If You're New To Tumblr & Have No Idea How To Use This Place
(created specifically for phone users)
(and find yourself tumbling around-- aight aight I'll excuse myself--)
When I rejoined Tumblr, I was so confused and scared on how to use this site properly. I was afraid I'd be doing something offensive, or breaking the norm or not respecting the culture here or doing what I'm not supposed to be doing and so on. (I think I'm also breaking the norm by making this guideline fjsjc but please forgive me)
Anyway. Here are some stuff you need to know.
We'll start off with the buttons, then move on to the other feature exclusively available on Tumblr (filtering posts) and then etiquettes (for posting and reblogging etc.)
Buttons
You see that blue pencil button? That's the button for when you wanna make a post. The buttons available once you click on that are pretty intuitive so feel free to explore them by yourself.
Next, the house button. Pretty obvious? Yeah. That's the dashboard button. Posts are usually chronologically shown to you -- but some posts might not appear. We'll get down to that in the etiquettes section.
And then the magnifying glass. That's the 'search' or 'explore' button. There's also a similar tab on your dashboard at the top but you can explore them yourself to get used to them.
Then we have the chat bubble with a smiley. That is the equivalent of DMs here. We don't really call that our inbox here because that is specifically for the ask box. But eh each users could differ. Some users may turn off the chat feature so you might find yourself unable to 'Send A Message' to a user.
And lastly is the person icon. That is your page. You can also access your settings there. You can drag from top to bottom to refresh (works on both dashboard and your page). You'll find these at the top of your page.
If you notice the triangle pointing downwards, that's the option for you to create a side blog. But beware, you are not creating multiple accounts with that feature. Instead, you are just creating another pseudonym and using the place under that pseudonym. When you wanna send an ask or a comment, you will be automatically using your main. (Main is the URL or username, that you chose when you signed up and set up stuff).
The magnifying glass is for users to look up specific posts (either through tags or through keywords) available on your blog page (whether you originally posted it or you reblogged from others).
The icon of three dots connected by two lines is the share button. Press on it if you wanna share or grab the link to your blog page.
And beside it looking like a gear is the settings button. You can optimize stuff yeah. From here on, we shall move to the next 'chapter'.
Other Feature: Tumblr Specialty
There are quite some features that only Tumblr has (which is why I love this place so much tbh). We'll go through them one-by-one.
I will only explain about drafts, queue and inbox.
See, sometimes on Tumblr, you can end up scrolling & reblogging so many things that it may end up spamming our followers/friends on their dashboard. Below are how you can access the three features. Either you press on the three dots or press on the blue button long enough it'll show up as the icons as appeared on the right side.
To avoid spamming others' dash (if it bothers you care about them), you can opt to saving the posts to the Drafts. In there, you can edit the post to add tags or comments that you feel suitable or add-ons or simply to go back to (to read and stuff).
In Queue, you can set up the saved posts (or readily queue them from the dashboard) to a specific frequency and a specific time period. (Or just use Schedule feature if you have a very specific time you want it posted.) Using this will let the post be out there during the set times. Also very useful to make it seem like you never left.
As for inbox, I've nothing much to say. Just that, inbox on Tumblr does not mean instant messages for instant chats etc. It's for asks and submissions (you can liberally enable or disable both). Asks are where people send you stuff and you can respond to it by answering them, either privately or publicly. Heads up though, if you answer it privately you'll never see the ask ever again. (I regret it till this day... Sobs.) Submissions are posts sent to you that when you post it, it becomes a post on its own.
Ay, we move on to my favourite feature now. The tags and filtering.
Scrolling up a little bit upwards, you'll notice I put in a red arrow pointing to 'Content you see'.
The tagging itself will be explained more in the last 'chapter'. Just lemme share how to use this and how useful it is for you so that you curate your online experience on here to the best you can.
Click on the 'Content you see' button. You'll be directed to these two below.
Filtered Tags and Filtered Post Content.
Say for example, like me, you try to avoid 18+ content because you might open this app in public and you don't want to weird out the people around you irl with the sudden passing of sexual pictures as you scroll.
Simple! You can put in the keyword '18+' on BOTH of the options.
You see, filtered tags is to filter out the posts tagged as such and such. Whereas filtered post content is to filter out posts containing the keywords in the post (not placed in the tags).
Don't be afraid of using this. If for example, a user makes you upset and you dont want to see whatever it is they post, you can just put their URL in both sections. You can use this feature for as many keywords as you wish. There's a whole other explanation for Trigger Warnings and stuff, but I'm not good at that so I'll leave it out of this post. (Anyone else seeing this feel free to add on).
Now... that's done and over with. We'll be moving on to the last 'chapter'.
Etiquettes
Fhshcjs okay for real I didn't expect to write this much. I was expecting to give up writing this halfway. But welp. Okay so first things first.
1. Enjoy a post? Content? Artworks? Fanfics? GIFsets? Headcanons? Meta analysis? Stuff in general?
REBLOG. Liking works more as a bookmark and doesn't help with exposure nor algorithm whatsoever. So please. Reblog that content (unless the op, original poster, specifically says not to reblog - sometimes they put it in the tags so check the tags) and help get that post be spread around. This is very helpful for creators to get more exposure!
While reblogging, you can choose to save it into the drafts, quick reblog it or reblog with comments/reactions/add-ons.
Now. When you reblog and you wanna say something, you have two options. Either you add to the thread or you add in the tags. USUALLY, people would leave reactions either in the comments or in the tags as they reblog.
(More of this will be explained in the 'Tagging' part.)
"Wait. So reblogging is better, why's there a like button then?" you may wonder, as I once did.
As I've mentioned, likes can be like bookmarks (you can access posts you've liked in the 'liked' tab on your page). But. In some cases, for eg, when someone you follow is venting or just posting random stuff,...you can op to just liking it. Not every posts are suitable to reblog sometimes. Or like, when you post something and someone dear to you reblogged it, you can like that post to show that, "I see you reblogging my post, I really appreciate it fam". Honestly, this is something you will learn as you use the app more and more often. It's part of the fun Tumblr experience.
2. Donations post Vs Commissions/Tips etc.
There are a lot of donation posts here, but PLEASE be careful. Some of these might be scams. They will show pictures and stuff for evidence but they could be reused photos and so on. It's your money, so it's ultimately up to you what to do with it. But seriously, if you reblog such posts, don't be wary of someone coming into your DMs or askbox telling you the person is possibly a scammer. It is simply for your own safety. They are looking out for you. Basically, I guess you'll have to judge it yourself.
HOWEVER. In contrast to that, you will also see creators posting links to their KoFi, Patreon etc. Reblogging such posts would be very, very much welcomed. As a creator myself, I got some of my first commissions from someone that saw my post being reblogged by other people outside of my following circle. The only thing you should be wary of is if the links are safe, or if the creator doesn't plagiarize and claim what they have as theirs and so on.
3. Tagging
There are a couple of posts out there regarding this feature alone. If anyone makes an add-on, feel free to reblog this with them links.
Anyway.
I've already mentioned part of it in the previous chapter, under the part where I explained about filtering keywords.
It's very, very important that you do NOT censor the words. Don't sugarcoat it. For eg., s3x, rac1sm etc. Because we already have the filtering system! Just use the exact words without the symbols or numbers or whatever way of sugarcoating it.
Hard reminder: DON'T CENSOR THE WORDS.
If you censor it as we the example if gave up there, the post would not appear as filtered for other users. That might become triggering for them or give them an unpleasant experience. Even if you don't care about other users, if you don't want it to happen to you then don't do it upon others.
Wish upon others what you wish upon yourself.
Now. As for general tagging as reactionary tags: Please. You are allowed to be as incoherent as your mind truly is in the tags. You can scream, you can squeal, you can ,,,, yknowwww, just say stuff!!! I'll demonstrate with the tags on this post if you're still not sure. :) ...or just observer how others use it. However, please refrain from being mean in the tags or saying really nasty stuff. Be mindful of the person you're reblogging from or the op who might be triggered by it.
4. Fandom
I am not gonna go too deep into the anti Vs proship topic. Just. Just gonna re-emphasize basic internet etiquettes in this section. Along with a mention of red flags you should be wary of.
- those who tale-tell on others' behaviours whether in asks or DMs, especially as anons. This in turn causes a rift and potentially invokes call-out posts or cancel culture etc. (Not gonna discuss that here)
- they are very lenient with throwing out violent threats or words that sound violent. Or verbal violence. As funny as that sounds... It's not funny and it can be triggering to read. Or cause discomfort to those who read it. There's a distinction between advocating something and threatening others to oblige to whatever they advocate for. Imagine it in real life. Would you follow someone who says they'll do violent things to uphold what's right or would you follow someone who is patient and proactive with their words and actions to uphold what's right?
- suicidebaiters. Just no. People come here on Tumblr as escapism in general. Please don't tolerate this behaviour. Even if it's for the 'greater good', if someone does end up off-ing themselves, that will be on these baiters. Block them on sight if you must. How to block? Oh yeah crap I forgot to show how to block fhsjx
Go to that person's page and press on the 'person icon' and these options will appear.
Bear in mind the block button may not be your best friend, but it is definitely your very good reliable ally. (This doesn't make sense sorry I just really wanted to make a sentence with the phrase fhdj)
And lastly,
- cult-like circles. If they seem controlling, or you feel like you have to screen everything according to their moral compass, leave them. If they monitor everything you do, whom you reblogged from, whom you follow, whose posts you commented on or with whom you've interacted with etc. etc., be wary and be smart: leave them. You don't deserve to feel like you're stepping on eggshells while being here. If one's got a problem with something, they can filter the keyword using the features available on this site.
I believe that is all that I can share. Anyone else feel free to add-on.
Just one final message from me to you guys:
This is a pocket world. Yes, what goes on in here is significant. But you are not obliged to be as serious here as in real life. Be mindful of people and be mindful of your words.
Lastly, welcome to Tumblr. Hope you have a good time while on this hellsite and please don't make it hard for others already on here.
Take care!