Housekeeping Notes
Hello to the various new followers of this blog in the last few months!
I have noticed that some of you seem to be brand new tumblr accounts. I appreciate you following this blog so quickly after joining tumblr! It warms my heart that so many aromantic people are able to find this blog so quickly!
However, I have only realized this because of certain "common practices" on this site, and I'm worried that some of you might be getting blocked by other blogs you try to follow! If your blog is completely blank (no icon/profile picture, no title, no descriptions, no posts, and all the default settings like having your likes and follows publicly visible), you unfortunately look indistinguishable from a new spambot that hasn't started their second phase of operation yet. A lot of users on this site block accounts that are blank, out of an abundance of precaution for removing spambots from their blog so they don't get spam links in their replies/reblogs. Spambots start by following a massive number of accounts and existing in silence for a week or more, then suddenly start posting stolen pictures from the internet before moving on to posting content that breaks TOS and is full of links trying to scam anyone who clicks them. A blank blog is not a guarantee that in a few more days, you won't start spamming them.
Luckily, there's an easy fix! Simply pick out an image of any kind to act as your blog icon, change your title to anything a human would write ("I'm new!", "~lurking~", and "not a bot" are all perfectly acceptable options), and change your description (a lot of us do mini bios there, but you can also just have something like "I'm new to tumblr and figuring out what I want on my blog still" )! Another quick fix is to make one (1) single post that clarifies you're still adjusting to tumblr, and leaving it as your only post til you start reblogging stuff.
Don't be afraid to hit reblog! It's kinda like retweeting, or sharing on Facebook, or saving a pin to a board on Pinterest. You don't have to add anything to a reblog, but you have the option to add tags (which can be used to organize your blog into different topics like having different boards on Pinterest or albums on Instagram, or to just talk about the post in a way that requires more effort for someone else to include in their reblog from you) or to add text/images/links to the body of the post (that's how those long chain posts with many different blogs adding on their thoughts happen!).
Reblogging is the lifeblood of the site. Tumblr has added algorithmic options to the dashboard in recent years, but most of us prefer to use tumblr the old-fashioned way and only see posts from people we follow. Reblogging is how you get a post in front of your followers! It's how your followers get to know you! Have fun with it!
Liking is the bonus extra-love button, or for when a post is one you like but for whatever reason you don't want it on your blog(s). Reblogging is a better method of engagement, but liking isn't completely useless like a lot of people try to say. Tumblr has added a thing where, if your likes are public, your followers might occasionally see a post that you liked on their dashboard. Most of us keep our likes private, though, so many people aren't aware this is a thing now, and we like things specifically to engage but not show it off on our blogs, so we don't want our likes showing up on people's dashes. I tend to like a post when I would maybe spam multiple reblogs of it but don't want to reblog it several times in a row and clutter up my own blog, or when it's a discourse post I agree with but don't want to spread the discourse around. Artists will often mention things about reblogs being better than likes and it is for this simple reason: reblogging means you are putting it in front of more eyes, and thus helping the artist find buyers/commissions and build their brand. If you follow an artist and hit 'like' on everything they post, consider reblogging some of them so more people see their art and they can get even more attention for their wonderful talent/skill!
Some other things:
For anyone who hasn't checked this blog's homepage out, you may be unaware that this blog is not a main account. It's a group sideblog, one that I do not own. The owner hasn't logged in to tumblr in years, so there won't be any calls for additional moderators for the foreseeable future (as I am unable to add new members myself because of the permissions set by the owner) I apparently am able to add new mods after all, so if there are people out there interested in helping run this blog, send me an ask here, or a DM on my main. I am currently the only active mod for the account, so only my main is currently linked in the bio. You can follow me on that blog if you want to get to know me better! I post way more stuff there, just because it's not focused on a single topic like this blog is. (Because this is a sideblog I cannot DM from this account, either, so if you ever need to DM me for some reason you need to go to my main and DM me there.)
I try to answer asks I get here as quickly as possible, and the anonymous option is on! I do my best to reblog things from all across the spectrum of aromantic experiences, but I only have my own experience to base my judgement on, so if there's a particular flavor of aro content you'd like to see more of (posts for a specific identity, more art, more comics, whatever), just send an ask and let me know!
- mod Fractal (@mathsbian)
