Before anything, I want to say that I never considered tracking a Tumblr blog with Google Analytics. That's an interesting idea, and I'm going to try it myself. Thanks!
Let me add a bit more anecdotal data to the pile.
I don't think Tumblr performs very well outside of Tumblr, if that makes sense. Unless a post was reblogged by a high-traffic user, my experience is that it is indeed difficult to find through a search engine. Tumblr is also difficult for a non-registered user to navigate, as what appears on a search for any given tag is limited to the "top" three dozen posts, with these posts determined according to fuck knows.
For a registered user (especially a registered user with XKit), though, Tumblr is extremely useful. The tagging system especially is a godsend. For someone like me, who will suddenly become obsessed with one specific thing, tag browsing (on a specific blog or on Tumblr as a whole) can kill an entire weekend. I don't think I'm the only one who does this, since a number of my old posts will periodically be reblogged and get a handful of notes. Sometimes I wake up to find that a post from a year or two ago will have gotten more than a hundred notes overnight.
Of course, the tagging system isn't perfect. It seems that, if a post doesn't initially get a minimum number of notes (and I'm not sure what this number is), then it won't appear on the tag. Still, sometimes posts with no notes will appear on a tag if the poster's blog is associated with that tag, but I'm not sure how a user comes to be associated with a tag.
In terms of Tumblr killing fandom, obviously it's subjective, but I don't think that statement can be justified from a broader perspective. If "fandom" as a whole is an organic movement revolving around unlicensed creative responses to entertainment media, then the surge in participation facilitated by Tumblr has not hindered anything. If "fandom" is more narrowly defined, however, then I could see several interesting arguments being made concerning the gradual disappearance of older online cultures.
If there were more hours in the day, I would love to put together a collection of "Tumblr is killing fandom" essays, if only to see if there's any concordance in opinion. I bet there's already a number of links on the Fanlore Wiki or maybe there's a tag on Tumblr.
Sorry for writing a five-paragraph essay. I just... what even is Tumblr, anyway?
no subject
Let me add a bit more anecdotal data to the pile.
I don't think Tumblr performs very well outside of Tumblr, if that makes sense. Unless a post was reblogged by a high-traffic user, my experience is that it is indeed difficult to find through a search engine. Tumblr is also difficult for a non-registered user to navigate, as what appears on a search for any given tag is limited to the "top" three dozen posts, with these posts determined according to fuck knows.
For a registered user (especially a registered user with XKit), though, Tumblr is extremely useful. The tagging system especially is a godsend. For someone like me, who will suddenly become obsessed with one specific thing, tag browsing (on a specific blog or on Tumblr as a whole) can kill an entire weekend. I don't think I'm the only one who does this, since a number of my old posts will periodically be reblogged and get a handful of notes. Sometimes I wake up to find that a post from a year or two ago will have gotten more than a hundred notes overnight.
Of course, the tagging system isn't perfect. It seems that, if a post doesn't initially get a minimum number of notes (and I'm not sure what this number is), then it won't appear on the tag. Still, sometimes posts with no notes will appear on a tag if the poster's blog is associated with that tag, but I'm not sure how a user comes to be associated with a tag.
In terms of Tumblr killing fandom, obviously it's subjective, but I don't think that statement can be justified from a broader perspective. If "fandom" as a whole is an organic movement revolving around unlicensed creative responses to entertainment media, then the surge in participation facilitated by Tumblr has not hindered anything. If "fandom" is more narrowly defined, however, then I could see several interesting arguments being made concerning the gradual disappearance of older online cultures.
If there were more hours in the day, I would love to put together a collection of "Tumblr is killing fandom" essays, if only to see if there's any concordance in opinion. I bet there's already a number of links on the Fanlore Wiki
or maybe there's a tag on Tumblr.Sorry for writing a five-paragraph essay. I just... what even is Tumblr, anyway?