Blogger is very easy to get started with. But I wonder if it is easy enough for people who are not already motivated … I mean for those who wouldn’t have been looking to blog at all if not for the subject in their course?
Via their default methods, Tumblr is even simpler than Posterous for getting started, although Posterous also have a simple online sign up page. Their default methods:
Naturally I had a go at setting up blogs at both. I did try to capture the process, but unfortunately CaptureFox didn't seem to like my setting preferences and shut down Firefox on me. I give up on that particular idea for now. In fact, considering I have so much to do to prepare for the family trip to US/Canada I must not let myself be diverted into trying out these services thoroughly.
Instead, I perused reviews:
- Chris Foresman concludes in favour of Tumblr, citing its "myriad options for posting"; "design flair"; variety of themes; "separation of content types" and options for text editing. Chris acknowledged Posterous' "ease of posting via e-mail"; "clever auto-uploading and auto-formatting of attached media"; that some might prefer its "spartan design aesthetic".
- Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry believes the chief difference (demonstrated in their default sign up methods) is that Tumblr's apparent focus on design gives it an edge over Posterous' engineering focus.
- Anna Frenkel's very thorough comparison was more thorough in detailing the advantages of each over the other, and I ended up with the impression that the choice will depend on the potential blogger's purpose and preferred way to post.
I will note that a (?second) step in the setup process for Posterous (I think) was an offer to look for my "friends" through other services and then suggested I set up my friends with a daily posting from my Posterous. I don't like either option. I particularly don't like them being offered in the setup stages.
Something I have not discovered is how each handles comments - which for social web students is an important element to explore. Can someone clarify for me whether either of them simply feature commenting without any special addons or plugins?
As the students I’m thinking of are library students I went looking to see whether any libraries or librarians use either service:
I have now subscribed to Julie Cornett's adventures as a Frontier Librarian via Posterous - after her post on Information Competency using Interactive Television caught my eye, I found interesting library stuff (and/or beautiful photos) in all her posts. And she has comments that don't appear to have required any plugins.
And to The Clueless Librarian who Tumbles. What can I say?
The Chicago Public Library uses Tumblr. But I couldn't find any libraries using Posterous.
I use Tumblr in addition to my more traditional blogging platform. I use it differently - it's more for recording and sharing sources of art/craft inspiration that I find on the web.
ReplyDeletehttp://sallysetsforth.tumblr.com/
It's very easy to use. There's a bookmarklet that makes it really simple to send a picture, video or
audio file to Tumblr. You can submit posts by email too, and there's an iPhone app, etc. I have grown to love the social aspects of it, but it took a little while to find and build a network. It's a bit like Twitter in that you have your own URL for your published posts, but you also have a dashboard where all the posts of the people that you follow on Tumblr appear. You don't really comment on posts in the same way that you would on a traditional blog - you can 'like' them and/or you can reblog them and add your own comments. And others can do the same with your posts. I've seen others create posts with polls or question boxes attached, so there's a facility for those kind of interactions too.
In summary, I'm a big fan of Tumblr :) And now this comment has become so long that I'm going to turn it into its own blog post! *lol*
I stumbled over here from a different web page and figured I might as well take a look around. Like what I see so now I'm following you. Look forward to checking out your web page later on.
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