Is Tumblr a blog or a social network site?
To answer this question would mean that there is a definite answer, which is not the case. Tumblr incorporates features of both a blog and a social network site, therefore making it impossible to categorise it as one or the other.
So what is Tumblr if it is neither a blog or a social network site? It is a website that is confused about where it fits within this new digitalised world. The notion of blogging has changed significantly over the years where Karthik states that ‘what we consider a blog today was not the same 10 years ago’. People are no longer taking to the Tumblr website to create their blogs but rather create their websites from scratch. This is because Walker Rettberg states that ‘blogging is a cumulative process where most posts repurpose some knowledge of the history of the blog, and fit into a larger story’. This is where Tumblr is different. Pages are created on Tumblr to showcase a persons interests and hobbies to the world.
Tumblr is therefore not a blog it is a website that allows consumers to create microblogs.
When people create microblogs on Tumblr they become apart of the sites digital community. The platform has affordances that make it unique just like other social media sites like facebook and instagram. People can repost a photo or text and also can comment on other users posts. This interactivity presents indicative metrics that can be measured and identified. All of which are characteristics of a social media site. So yes in this regard Tumblr is a social networking site because it creates community in which people can interact and follow people who have similar interests than them.
The problem with Tumblr is its inability to promote itself as a social networking site. For it to be successful in the future the emphasise needs to be placed on this rather than it purely being a blogging platform.
