To re-blog or not to re-blog?

[vb]

Is re-blogging really blogging? (or tumblogging)?

[swas]

I think that this is Micro-blogging


Greetings

[poirpom]

Yes, I think it is. If you try to link to the original post. I mean, not only reblogging (the tumblr way) but also linking to the the post in your own post. That way, you offer something more to your readers (non-tumblr users): a new tumblelog to discover. You share more than one information.

[Zac Echola]

I try not to do it too often anymore. Occasionally there will be something that I really, really like in my Tumblr feed and I'll reblog it.

I agree with poirpom that you should source your discovery as well as the original creator.

My main concern with reblogging is that it doesn't feed anything new into the network of tumblrs. And every once in a while, one post will end up in a strange loop that continues forever. The viral nature of content is nice, but it can also get annoying to see the same photo on every tumblelog over the course of a week.

[poirpom]

True.
A tumblog, a blog, is made to bring something new. Your Way, Your tastes. Among the others.

[Chris]

I try not to reblog very often but, sometimes, there's something I come across that I just have to post on my tumblelog. Besides, there are things that visitors of a tumbleblog may not otherwise come across if it weren't for the blog owner reposting something he/she saw somewhere else. I like the viral aspect but agree that it can get out of hand at times.

[roamin]

I'm all for original content, but reblogging or retumbling is a way to quickly disseminate information that may be missed by another (information that another may not otherwise happen upon). I try to keep retumbling to a minimum as the tumblr universe is still quite small. On the other hand, I don't hesitate to reblog something outside the tumblverse if i feel it is something that is worth putting into my stream.

While on the topic of reblogging...

As far as giving credit when retumbling goes, I hope it is built into the November 1st Version 3. It's a tip of the hat or an acknowledged way of thanking the author or original tumblr for bringing it to my attention. I always credit with a link to the original content. Have you seen original content of yours appear elsewhere uncredited, I have of mine. I credit because I believe it is the right thing to do, I credit because I want others to credit me.

[Zac Echola]

Yeah, that's my biggest hope for the new version, come Nov. 1. It's displayed in the Dashboard, so it would be nice to see it appear on the public side too.

[Dawn Owar]

I think it's reblogging... but it would be tumblelogging, not tumblogging or even retumbling if it were to be that one which I don't think it would be ;)

The powers that be say to call it a tumblelog and not a tumblr blog or a tumblog.

Which makes us tumbleloggers and not tumblrs or tumblers or tumblebloggers or tumbloggers.

[Shadowfirebird]

New content is good. But most of us don't post new content very often, me included. When you link to a story you read elsewhere you are reblogging, even if the story was on BBC News.

I mostly post for myself first and others second, but before posting I often think: "Has everyone else had this first"? If the answer is yes I will normally leave it. Also, maybe you can personalise it a bit by following it to the source and seeing if there is a different quote or picture you would rather have.

And of course you should credit the place you first saw it as well as the source. It would be nice if Tumblr made this easier, but I don't really see how.

[Dawn Owar]

I think if you link to a story you read you are blogging.
If you got the story from a link on someone else's blog or tumblelog, you're reblogging.

I like that mix of my own content and links to stuff I like that I either discovered myself or saw on someone else's blog or tumblelog.

[Shadowfirebird]

Weeeelll - yes. But.

What, to stretch a point a little, is a blog? Is 43 Folders a blog? It posts articles linked by a common theme, with a date at the top of each. Often these articles are links to other stuff on the net.

What about The Register? Granted, it looks like a news site, but a lot of what it posts is comment or contains links to other articles elsewhere.

I think that the lines have blurred. The only thing that you can say is definitely not a blog is static content. And even then if you tumbl that, you're not creating anything new...

[Angela]

"I like that mix of my own content and links to stuff I like that I either discovered myself or saw on someone else's blog or tumblelog."

Exactly :-)

Not everyone who reads my Tumblr blog posts belongs to the Tumblr community, so sometimes reblogging a Tumblr post is 'fresh' content for my readers.