I enjoy Tumblr. I really do, in fact micro-blogging has become such a vital part of social media that in many ways it has surpassed my need to blog. You may have noticed a decrease in both style and quantity of posts here. And well... micro-blogging is to blame. I can tweet out to 50x the followers I have on here about a new camera. Or I can quickly post a picture to Instagram of what I just got and have it be seen by 500x the followers I have on here.
And truth be told, I really don't write all that much anyway. Look back to some of my longest pieces on this blog and they aren't even long enough to fulfill the needs for a high school essay. The internet is best digested in small pieces, not large heaping bites that take minutes to chew. I'm reminded of the Toyota commercial with Allyn Rachel, don't know who I'm talking about? Watch this and go "Ooooh that girl!"
As she states "I read an article-well I read the majority of an article online" when was the last time you sifted through some long winded shpeel about something you were only half invested in? As a matter of fact, how many of you have actually read this far? That is why micro blogging is so great. After reading one, you're just 144 characters away from the next!
However, mass audience does not come without a price. In the midst of looking at my photo, there are thousands more than need be looked at. Why stop to think, examine composition, or contemplate why the image was taken when a cute girl has taken a photo of herself in the bathroom mirror? It's a sticky situation I know.
This brings me to what that long winded introduction was all about. Getting it all to come back to you.
As I'm sure many of you who may read this blog are aware, I have an ongoing date every day with Instant film over at www.the-365-project.com. Well I logged on this morning to check and see if anyone noticed what I post up there (fun fact: rarely does anyone) and I was met with a pleasant surprise. A whopping 20 people had given attention to an image that I really wasn't a huge fan of. Needless to say I was ecstatic and quickly took a screen cap of it so I could brag to everyone else on the internet. You can see there, it really isn't anything special. Just a generic image of some power lines that I snapped before the sun went down and I was forced to take a photo of something inside my house that day. The image above it, which I like quite a bit more has 8 notes (for those unaware notes is the moniker that Tumblr gives to how many people have either "liked" or "reblogged" (posting that quirp/image/video to their blog) your post) and that is even good. Most of my images on there average around 2-3 notes.
Well in-come the next day. I am ready to post another image. As I go to log on I notice something very interesting.... the same picture has a WHOPPING 77 notes! That is close to my all-time record of 98 with my Andy Worhol-esque self portrait. While 98 is good, it should be noted that the image I am speaking of was picked up by Tumblr and received a bit of promotion.
While anyone sitting in my shoes would be thinking "Great!", or anyone sitting in your shoes would be thinking "Why the hell is this guy bitching over his image getting so much attention?" the answer is rather simple. The attention doesn't actually gain me anything.
The whole point of switching to micro-blogging other than the ease of posting (so far I have about 30 minutes invested in what you are reading) is that followers come easier. And with a bit of luck, followers translates to more notes, which translates to more followers and maybe. Just maybe somewhere down the line you may be picked up by a larger blog and get even more followers which translates to more notes and so on...
Yet of those 77 notes you know how many followers I have received? 1. That's right, 1 person. With a derogatory name who I don't exactly feel is appropriate to post here. If the whole goal is to receive followers, why not stick with something where followers matter? Like real blogging. I only have 11 people following me on blogger. 2 of them (full disclosure time here) are actually just other blogs I have that I linked together to make myself feel more important. But of those few followers, more people actually read what I say, comment and take the time to evaluate my thoughts, images and decisions. And that speaks far more than a simple number on a screen.
Update 7/31/12: Well the post has surpassed 100 notes and is currently sitting at 102. My followers have increased by 2 since my last post. Making a total of 3 followers attributed to that one image.
Update 7/31/12: Well the post has surpassed 100 notes and is currently sitting at 102. My followers have increased by 2 since my last post. Making a total of 3 followers attributed to that one image.
