there’s something deeply gutting about being a writer right now. watching studio execs brag about starving people like you out of your very house just to not pay you anything above the pennies you currently make. watching some people cheer over AO3 being targeted for a DDOS attack. the complete lack of profitability of writing commissions or writing in general in transformative spaces, especially in contrast to fanart. the pivot of so many social media platforms to be video and image based near-exclusively.
I don’t know. it just makes me sad to know that the hobby that kept me alive while growing up homeschooled with dial-up internet and local antenna TV… is only ever gonna be a side job with minimal engagement. I know this site is good about supporting libraries and the concept of books but, do me a favor? Reach out to a writer friend you know. Leave a comment on your last five read stories on your favorite website.
Tell us you care.
and like. this isn’t a guilt trip on an individual level, I don’t want anyone to read this and feel like they’re not doing their part. it’s not you. it’s just the slow crush of watching capitalism crush one of the oldest art forms we’ve got as a species, deliberately and gleefully, when no one else really cared about it in the first place.
writing is by nature a slow, solitary work. I can’t livestream my writing process, I can’t make a time lapse video of me writing my novel. our faces aren’t on the covers of our books hardly any amount of time. I see one read-more to a fanfic or AO3 link for every hundred pieces of fanart and twice as many memes. and parasocial relationships are so, so, so incredibly important in our society (not inherently evil, either) and it just.
Hurts. To already be small, and get stepped on anyway.
At least take comfort, if you can’t take heart, though. The human species will never stop needing stories. Perhaps now more than ever.
If you tell stories your work is essential to the human soul.
no Male Author Moment has ever made me cringe quite as viscerally as the ending of Grapes of Wrath and that was a full decade before I found out about this
Sanora Babb’s own novel, Whose Names Are Unknown, was buried by the publisher after Grapes was published. It was eventually released in 2004, a year before her death.
“i wish i could do something 😔 / i wish the wga had a kickstarter or a gofundme, i would throw money at it” good news! it’s amazing how you can literally go onto the wga strike website or the wgawest linktree from their twitter and find links to support writers and other workers affected by the strike
I think I understand what you mean about writing practice? It's focused on one manageable aspect that you can explore and examine without overwhelming you. You incorporate it in your writing in different forms, several times at the least. You experiment. Then you review what you've written in the lens of that aspect and how it worked while writing and how the effect is while reading?
A lot of the craft of writing, when you look at it from a mechanical perspective, is refinement for effect. Tugging on heartstrings, making people fall in love with your characters, inspiring moments of laughter. And a lot of the effects you can go for don’t take very much page to play with. I can think of at least two popular tumblr posts off the top of my head (the ‘vary your sentence length’ one and the 'control your reader’s heartbeat’ one) that play with rhythm, tempo, and sentence structure, and their effective examples are what…200 words long? 500 at the outside?
I mean, for example, the only way to get really good at writing novels is to write and finish novels, but within that novel there are hundreds of moving parts that could be played with. That said, imho, what you might get out of this kind of focused element practice depends on your process. I write bits and pieces pretty much reflexively and I like to tinker, so I’m not going particularly far out of my way to do any of this. The best way to practice writing is to write things, whether it’s full and complete projects or writing exercises or anything else.
Something I did with my first project was subgenre experimentation. I knew the major elements and the players of the story, and I knew my fantasy setting and time setting. I knew much of what I wanted to highlight with the characters’ personal journeys as well. But I also knew I needed to explore the dynamics of different characters, contexts, and relationships, and I was still developing my authorial voice. I didn’t yet know how I wanted to bring together my interests and influences on the page.
So I wrote a mystery draft. Then I reworked ideas and wrote it as a more political thriller & action blend, a romance novel, and high fantasy. I plotted outlines for a couple others as a shortcut to testing out drafts. Each draft taught me new things about my writing and my story, and finally prepared me to put it all together into the book I do want to share. I examined what the genre focus was doing to the plots and characters and how I generated reader investment. Of course, on a project that large you’re also doing more focused element analysis as discussed, and being a very long-form writer by nature, I enjoyed studying the iterations to see how my skills progressed with dialogue or whatever element I was working at improving.
I’ll be clear, I didn’t have this master plan from the start; I just realized when I reworked my draft with a new lens the first time just how much I was getting out of the process. Getting that idea of experimenting with drafts/excerpts/storyboarding was the greatest spark I’ve ever given my writing. Highly recommend trying it out at any level of investment! Especially if you’re feeling like you want to keep focus on a wip while you practice your craft, it’s worth putting in reps of excerpts or chapters or manuscripts. If a tenth of it leads to something you put to page for an audience, cool! If none does, that headspace and experience has still given you the tools to enjoy & master your craft even better next time you write.
wow i sure wonder 🤔🤔 what the new layouts supposed to look like 🤔🤔🤔🤔 its a mystery
Don’t forget y’all that there’s a much better way for us to let Tumblr know what we think about specific changes, rather than @ ing staff or wip, and it’s sending in a support ticket and choosing feedback!
Tumblr reverted some of the asinine app decisions they made after a concerted feedback effort! So make sure to use this form! It’s what it’s for, but it’s not well advertised!
Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we’re using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.
The Diagnosis
In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience.
Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content.
To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.
Our Guiding Principles
To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.
Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.
Provide high-quality content with every app launch.
Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.
Retain and grow our creator base.
Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.
Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.
Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.
Okay, so as a long time user of this site (going all the way back to 2009) I’m going to comment on this, and I’m going to do it in as nice a way as possible, even though this makes me angry enough to consider leaving.
This post is, in the nicest possible terms, corporate-speak bullshit. It lacks insight into its own current userbase, how that userbase interacts with the site on a daily basis, and seems very focused on a term I’ll borrow from Folding Ideas: Line Goes Up.
It does not speak to research done on how your users actually use this site, or what they want from it. Time and time again, the users of this site have stated they use it over almost every other socmed out there because it isn’t an algorithmic mess focused solely on shoving as much content on people as fast as possible by guessing what they like. The potential introduction of an algorithm to the dashboard is an unnecessary change. In fact, it’s ridiculous. Tumblr is remarkably easy to use.
Your post states:
Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience.
This is factually untrue. When I first joined this site in 2009, I was taken through a screen that asked about my interests and I got to pick 3 of those interests. It then showed me the top blogs who posted things related to my interests and I followed some of them. This gave my dash content. It was a lovely little tutorial on how to use the site and how to make it a place that felt like me. Somewhere along the way you seem to have stopped doing that, and thus your new users are apparently ‘confused’.
The addition of 'only serves a small portion of our audience’ is a rank falsehood. There’s no way around that. If I published such a blatant lie in my line of work I would expect to be brought up on it immediately. That 'small portion’ of your audience is your core userbase. The people who’ve been here through all the nonsense various iterations of higher ups have put us through. They’re the ones you’re trying to market your Emporium at with merch for memes from 2013-15. They’re the ones you’ve been begging to fund this site so it can stay open, but as soon as whomever it is higher up decides that 'we must be like everyone else’ you abandon them. I’ve been on the internet long enough to know that’s a mistake. Countless sites have tried it before you, and countless have failed.
we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content
You already do. If you reimplemented the 'here are some blogs related to the interests you picked’ as an option on sign up, then you really wouldn’t have this issue. I can only assume the 'higher ups’ have an opinion so low of their userbase that it’s easier to infantilise them to the point of 'they can only find content if we give it to them using their data’ rather than 'people know what they like and will outwardly seek it’.
I’m already bombarded on my dash by 'tags you might want to follow’ that have nothing to do with my interests and I am unable to remove or curate. If an algorithm is implemented the 'tumblr is a place where you curate your content’ ceases to be, since you will have forced content onto the userbase that they have no way of controlling or 'curating’. It is in fact the opposite of what you claim it will do. Your users are not idiots. Do not treat them thus.
We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant.
Never once have I thought that about my curated content on my dash. I would have left a long time ago if that were true. You know what does feel stale and not relevant? The godforsaken EcoAmerica stuff I am unable to get rid of or hide. I just have to see that same goddamn promoted post over and over again and I’m sick of that, but not what I personally put on my dash. Funny that.
Finally, 'retain and grow our creator base’. Honey, I’m not your 'creator’. I will never be your 'creator’. That corporate bullshit doesn’t fly here. I’m here because I want to be here and I’m here for fun, which I think is something your higher ups are forgetting. This site isn’t about content creators or socmed influencers, and I’ve no idea why you think it is. Whomever you’ve bee asking for feedback, and it clearly hasn’t been the current users, isn’t putting you on the right path.
Tumblr doesn’t exist without its userbase, and if you piss that userbase off then they will leave. We’ll exist just fine without Tumblr. You won’t last long without us.
tumblr the website hasnt crossed the trust thermocline yet but. but.
@staff@photomatt see the above. This is the line you do not ever want to cross. We will leave.
And contrary to how @staff apparently think your users want this site to work, that line is defined by our ability to curate our own experience.
Don’t try to be like every other social media site. The fact that Tumblr is not like them (particularly with respect to algorithms and the unique conversation structure of reblog chains) is why Tumblr is still standing.
Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!
Ways to Give:
Anon linked to a fundraiser for a friend who has had some unexpected bills come up, and is having trouble asking for help himself because of anxiety; you can read more and support the fundraiser here.
v-ahavta’s childhood friend’s mother recently had to be hospitalized for a perforated appendix; both she and her daughter are disabled, and are looking at a $250K+ medical bill. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.
nivchara-yahel and rivalconga are disabled queer siblings with ongoing support needs; they are raising funds for help covering housing, food, and medication for chronic illnesses while one looks for from-home work and the other applies for SSDI. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here.
merpancake’s father recently passed, and she had to take some time off work while he was in the hospital; her bank account is now in the red and the AC unit in her son’s room broke down and needs replacing as soon as possible. They’re raising $400 to replace the specialized unit and trying to get back on their feet above and beyond that; you can give via paypal here and she is also offering art commissions at artcake.
Recurring Needs:
beatlesandbards and her partner are being forced out of their apartment with less than 30 days notice (illegally) after the landlord refused to treat severe mold damage and they reported him; they’ve filed a complaint for retaliation but that takes time, and they have to come up with cash for a security deposit and moving costs, and while still recovering from their car (a source of income through Uber driving) being stolen. You can give via venmo here.
Anon linked to a fundraiser for Jamari Woodard, a young Black teen who was recently attacked by a white man and stabbed in the head with a tire iron. He is doing well but not out of the woods yet, and is going to need a lot of support, plus will be facing medical bills. The perpetrator has not yet been caught, but I understand the attack is being pursued as a hate crime. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.
I love building high wis low int dnd characters. They can read people like a book and intuit a lot of complicated situations right off the bat but they can maybe do math sometimes if the planets align just right
This is my ranger in my current campaign and I am LIVING FOR IT
Too Much Situation? Maybe you should have dinner about it. Charmer wants to mind control me? Please, that barely tickled.
But riddles? Where Do These Clues Lead? How Does Any of This Work? What Do With This Technology? Sorry, I have but the one brain cell. Can’t help you
