Tumblr as a Writing Technology
As a blogging site, Tumblr brings something new to the table. Instead of purely being a blank slate in which people write whatever might be bouncing around in their heads, it adds a more recyclable element into the blogging mix. Mixing elements of Twitter, Facebook, and more traditional blogging websites, Tumblr allows users to post something and have it circulate among their followers and their followers' followers until it can eventually be seen by hundreds of thousands of people who are just casually scrolling down their dashboards. This way of circulating thoughts, information, images, etc. is called "re-blogging", which is the bread and butter of many a Tumblr page.
The way many personal blogs function is by randomly scrolling down the dashes and reblogging whatever catches their fancy. The randomness associated with reblogging can be contributed to secondary orality, which Walter J. Ong explains in his work Orality and Literacy "promotes spontaneity because through analytic reflection we have decided that spontaneity is a good thing" (134). One of the most attractive things about Tumblr to many of its users is knowing that they can put effort into making their own posts, but knowing that sometimes using other peoples' posts can work just as well.
Yet, this does not mean that Tumblr users that choose to create rather than re-use Tumblr posts are left out. On the contrary, those who create on Tumblr usually end up getting the most followers. They start dialogues and plant the seeds that can lead to a site-wide spread of ideas. At the very least, a single post that someone creates can become "Tumblr famous" and circulate around Tumblr with hundreds of thousands, or even millions of notes. Those who became well-known enough on Tumblr have even gotten book deals, employment opportunities, and cult followings just by posting the right things on their Tumblr pages. If someone is trying to spread ideas and make sure that their voice is heard, Tumblr is the place to start that.
