I have caved

[beatrice_otter]

...and gotten a tumblr.  I highly doubt I will ever post anything there that I don't also post here--their whole user interface annoys me to no end.  (I get why some people really like their format, but I find it really annoying).  But I wanted to be able to comment on something someone else said, and to do that you need one yourself, and there you have it.

Having it, I might as well at least get it set up.

So!  If you have a tumblr, let me know what your handle is, please, so I can find you there.  Or if there's someone you think I should be following, let me know.

Or if you have advice on how to use it or deal with it or set it up, that would be great to know, too.

If you would like to follow me there, you can find me at: http://beatrice-otter.tumblr.com/

(The benefit of having a fannish name that 1. is not like most peoples' "real" names and 2. is not fannishly or culturally specific is that I can be pretty sure it's not been taken no matter where I go--I've never come across a place where "Beatrice Otter" was taken.)

Comments

[rymenhild]

I am trewandpen, but I haven't figured out how to use Tumblr.

[beatrice_otter]

That makes two of us.

[domarzione]

I'm laporcupina.

The first thing you need to do is get Xkit, which is an extension that lets you customize your tumblr experience and generally make it more bearable -- you can tweak, but you can also filter -- blacklisting words and topics you don't want to see, blocking posts you never want to see again, etc.

[beatrice_otter]

Thank you!

[mmegaera]

That's what I like about MMegaera, too. Lots of other Megaeras out there, but none with the additional first initial [g].

I don't do Tumblr, alas.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

peoriarhetoriapeoria

I myself just recently caved. I was enjoying selectively reblogging with 'correct' tags.

[melannen]

I'm melannen. I started a tumblr a couple years back with exactly the same thoughts you have, but ... it didn't last.

If you are open to the possibility of eventually becoming relatively active on Tumblr, definitely install xkit. Xkit is basically the only way to make the site relatively usable for the stuff most of us use it for. If you don't want to become relatively active on Tumblr, *don't* install xkit - you can follow a few friends just fine without it but will be less likely to be tempted into more because tumblr w/out xkit is so ugh.

[beatrice_otter]

So what exactly does xkit do, how do I get it, and if it's the one thing that makes tumblr useable without wanting to claw your eyes out, why doesn't tumblr duplicate the function of it?

[melannen]

1. It has about seventy-five customizations you can choose to install that each make Tumblr incrementally more useful - everything from making it possible to block posts with stuff in them that you don't want to see, to having a little animated kitty show up on your dash. I currently use the one that makes your PM inbox functional, the one that makes it possible to reply to comments people leave you, the one that makes it possible to actually see the tags on posts, the one that lets you see a post in its original context, the one that puts timestamps on posts, the one that lets you search Tumblr by tags, and about fifteen more.

(Generally you install xkit, and then over time you go "dammit I wish Tumblr did [this incredibly useful and obvious thing]" and then you realize there's an xkit extension for it and install that. And then give thanks to the xkit guy.)

2. Go to xkit.info and the process is pretty smooth after that.

3. Because Tumblr only ever adds functions that *do* make you want to claw your eyes out. It's the principle of the thing. (Every time Tumblr updates something, within 48 hours xkit guy has coded a fix to make it useable again.)

[beatrice_otter]

Ah. Thanks.