So...how's the climate on the birdsite?

[deemoyza]

For the most part, I've had a pretty decent experience on Tumblr. I like the UI, I love the chronological feed, and I have a lot of fun chattering away in the tags. But this latest steaming pile of BS is just...tiring. And it makes me wonder exactly what kind of relationship exists between Tumblr and Apple.

I use Tumblr on desktop and Android, so this change doesn't affect my experience directly, but it definitely affects the reach of everyone's posts. Especially since so many people on Tumblr are wonderfully creative, it's sad to think that one wrong innocuous tag could hide a lovely story or a beautiful picture from so many others.

It's just plain stupid, and it's only going to make the situation Tumblr purports to improve much, much worse. Yes, tags are used for searching, but I'd argue that their primary function is for filtering. For example, I have a weak stomach and strong imagination, and therefore, I cannot handle seeing gore, so I filter that tag out. Incentivizing people to avoid tagging things that might be triggers/squicks/plain unpleasant to others only puts everyone at risk of coming across content that offends or upsets them. In short, Tumblr is actively removing the controls currently in place for people to curate a safe, enjoyable experience for themselves.

And what's with some of these banned tags? Self reblog? Long post? About? Queue??! Just...WTF? Preaching to the choir, here, I know, but I need to vent because half-assed "safety" measures like this that make the whole place even more unsafe for everyone involved just make me want to beat my head against the wall. (Don't worry, I won't! XD)

Anyway, while I'm not jumping ship on Tumblr just yet, I have been looking to expand my social media presence a bit, and I've been kicking around the idea of setting up a Twitter account for a while. I'm not sure about it, though, and I was wondering if anyone might be willing to share their impressions of/experience with the site. For reference, I'm planning to use it similar to how I use my Tumblr, that is, for "fangirling, writing, cute stuff and randomness," and my favorite fandoms are either small, old, or both.

So, bearing that in mind, would Twitter be a decent fit? Are there any tips for getting started that anyone would like to share? A lot of my fandom conversations on Tumblr have dried up as of late, and it's getting pretty lonely, so I'd be happy if I could find a place to rekindle that feeling of community. Just sending out my feelers here, so any help or advice is appreciated. Thanks! :D

Comments

[runicmagitek]

The ban is fucking ridiculous. Full stop.

As someone who jumped on the Twitter bandwagon back in October, it's been nothing but a delightful experience. I was beyond anxious about it, but I think like any social media experience, it's what you make of it. I've found a lovely little corner of Tumblr mutuals and fellow 13 Sentinels fans and don't plan on straying from it any time soon.

The like... culture?? Of Twitter is a lot different, but also quite similar in terms of fannish bits. I've quite enjoyed the very brief posts I've scrolled through instead of mountains of text that crop up on Tumblr. On the flip side, Twitter is not the place to be having any in-depth, meaningful conversation (and yet people still try, because it's the internet). Also "liking" someone's post is just as beneficial as retweeing it, as people can see the stuff you like. I think there's something weird in how Twitter functions, in that if you like/retweet more posts from certain people you follow, you'll see more of them on your timeline instead of others. It's really weird and I don't like it, but there's no way to make it not do that :\ also searching for anything via tags is near impossible. Thankfully the search does pick up the keywords regardless if there's a hashtag, but Tumblr is way better in this department somehow. If the tag isn't trending or popular in general, I don't bother tagging stuff. It's kinda freeing tbh.

I've mostly used my Twitter account to share art and #writerproblems posts while also tweeting about my own fannish thoughts and fic stuff. I've actually gotten better response with some of my fics there than I ever have on Tumblr. Also there are A LOT of Japanese fans there, so any Japanese media content is going to thrive there. I've found so many cool FF nuggets that have never graced Tumblr!

Some things I don't like about Twitter:

• You can only queue posts (and only your own) from the desktop site.
  
• You cannot edit posts. At all. On the flip side, if you have a typo in your posts, literally no one cares. I can only assume it's because they also understand this plight.
  
• Image crops are....weird. You have zero control over it sadly.
  
• If you follow multiple people and they all retweet the same post, you're only going to see ONE of those people retweeting it instead of seeing ten people in a row retweeting it. I guess this could be a positive, but it drives me up a wall because....
  
• Because there are no tags to talk in, people will retweet a thing, then make a new tweet that starts with "LRT" and ramble about whatever. It means "last retweet" except like... that thing I just mentioned above happens a lot. So I'll have friends be like "LRT *gushes about a thing*" and I can't see what they're referring to, thus need to go onto their page and scroll until I find it. Really annoying.
  
• Oh and Twitter is FUCKING GARBAGE with archiving stuff. Unless you save links or have a unique tag for it, trying to find something you retweeted or posted a couple months ago is near impossible, especially if you post regularly.

Also, random faux pas I've noticed - quote retweets, ESPECIALLY for art, are kind of considered the equivalent of reposting. It's recommended not to do it and just retweet the thing directly. There are quote retweet memes (kind of like "write in the tags XYZ" things on Tumblr), but other than that it's just... better not to. Though I will say the few people who do QRT from me already retweeted a fic promo of mine, then QRT'd to gush further about it to their followers, which is really sweet.

Ahhhh I'm rambling now, but I hope this helps! I know the idea of Twitter was super overwhelming for me, but it's been such a delight. If you do give it a try, I hope you have fun, too! Because at the end of the day, that's all that matters.

[deemoyza]

Sorry it took me so long to reply, but thank you so much for your detailed response! The reach/breadth of fan communities that you described sounds exciting, but the organizational aspects of the site less so. It does seem like a promising trade-off, though, in terms of fannish activity. I might start by cautiously dipping my toes in and see how it feels for me, then go from there.

And thanks for those tips about likes/retweets/QRTs! I can use all the help I can get in not being awkward on social media! XD