Got to use my girlfriend's super cool double monitor setup today to blast through my last bits of homework for the term!! I love that these terms are so quick. I don't get a chance to get bored, that's for sure. I don't feel like I'm not returning anything, either. It's been nice.
Anyways, Environmental Math class is technically done! All assignments are complete, so I just need to turn them in and I can relax for a while. Ahhh~
Plant Biology is next. I feel like I've been doing so much of that. Hopefully it won't be too much cellular stuff because that bores me to tears.
Every day I see skewed statistic graphs on this website that are made to mislead readers with hundreds of thousands of reblogs and I know statistical literacy is difficult if you haven’t had any experience with it so here are some resources:
5 min read on simple data sets
In-depth introduction to statistics
Also, think critically about what a graph is saying. Who is it targeted at? What message is it communicating? Does the information communicated through the graph line up with what you already know about a subject? And then ask, what DO I know about this subject? Is my previous information reliable? Compare & contrast what you know vs. what a graph says, and I always recommend looking for further information before believing what a graph says at face value.
I know it’s been a while. I had a lot of data to go through, and I also had to run some reblog experiments to determine whether my guesses were valid or not. I’ll first discuss the raw data, then the results of my experiments, some conclusions that may be drawn, and finally what might be done about the lack of reblogs on tumblr.
Please remember to reblog this, so everyone who responded to the survey can see the results!
First: A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who participated. I didn’t expect this sort of attention. I hope this essay helps, and to everyone who wants the actual data to go over for yourself (it is a lot!) please message me and I can send you a PDF. No names are attached, so it is entirely private.
Respondents were offered the choice of eleven options and could choose multiple options based on their reblog habits for art.
A total of 150 people replied. Two responses were deleted due to the fact that they were spam and clicked every option without explanation, leaving a total of 148 viable respondents who clicked a total of 337 options:
Respondents were allowed to expand on their choices to describe other options not presented. Some of these options restated those that were already presented, and the others can be split into several categories:
No one reblogs my art, so I don’t reblog anyone else’s.
I don’t reblog art that is NSFW under any circumstance
I feel like original art is too personal to reblog, no matter the subject matter.
While I may like the art, I feel as if I need to tag/comment on it, and I might not have time when I see the art, and so I end up not reblogging it at all. (This response was overwhelming!)
If the artist ever discusses lack of reblogs, I make it a point not to ever reblog from them.
I don’t reblog from artists who state things such as “my art is so bad” or “this sucks but I’m posting it anyway”
I’m afraid of offending or triggering my followers.
Some people just expanded/reinforced the choices they made when selecting options. Many were explanations of why they were selective about what they reblogged.
I also included a section where respondents could add comments related to the survey.
One respondent stated that they considered a “like” as something to let the artist know that they like the piece, while they consider a reblog an endorsement--and that they want to be sure the original artist isn’t homophobic/transphobic/terf/etc.
Another stated that they needed to feel attachment to the work in order to reblog it.
Many people stated that reblogs were a privilege and not a right, and that likes should suffice to make an artist happy. In the same vein, another respondent said that if tumblr is being used for emotional validation [you] are “setting yourself up for failure.”
There are also many responses that encourage people to support art and fanfic, as well as thanking the author for doing the survey and encouraging the posting of results.
It was initially difficult to make a conclusion from this data, as almost 60% of respondents say they reblog as much art as they can. This didn’t seem to match up with my own personal experiences, as if this was true, every art piece posted on tumblr should receive somewhere in the range of 90 reblogs at the very least.
Of course, the issue is that the people who stated they reblog as much as they can don’t all follow my blog; the survey itself reached a huge audience and most of the people who replied likely do not follow me. So this alone might prove that reblogs on tumblr definitely lead to more reblogs, and thus, more people seeing posted artwork.
So the issue lay within the breakdown of the “reblog chain.”
Essentially, while there are a lot of people willing to reblog art, there are various barriers any one piece must pass through in order to reach a wider audience.
First: There are the people who are particular about what they reblog (another 88 responses, or another 60%), people who are afraid of upsetting the artist or their followers (an answer given by 47 people, ore about 31% of respondents) and then those who gave an option I didn’t anticipate: that they simply didn’t have the time or energy or tagging capability to reblog when they saw they art, and went on to forget to reblog it. (This may include people who reblog most of what they see, but either sometimes or usually forget to do it.)
Seventeen (17) people stated this outright, and if I had the option in the survey, I believe it might have accounted for more. These answers came in at different times, so it’s impossible that these 17 respondents discussed their answer with each other. Furthermore, to have such a percentage of people individually state the same thing, it stands to reason that this is one of the major barriers when it comes to reblogging art.
I attempted to run an experiment to determine the reblogging habits of tumblr users, whereby I posted three separate images and encouraged people to reblog them. Unfortunately, due to the above limitations and inability for the experiment to reach past my own blog, I could only use data I already had.
I looked at the reblog patterns of my own art and followed the posts in question through several blogs.
The first interesting pattern I noticed was that one person I’ll call N, would almost always rebog my art, which would then almost always be reblogged by a second person (S). In cases where N did not reblog my art, the piece in question was never reblogged by S, as S does not follow me. Interestingly, if S reblogged my piece, it was then usually reblogged by at least one other person--not always the same people. But through this pattern, I tended to gain at least 4 reblogs through this chain.
I also looked at blogs with many followers who reblogged my art. This one I will mention by name, as it is a content collector blog. @theworldofthedarkcrystal often reblogs my Dark Crystal art, leading to incredible numbers when it comes to reblogs. One piece, my drawing of The Heretic, received 145 reblogs, which is very high. However, you’ll notice that it also has far more likes, sitting at 430, which illustrates the problem with art on tumblr.
But what about average users who happen to have a lot of followers? I looked at one popular user who follows me, who I’ll call A. A reblogs from a certain fandom, but doesn’t reblog every one of my pieces from that fandom, which meant they were perfect to examine the differences in visibility.
I won’t share the pieces here to protect this person’s identity. But this popular user’s occasional reblogs of my art would sometimes cause the notes on my art to take off... And sometimes it wouldn’t make any difference at all. So the first conclusion that can be drawn is that it doesn’t necessarily matter who reblogs your art, because individual groups of followers may not share the same taste. (And/or they may be affected by the various other options from the survey!)
This is not a scientific survey. If I expected so many responses, I might have structured things differently, however, using what I know about tumblr and the responses I received, I can draw certain conclusions.
I’ll admit, even I have scrolled past art before; I don’t reblog every bit of art I see, because it has to be relevant to my interests. Since putting together this survey, I attempted to reblog more art in general, as I realized that I was part of the “problem,” and had to make a conscious effort to change.
While I didn’t ask every respondent whether they had ADHD, autism, or mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety, my experiences have shown me that many people who call tumblr their home also feel a kinship here, because other people share the same conditions.
If this is taken into account, it’s not that people are maliciously skipping art to reblog. But those of us (myself included!) who hyperfixate are sometimes incapable of giving attention to things that aren’t currently at the forefront of their mind.
This makes it difficult for original art to take off, because those who are hyperfixating literally cannot give their full attention to something they aren’t currently fixated on. I did some research on hyperfixation, and it is also referred to as being “in the zone.” That it’s an intense focus on something for hours, or days, or years... Then it’s over. One of the articles I read stated that the writer read mystery novels en masse for a time, then stopped completely, and hasn’t read another mystery novel for twenty years.
Another article stated that “When a fixation takes hold of me, it manifests as an inexplicable compulsion to just keep consuming this new thing until I’ve absorbed it all. Sometimes this continues even to my own detriment. My sleep schedule is routinely screwed up when this happens. I consume every bit of it as rapidly as possible until it’s done and I don’t want to stop or slow down.”
Due to the respondents who stated that they were very selective about what they reblogged, I can conclude that at least some of the issue is innocent hyperfixation--as someone who is hyperfixating is not able to devote their attention to other things.
(This is not an attack on people who hyperfixate! It’s a logical explanation that I believe people who seek reblogs should take into account--hyperfixating people hyperfixate.)
Secondly, I’d like to address the response I didn’t anticipate--that people do intend to reblog art, but don’t have the energy for it (IE: tagging or commenting.) As I stated before, I believe this has a lot to do with art not getting reblogged, especially when the same people don’t then go back and reblog what they intended to--instead scrolling tumblr and adding more work to their queue that then also never gets reblogged.
I have also personally noticed a great many people on tumblr (again, myself included) who suffer from depression and/or executive dysfunction, leading to an inability to complete tasks that sap too much energy or don’t have a specific deadline.
And while I can’t conclude that this is the major issue when it comes to reblogging, I can say that this plays a large part, and that those of us who worry that we are being excluded or deliberately ignored should take this into account. Reblogging, tagging, and commenting does take a lot of energy, that people rightfully reserve for the things they care about the most. And there is likely huge overlap between the people who hyperfixate and those who don’t have the energy to reblog things.
At least from a technical standpoint, I can conclude that there’s no confusion on the difference between reblogging and reposting. However, there was some concern that artists might not want to see their art on certain blogs.
So what can be done about this situation?
For artists:
Start deriving comfort from the attention you do get. Even if it’s the same person or couple people reblogging your art every time, make sure to thank and appreciate them. This is something I’ve learned recently; while it’s okay to pursue popularity, your achievements and personal successes are separate from that, and it’s okay to start small.
And if someone reblogs your art that you haven’t seen before, you might consider sending them a “thank you,” as some people tend to only reblog art from people with whom they have a relationship. This might help you find some fans!
If you’re seeking to encourage reblogs, due to certain responses on the survey, it might be advantageous to add “Reblogs are appreciated and encouraged” to your works. There are few enough people that consider this “whining” that it shouldn’t affect your overall success.
For hyperfixators:
I am not an expert on ADHD, so I won’t presume to tell you to change. If reblogging one kind of art makes you happy, then you keep doing you, because this world needs happiness, and if your current hyperfixation provides that for you, then you’re miles ahead of most people in the world. If you’re ever able to, consider reblogging one or two pieces of original art, as you’ll make an artist very happy!
For That Other Big Answer:
The idea that people didn’t reblog because they didn’t have the energy to do it was surprising to me, and an answer I didn’t anticipate... but one I also felt in my soul as soon as I saw it come up.
We all have to remember that on tumblr, we’re one point in a long chain of people. If you don’t have the energy to tag or comment, it’s best to reblog that art anyway, so that other people can see it and perhaps comment themselves, reblog it, and keep the visibility chain going. If you’re so inclined later, you can go back and tag or comment! As an artist, I regularly check tags to see if anyone’s said anything nice, but reblogs make me equally happy, even if nothing is said.
For the Clutter Crowd:
If you’re afraid that reblogging too much art might clutter your blog (but you still want to reblog it!) consider making a blog where you only put art. There’s a chance people might follow that blog, thus perpetuating the reblog chain, but it’s also a place where you can comment and/or tag without adding too many art posts to your main blog.
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There are certain answers I cannot do anything about. IE: people who only reblog refined/finished works or works they consider favorites. I’d like to gently remind these respondents that while you are not personally responsible for the success or “advertisement” of newer or less skilled artists, we as people live in a society where we take comfort from the attention of those around us. Sometimes the only reason for reblogging a piece you don’t find completed to your standards is just to make someone’s day a little brighter.
"Irrespective of industry, location or client base, technological advancement is indiscriminate in the wave of the disruption it brings. These changes have become the new norm for businesses, and commercial real estate is no exception". Reblog with caption 🙃
Data experts Pooja Gandhi and Adam Crahen of The Data Duo have created interactive maps of UFO sightings based on data compiled from the National UFO Reporting Center. The two created the maps as part of an ongoing competition to compile data in interesting ways. Although both maps focus heavily on
You can now explore more than 5,000 digitized street maps of New York City from 1850-1950 using our Maps by Decade tool! You can also grab the historical open data sets used to create this tool and use them in your own projects. Learn more about our ongoing NYC Space/Time Directory project.
Woah this site is really cool!! I think I should check it out later when I’m getting ready for more intense psych field prep because I took statistics a looong time ago and I didn’t really get it even back then...
“Open Stats Lab (OSL) is a website created by Kevin P. McIntyre, Ph.D., that uses open data sets from articles published in Psychological Science to help teach introductory statistics. For each OSL lab, I've identified studies with open data badges, and then prepared activities that guide students through the analyses needed to reproduce the results reported in the original articles.“ - https://sites.trinity.edu/osl
