subject: John Mayer's Twitter To Tumblr Chatter [print this page] John Mayer's Twitter To Tumblr Chatter John Mayer's Twitter To Tumblr Chatter
Weekends are perfect for trying out new things. And this weekend, I went a Tumblr'n!Yes, I am talking about that other social media network, Tumblr. Back in 2007, a small group of bloggers from New York City launched Tumblr, based on the concept of a tumblelog. A tumblelog is a variation on blogs that tends towards shorter stream-of-consciousness posts, often with mixed media. Off the bat, it's like Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and Flick'r all rolled into one! It is interactive just like Facebook, facilitates microblogging just like Twitter but definitely good for comprehensive blogging just like Blogger, and shows high-resolution photos just like Flick'r. Apparently, there are 30 reasons why you should love Tumblr and publicity-wise, it caused quite a stir just last year when famous musician John Mayer announced that he is closing his Twitter account and is moving on to Tumblr. His personal opinion on why Tumblr is better than Twitter catapulted the former's meteoric rise to online and offline fame.Here's a reblog of John Mayer's post entitled, "Twitter Isn't "Over," I'm Over It."Last week in Los Angeles I participated in a live Q&A as part of an ASCAP expo on songwriting. When the topic of Twitter came up, I explained my waning interest in it being part of my daily life. By no means do I think it's over as a medium altogether, but I do think that the days of "Twitter: The Breakthrough" have passed, as has been and will continue to be the case for every online social network. It's reached its cruising altitude, so to speak. Patterns and templates are emerging. The Twitter-bred syntax isn't really doing it for me anymore.And call me crazy, but I don't think it's the healthiest thing in the world to read scads of mentions/@replies and effectively open the floodgate of other people's approval/disapproval. Finding out in 140 characters what a stranger has to say about you is like a mathematical equation without an established value of 'x'. Who are you, stranger? What do you stand for? What do you like, and if it's not me, then what does move you? What DO you look up to? Once I figure that out, I'll know how disappointed I'd be.This is where Tumblr comes in. It's the future of social networking if your image of the future features intelligent discourse. I love reading other Tumblr users replies, because they're thoughtful by virtue of the fact that if they're not, they'll bring the intellectual property value of their own blog down, and that's a commodity on Tumblr. This post is an experiment in itself. If you want to communicate with me, open a Tumblr account, follow me, repost my blog and then add to it. I'll follow you back. Agree or disagree, lionize or demonize, but for God's sake, be original. You'll have all the room in the world to do it now.JMTalk about a major endorsement for free! My question is: do you think that Twitter is over? Are you on Tumblr?
