in April (http://kquest.tumblr.com/). I like how Tumblr allows you enter links, and headings to the links, and it automatically creates a link with the title you enter.

-- By Katelin Quest

Did Yah Get that Thing I Sent Yah?

Tumblr may be the next big thing in link-sharing since the birth of e-mail. Whenever I find something interesting online and want to share it, the person I want to share it with is undoubtedly offline.

It's a pain to get them the link on their time, so they can view it when they want. Sure, I could e-mail it, but most e-mail filters block links in e-mails, and designate links in short e-mails as spam, making my message a pain to send or receive.

My latest solution is posting the links on my Tumblr page, with a name or group that might enjoy the link. This weekend with Tumblr, I just sent the link to my Tumblr page to everyone and told them to take a look.

Steven Mashburn, a former coworker and friend, enjoyed reading the links, and asked me to update it regularly. "Garrett, you should continue this. I think you may make the next big blog." That may not be the case, due to lack of initiative, but the Tumblr medium of website-posting is a fast and easy method of distributing links, posts and content quickly from your web browser, all without leaving the page you are currently viewing.

It does lead to impulse posting, but that isn't a problem, as deleting a post is just as easy as adding one. And finally, I can stop asking people "Did yah get that thing I sent yah?"

-- By Garrett Frey

Tumblr

I actually really like using the “tumblr”. I don’t have that many pieces on there yet, but it seems to be a personal diary of everything you are interested in showing to the world. It’s very much like a Facebook or Myspace page, without the extra items that people often put on there. Plus, you can customize your layout and pictures anyway you choose. It’s not half bad!

- By Dreux Dougall

No-Fuss Tumbling

Tumblr, the site that hosts “blogs with less fuss,” is a great tool for storing links. One can post photos, blog entries, links, quotes, conversations and videos with one click of a button. I recently used Tumblr to post links that I was using in a group project. My group members were able to access each link through an organized, aesthetically appealing web page. The site was so easy to use, and my group members commented that it was much better than receiving links in an e-mail. I will definitely continue to use Tumblr when the situation calls for it.

· By Kayla Walker (walker.kayla@gmail.com)

Tumblr: Blogging Through Headlines

Tumblr is blogging through headlines. Thoughts and opinions can be expressed through the headlines one chooses to post on their site.

The site allows friends to share what they think are the most important news stories, or something they feel others would enjoy. Instead of having to e-mail a friend a story, you can simply send the url of your Tumblr site, filled with as many stories as you like.

Tumblr takes the blogging experience to yet another level. Though the site offers blogs, pictures, video and other multimedia features, its main focus is the headline-posting capability. It can also be easily accessed through an individual url, and doesn’t require being a member or a log in process, which is different from other sites such as Twitter.

The site is innovative and different and has various uses with its adaptable features. This site sets itself apart from all the numerous blogging sites available on the Internet.

-- By Michelle Sobhraj (m.sobhraj@gmail.com)