Valhalla Island

Tumblr is brilliant. Like everything else cool, online or off, it’s taken me a long time to get involved. I love the UI, the robust theme customisation options that are hidden from users who just want to post and I love that it makes it so easy for people to share great things. If you don’t already publish anything on the internet but want to, Tumblr is it, it covers everything and does it with class. For me, a Twitter user and blogger obsessed with organisation Tumblr’s place isn’t clear.

Tumblr’s posting categories are text, photo, quote, link, chat, audio and video.

Text and links are covered by the blog. Quotes too if they have context and I have something to say about them. Indirectly, photos, video and audio are covered by the blog through links. That leaves chat, not something I do much of or have the desire to publish anyway.

I do have some sort of undefined editorial filter at Valhalla Island and don’t publish every (or any) Fail Dog I come across, even if I enjoy them. I also tend not to publish any personal thoughts here which have little value to anyone but me. So maybe that’s Tumblr’s place, a sillier, free-for-all style blog. But then it starts stepping on Twitter’s toes.

I post links to video, audio, photos and write about myself all the time on Twitter. Stuff I like but but just doesn’t suit the blog. There’s a clear divide between Twitter and VI, never am I questioning where something should go, I know.

What about bookmarking sites like Delicious and video sites like YouTube and Vimeo which allow you to store a list of favourites. Would it be better to keep these all in the same place? Is it better to embed inline rather than link to? Should you save a favourite with separate services as well as publish to Tumblr? Or should you save and favourite but only publish a select few?

Tumblr does everything that everything else can do but for someone like me, doesn’t have anything clearly of its own.

Find me here: http://jimwhimpey.tumblr.com/