#*tat

The latest trends with social media have left users with a bitter taste in their mouths, and made Tumblr less appealing. Here we will be covering some general rules that there are about Tumblr. They may not be spoken or even be in Tumblr’s terms of service but you’ll find many people - especially creators stick by these rules.

1. FOLLOWING

Who you follow is important and it may seem like a simple thing to just hit that follow button, but it’s important to check blogs before you follow. Some blogs have a before you follow (which usually can be found in their description), which will specify if they don’t want certain people following - this is usually a bloggers way of avoiding triggers.

So lets take a case, you find a blog and you would like to follow them. You go into their about or before you follow in their description where it specifies that they do not want haters of a [insert character name] to follow them. You in fact hate that character, so in that case you respect their wishes and do not follow them.

It’s also important to note, when you follow someone you almost sign a contract with some bloggers - as if you unfollow them and they are following you they may automatically unfollow you, possibly blacklist you and even block you. It depends on the blogger, but it is something you should be aware of.

2. LIKES

This is a hot and controversial topic, especially amongst creators. Here’s the most important thing to remember, Tumblr is NOT Facebook, Tumblr is NOT Twitter and Tumblr is NOT Instagram. Likes work differently on this site compared to the others and this must ALWAYS be taken into account, likes in fact while count for notes do little for a post beyond adding +1 to notes.

There are no strict rules regarding liking, you can like whatever you want but it’s reblogs you should be more aware of as that is will what allow to see content on your dash.

Also note, everything you like goes into your like page (which can be found in Mobile) and can be publicly viewed unless you make it private in your settings. I’d recommend keeping it private, because the content you want people to see - that you like, should be on your blog and it’s a good way of one keeping track of content and keeping things private that you like but don’t want others to see.

3. REBLOGS

Reblogs are important for pretty much anyone on this site, but especially creators. This could be writers, artists and editors.

Similar to likes, there are no rules regarding reblogs which part of the reason the like-reblog ratio has suffered so much in the past year.

My recommended method is Reblog if you Like and by that I do not mean reblog everything you like, I mean if you like the content so much you want others to see it and you want to see more of the same then you reblog it. Even if you don’t keep it on your blog permanently and delete it later, it still counts as a reblog.

This may sound contradictory, because some people are very exclusive about what goes on their blogs, in particular aesthetic blogs. In which case I recommend you either avoid all non-to your interest content or Create a Sideblog (which we will go into next time) to post the content to.

As I said reblogging shouldn’t be taken lightly, reblogging allows for content to be spread, thus no reblog = cannot spread and therefore cannot be seen. If content cannot be seen, then creators will cease to create and this site would basically die.

HOWEVER, I must also mention that if someone tells you NOT to reblog something whether in tags or comment section then you DO NOT REBLOG that post, as the op will have a reason for not wanting something reblogged.

4. QUEUING

Queuing is one of the best things about Tumblr, in my opinion. One of the flaws in reblogging is that you can spam people’s dashs when you reblog over and over.

Many people, myself included set up a queue where things are reblogged at specific times (you can time it to be scheduled to certain times of specific days). This is useful to make sure that your blog is consistently active, even if you are away for days or weeks at a time.

Previously, we discussed the basics of Tumblr, such as liking and reblogging, so you should now understand how the analytics of Tumblr focus on things that are reblogged rather than liked. However, reblogging isn’t without its troubles as MANY PEOPLE have decided reblogging is a tool to spread unnecessary comments and hate, thus leading to many a creator to delete their content, stop making their content or even leave Tumblr altogether. Here, we will discuss how best to use reblogging when you are posting to your blog. Just remember when you reblog something and add hate to it - that reflects on YOU not on the original poster, and will likely result in unfollows and blocks.

1. CAPTIONS

Captions are what they are, a caption for something. They are can be quite pivotal parts of content especially in the cases of gifsets, graphics and other forms of art. Firstly, the caption can act as a description which is vital especially for those who are blind and have the caption read to them in order to understand the context of the image that they cannot see. Secondly, it can be part of the draw of a gifset, in some cases the caption especially when its a quote, can be more important than the image/s themselves. Third it can provide important information such as what movie/show/game the content is from, or even in some cases when content has been reposting with PERMISSION and ensuring the credit goes to the original creator of the content.

For these reasons it is VITAL that you DO NOT delete the captions placed there by the original creator, as that information is there for a reason by deleting it you are neglecting your own followers from that information, which can be detrimental to them (especially in the cases of blind or partial sighted individuals who rely on captions for context).

2. COMMENTING

Commenting is almost controversial because you are basically adding another caption to something that likely already has a caption. I personally don’t comment on anything and leave stuff for the tags, but I recommend your rules for commenting should be if something is an Image then comment in the tags but if it’s a Text Post you can comment (if you are unsure ask the OP they can clarify).

3.TAGGING

Say it with me: TAGGING IS VITAL. 

There are a lot of people who do not tag their content, and if you like that, that’s fine, but I personally refuse to follow people who don’t tag their content and I’m sure there are others who feel the same. My personal reasons is due to how it involves me seeing content that triggers me or content for something I have not yet seen or do not want to see.

Tagging is an important system because not only if you make a creation does it help people find your post, but it helps people navigate your blog and find the content you want. Most importantly of all it allows people to block what they don’t want to see, things like spoilers or triggers can all be tagged allowing for people to navigate your blog easier without fear of encountering something that will bother them. It also tells Tumblr what is popular and what is not, it’s how the likes of @fandom knows whats #1 trending, which may not seem important but social media in fact has an important role to play in ensuring new content (such as books, tv shows and movies) are created, if they don’t have those metrics they won’t know if these mediums are doing well or not.

I cannot re-emphasise how important it is to tag content, even if you create shortcuts in your phone to create the necessary tags. Too often do I see bloggers complain about being spoiled about something when they themselves DO NOT practice what they preach. Consider your fellow bloggers, and be sure to be open to people asking for you to tag topics that may be harmful to them.

So when you tag I recommend you tag the topic and any triggers. If you want to go beyond that that is up to you.

4. REPOSTING (AND WHY IT IS  B A D!)

Posting is a common thing we all do it, but there is something you should NEVER EVER POST and that is someone else’s work, unless of course you have permission in which case you should attribute the work to the creator.

There are a LOT of people on this site that steal from other users and post it as their own to get notes, they are often too lazy to create their own content or too lazy to learn or are just so naive they do not realise what they are doing is wrong.

Let’s say take a movie, it’s distributed by a studio one that paid for its creation and will make the profits for the movie, then another studio that DID NOT pay for it or put any effort towards it copies it (maybe adds stuff from other movies that they again they didn’t make) and distributes it with the intent of making money off it. That is beyond a doubt illegal and morally wrong.

Yet, when a creator makes something and the same thing happens it is deemed okay. It isn’t, maybe the content wasn’t created (such as the movie or tv show) by the OP but the edit or fanart or fanfiction is a work of the OPs imagination - it’s something they spent time and effort on to gain a benefit, in this case notes and not money. It is much the same thing, Reposting in every sense is the same as a studio distributing another studios movie without permission.