LJ vs. Tumblr

[emmagrant01]

I've had a Tumblr account for almost a year now, though I've used it more heavily in the last four months than I did before that. Several people told me it was where fandom "is" now, and so I thought, all right, I'll go check it out. And after four fairly intense months, I can really only conclude that if that's where the huge metropolis of fandom lives, I'm just going to have to be left behind in the rural stretches of LJ. There are things I love about it, but Tumblr just doesn't feel like fandom to me, somehow.



Things Tumblr does better than LJ:

1. It's a fantastic place to check out multimedia fannish works. It's easy to upload images, audio files, videos, etc., and it's really easy to share them by reblogging. It's a very visual space and seems to be the place to go for fanart these days.

2. It feels very immediate. If something happens in some fandom, it's just instantly on Tumblr and everyone is aware. There are caps of tweets, gifsets of whatever happened in tonight's episode of some show, links to articles in newspapers relevant to your fandom, and so on. When I want to know how everyone reacted to something, I head over to Tumblr.

3. It's a great way to get a quick overview of what's going on in fandom. Scrolling through LJ looking for fannish news isn't always easy because of the fact that it's a set of connected journals, and people write about their lives and non-fannish things along with the fannish stuff. If I just want to immerse myself in fun gifsets and fannish injokes and not think very hard, Tumblr is definitely the place to go for that.

4. It's a great place for fannish analysis and meta, interestingly. Especially for those meta essays that are just put out there as editorials about fandom, without any expectation of disagreement or discussion of the subject. There are Tumblr blogs that read like books in that way, for example, analyzing Sherlock episodes and pointing out and commenting on tiny details. Tumblr is a great place for that sort of thing.

Things LJ does better than Tumblr:

1. Tumblr seems to be terrible place for anything other than multimedia fanworks and fandom news. It's not a good place to post fic (though many people do), and it's extremely difficult to have conversations there. When people reply to a post you make, it's hard even to just reply to them. There's no way of threading conversations that I can tell. I use missing-e, and that helps, but still. The way people talk to each other on LJ via threaded conversations is a huge part of how I've been participating in fandom all along, and it's not the same experience without it.

2. The hive mind memory on Tumblr is extremely short-lived. Posts happen, get reblogged, and then disappear pretty quickly. There aren't really even easy ways to search for things. Tags don't really help as much as I expected them to because people use them to comment on posts, rather than to organize their stuff. People do that on LJ as well, but there are other ways to search for things on LJ. LJ has a short attention span too, but somehow it's not as short as Tumblr. If I want to catch up on a friend's posts, it's really easy to do. I go straight to her journal and navigate back, comment on posts, etc. That's also possible on Tumblr, but not everyone allows commenting on their posts, for example. You can reblog with your own comment, but that's not necessarily viewed as a direct response to that other person; it's more like the equivalent of copying someone else's LJ post, adding your own comments to it, and then posting it on your LJ -- not exactly conducive to conversation.

3. Personal communication on Tumblr utterly sucks. There is a lot of fangirl squee, but there's also a lot of opportunity for anon hate and snark. Just this morning I saw three people post public replies to fairly mean anon comments they'd gotten on Tumblr. The culture of LJ is different from that, somehow. I mean, anon hate happens, but amongst fans, there's a sense of "this is your journal and it's your space to say what you want". Maybe I'm wrong, but in my experience people don't get the kind of hate mail through LJ that they do through Tumblr. Tumblr blogs don't seem to be viewed as personal spaces in the same way as journals do on LJ.

4. Here is where I'll sound like a bit of an old fart, but the average age on Tumblr seems to be around 16. And you know, there's only so much teen angst I can take on a daily basis. The average age on LJ seems to be much closer to 30, and I'm just a lot more comfortable reading about adult angst at this point in my life, perhaps.

I could go on, but now I'm curious to know what others think. How do you use Tumblr and LJ differently to participate in fandom?

Comments

[spookykat.livejournal.com]

I have a tumblr account and like you if I want a Gif or something fandom-related, I go to Tumblr, but oherwise, I like LJ a LOT better for all the reasons you just mentioned. LJ for me is more community-oriented whereas Tumblr has the attention span of a flea. And the average age of Tumblr users turn me off as well. So even though it's less-populated now, I'm still here.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It definitely feels quieter around here than it did a few years ago. At the height of the HP fandom days, If I didn't check LJ daily there would be 1000 posts I'd missed. These days I can go a few days and it doesn't seem like I've missed a lot.

I definitely love the community feel of LJ. It's one of the things I love most about fandom!

[http://users.livejournal.com/__hibiscus/]

but Tumblr just doesn't feel like fandom to me, somehow

I agree.

There are things I like about tumblr but LJ will always be fandom for me. I can find all the pretty pretty graphics and gifs and art on tumblr but I turn to LJ for fics and interactions.

And the fact that the majority of tumblr people are under the age of 20 makes me all :|

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's exactly the division for me: fic and conversation on LJ, graphics and squee on Tumblr.

I think part of the eye-rolly part for me is that so many angsty posts are complaining about parents and teachers being so awful and unfair, and well, I happen to be both a parent and a teacher. So, yeah. :-P

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

but the average age on Tumblr seems to be around 16

I think that entirely depends on who you follow. The people I follow range in age from 19 or so up through late 30s and (probably) early 40s.

I have, however, unfollowed for exactly the kind of adolescent angsting you're talking about.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I'm sure the sheer amount of teenagers I see on there has to do with the fandoms I'm in. But still, the average age of the sample of, say, Sherlock fans I follow on Tumblr is way lower than the average age of the Sherlock fans I follow on LJ. I think there's something about Tumblr that is more appealing to people just coming into fandom than LJ is, somehow.

[freckles42.livejournal.com]

I think Tumblr appeals to the same group that LJ appealed to ten years ago, generally.

But as it stands, I still prefer LJ over Tumblr (even though I am an avid Tumblr user). LJ archives my thoughts and works and conversations. Tumblr is far more fleeting and in-the-moment, as you've noted.

I really wish I could filter my tumblr page, too - both what posts go up (I'd love even just a "friends-only" or "can't reblog" button) and what I read.

LJ will always be my social media home. Nothing quite serves my needs the way that LJ does. I don't post as much as I want to, but so it goes.

(I'd personally love to have a once-a-day tumblr posts aggregator that cross-posts under LJ-cut to my journal, so I could go back and find old posts more easily and keep track of some of the things going on in my life at the time.)

Tumblr = fannish squee
LJ = where we live and have conversations
(twitter = news and brain-dumps)
(fb = other peoples' kids' poop updates)
(pinterest = SHINY THINGS)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think Tumblr appeals to the same group that LJ appealed to ten years ago, generally.

LOL, that could be the entire issue, right there. Whatever the hot social media for fandom was when you came in is where you tend to feel most comfortable. In 10 years it'll be something else entirely, and the Tumblr users will complain about how it's not like the old days. ;-)

An aggregator for LJ would be awesome, actually. Fantastic idea! I wonder if anyone's done it?

[pennswoods.livejournal.com]

This encapsulates a lot of what I've been observing in my 4 days on Tumblr. If you happen to be on when something big takes place, you'll know within minutes. LJ moves far slower. And it's an easy place to squee along with everyone else, but it's not a good place for sustained conversation or the development of close personal relationships.

I think the age difference is also really salient to me right now. There a lot of 23-26 year olds moaning about being too old and snarking at the inexperience of the 16-19 year olds. And I find it so odd how many people list their ages, professions, pictures on their tumblr. There's almost too much revealing of the self.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

it's an easy place to squee along with everyone else, but it's not a good place for sustained conversation or the development of close personal relationships.

Yes, absolutely. Tumblr feels a bit like walking around at a huge con and squeeing at things that catch your eye, while LJ is like sitting down on the sofa at said con and having conversations with people.

And I find it so odd how many people list their ages, professions, pictures on their tumblr.

OMG, yes! My experience of fandom has always been that people are protective of their RL identities, and very few people would post pictures of themselves publicly, much less in a way that allows them to be easily spread all over the web, completely out of your personal control. I guess that there's a sort of unwritten code on LJ about fans protecting each other's privacy, and the expectation is that you *want* your privacy protected. I suppose that's probably a function of how young people use social media, though, without really thinking through the long-term consequences.

[ladytory.livejournal.com]

If you don't mind, I shall just hobble over here with my walker and plop down in a rocking chair here on LJ. Since I am the ripe old age of 36.

I do find it amusing that I am roughly the same age as some of the men that all the teenagers are fangirling over on Tumblr. :D

And I can't read fic on Tumblr. I always come here or get links from here to AO3.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

There's that idea of a fandom retirement home, right? ;-)

I do that laugh/cringe thing quite a lot when I see people talking about how OLD Martin Freeman is. His birthday is almost exactly 3 weeks after mine, LOL. I also cringe when John complains about being old in fics, because seriously? He's canonically late 30s, right? *eye roll*

[nenne.livejournal.com]

I don't really use Tumblr at all. I follow links there, but have no idea how to make comments or ask about something. So I usually just read or watch what ever was linked and get out of there again.

Teenage angst seems like a good reason to stay away all together.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Do you have a Tumblr account?

[furiosity.livejournal.com]

I was really glad to see this post rationally and calmly addressing the pros and cons because usually LJ people just dismiss Twitter and Tumblr as inferior. I agree with your assessments of the pros and cons -- the underage thing is particularly concerning to me. Part of the reason I'm reluctant to add anyone on Tumblr that isn't a topical blog (advice animals, catspams, etc) is that I just would feel really gross squeeing over porn with people who are underage. (I don't begrudge them the squee or discussion; I just don't think it's appropriate for ME to be in the same squee-space as they are). Even when I just hit the like button on a post from one of the OTP blogs I follow, I kind of cringe a bit because for all I know the mod could be 14. /o\

I think it's inevitable that Tumblrs aren't viewed as personal spaces because reblogs rule the day. People's LJs are typically filled with self-created content, which gives not just a sense of ownership but a sense of stability/uniformity. I mean, if you look at my Tumblr, it's like it's written by someone with a vast array of personalities because I'm squealing about TINY BABY OWLS in one breath, wishing some conservative nitwit extreme ill in the next, and capslocking about a beloved series in the next, etc, plus random photos, anime caps, occasional crossposts from LJ and the odd ask reply. I don't really bother updating LJ with fannish things anymore, unless I have fic, because most fannish things I have to say can fit on Twitter. /o\

I'm way over the idea of "keeping fandom in one place". It used to be important to me -- I think part of it was a protective kneejerk response to all the crap LJ kept pulling against fandom, or maybe that I only really had one fandom, but since I went from monofannish to ridiculously multifannish, I kind of have a sense of being happy to get my fandom fix wherever I can find it (that might have to do with being in a large number of small fandoms).

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, I hadn't even thought about the implications of reblogging something porny from or following an underaged person. 0_o

I'm way over the idea of "keeping fandom in one place".

Me too, for exactly the reasons you state here. I had always thought it would make fandom feel less cohesive if people went all these different places for their fannish experience, and in a sense it does, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, it turns out. For example, it seems like (and I could be totally wrong here, but) it's a lot harder for an entire fandom to get paralyzed by wank these days. Five years ago if there was wank in the HP fandom, you almost had to go offline to avoid it. But now I can just hop over to some other fandom spot and keep going until it's safe to come back. Strikethrough 2007 felt like an assault on fandom, IIRC. There were entire panels at Prophecy that changed their topics to "What are we going to do if we can't play on LJ?" It's hard to imagine that something could simultaneously shut down or take over LJ, DW, Tumblr, Twitter, and whatever else place people play.

So I suppose I'm able to customize my fannish experience a lot more than I could a few years ago. Before LJ, it was even less customizeable (mailing lists and such), so I can really only view it as a good thing. And oddly, I'm not finding it all that hard to manage the different places, which was a fear some people expressed about decentralization years back. When the content isn't replicated across these sites, it's not all that hard to do, somehow.

[lusciousxander.livejournal.com]

Wonderful post! And I agree completely with your reasons to why LJ is better than Tumblr. I'm an active user of Tumblr and I reblog posts everyday, but generally, I enjoy reading essays and meta in LJ because it's easier to engage in discussions in it. Easier to leave a good feedback to a fic in it. And easier to post a fic in it.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

LJ definitely feels like more of a hang-out spot to me. There's not a heck of a lot of interaction on Tumblr, and sometimes, that's exactly what I want. When I want to feel like I have a social life, LJ is the place to be. ;-)

[cassie-black12.livejournal.com]

I have a tumblr and I do spend many a happy hour reblogging pretty pictures, but I much prefer the format of LJ for things such as fic, fan art, chatting with people etc.

It seems to be the place for newer fandoms - I know a lot of Glee fandom is based there - but I find it to be an incredibly 'wanky' place, so I only look at the pretties!!

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I've definitely seen the way it can propel wank, so much faster than LJ ever could. That's not a good thing, but when it propels squee and news, it can be really exciting. I'm not really even in Glee fandom, but I see so much of it on my dash! I have to avoid Tumblr if I don't want to be spoiled for new episodes, LOL.

[sorion.livejournal.com]

Well, Tumblr is definitely the place to go for Cumberbitches and Sherlockians...

Not for fic, obviously, but for feeling visually right at home ;) And lots of the Sherlock discussions/theories start there.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a great place for pictures and gifs and news. I love that about Tumblr, but that's not enough for me, I guess. I don't really see actual discussion about anything of substance happen on Tumblr. I see people talking at each other a lot, but for the most part it's along the lines of one person states an opinion and then people reblog it with their own comment added. And that's kind of it. :-P

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

I have a lot more sympathy now for the people who decided to stick it out with mailing lists when a lot of fandom moved to journalling sites. I've tried out a couple of Tumblr accounts to see if it works for anything I do, but it just doesn't feel like a good fit for me. It's great for searching for fanart and gifs (although finding the person to credit is sometimes trickier), and I'm following some really good news and social issues aggregates there, but I don't think it'll be my main fandom hangout.

(It doesn't help that the show I'm currently getting into is aimed at kids and teenagers, and I've been encountering a lot of "Ewww, there are people out of college still in fandom?" there.)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, I've definitely seen a lot of that attitude! I suppose it's not all that different than teenagers of every generation thinking they invented something that's actually been around forever.

although finding the person to credit is sometimes trickier

The nettiquette on Tumblr is something I'm still trying to work out. On LJ you wouldn't DARE take a piece of fanart you've stumbled across and post it publicly with no attribution, but on Tumblr it happens all the time. :-P

[ella-bane.livejournal.com]

Great breakdown, Emma!

LJ is more personal for me because of the discussion aspect. Tumblr is great for when I just want to lurk and look at the pretty. In the end though, LJ remains my primary fandom playground.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Tumblr is great for when I just want to lurk and look at the pretty.

Yes, exactly! Sometimes, I just need a distraction, and Tumblr fits the bill. But LJ still feels like home, absolutely.

[zhonnika.livejournal.com]

One thing about fic posting on tumblr, is that people post RPF there..... for shows like Glee, filled with casts that USE TUMBLR *screams* This just skeeves me out, and hey, I LIKE RPF. I really wouldn't want the people in the fic to run into it there, tho, lol.

My tumblr is very focused on one thing, and I use it differently than LJ. I reach a different audience with it, and that's fine. If I wanted to discuss things in my fandom, I'd take them to LJ. For pretty pics, and videos and stuff, sure, tumblr is awesome.

I, too, feel old on tumblr. But hey, that's what I get for approaching 40 ;)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

for shows like Glee, filled with casts that USE TUMBLR

This is a great point and something I totally forgot to address in my post. Tumblr is just so visible and it does freak me out a bit that the creators of shows and the actors all know about it and some even actively look for things there. It's like it's become the public face of fandom (for better or for worse), whereas LJ has always felt almost private.

Geez, 10 years ago there were lots of archives that password-protected porny fic and art. You had to make a special request to some mod and get approved before you could get access to it. Those days are long gone, not that I'm complaining -- I always found that aspect of fandom annoying, personally.

But still, I'd rather fandom be separate. I don't care if the creators are aware of its existence, but I don't think any good can come of them getting involved in it on any level. I cringe every time I see that some fan has directly referenced some porny fanwork when tweeting at a celebrity, because seriously, what are they expecting will happen? How does it do any of us any good to shove fandom in their faces that way?

[essie007.livejournal.com]

I actually can't stand tumblr for most of the reasons you list (and I'm a fairly young person so shouldn't I want to make the switch?) I do use my tumblr account, because a lot of my friends are over there, not to mention a lot of fantastic fanartists and authors that I love to follow. But every time I go on I get frustrated or annoyed or disappointed and start missing lj.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I think it's probably true for most of us that the place you started your fannish experience is going to define what it means to you to participate in fandom, and when the medium changes, that part isn't going to go away. I have a certain set of expectations about what it means to participate in fandom, and when I'm in a place like Tumblr where I can't do many of them, it's frustrating. And for the people whose fannish experience is defined by Tumblr, I'm sure it's no big deal. They'd probably hate the fact that it's harder here to share other people's content. (Without recognizing that some of us prefer it that way.)

[onlyonechoice.livejournal.com]

I have a Tumblr account that has only two posts of my own content, and the rest is reblogs - I use it to keep up with Sherlock/Benedict Cumberbatch/Martin Freeman stuff and to reblog awesome pictures or posts from the fandom and from friends.

I've had an LJ for just over nine years now and I use that to keep up with my friends and post updates about my life - I also have a couple of fandom LJs where I archive my fic.

I like the interactive nature of LJ over Tumblr - it's easier to have discussions and conversations here on LJ, where on Tumblr I can't even figure out how to enable replies on my own posts. I like Tumblr for the ease of posting gifs and photos, and I love that I don't have to generate my own content on two social networking platforms.

*chuckles* And, as a 40 year old, I like that there are older folks on LJ who aren't squeeing about graduating high school or going on about how OLD some of these celebs are.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

And, as a 40 year old, I like that there are older folks on LJ who aren't squeeing about graduating high school or going on about how OLD some of these celebs are.

OMG, yes. That just boggles me sometimes.

I like Tumblr for the ease of posting gifs and photos, and I love that I don't have to generate my own content on two social networking platforms.

I've posted very little of my own content on Tumblr. Other than fic announcements, the stuff I've posted has only received a handful of notes. So clearly people aren't following me for that stuff there! If I have something to say, I tend to say it on LJ. Tumblr is more for reblogging pretty things. ;-)

[helens78]

You're not the first person I've seen who really, really prefers to keep conversation on LJ/DW instead of Tumblr! What I've found is that Tumblr is great for tiny, short conversations, where people are just exchanging a few thoughts about a very specific subject. Since I've been in a fairly intense GAD phase lately, and my attention span isn't really up to lengthy back-and-forth conversations, this has been wonderful for me. (In other words: Tumblr is a more approriate place for someone with my particular disability, as it stands at the moment. And... whoa, it took me a second to realize that was actually what was happening, and it feels weird saying so out loud, you know? But still. Whoa.)

I'm also finding that I'm willing to follow people on Tumblr that I might not want to follow on LJ/DW; again, that's an attention span thing, but it also means I'm meeting people and interacting with people that I would just never run into otherwise. So it's been possible for me to meet people and get to know them just on Tumblr!

I have joked that Tumblr is like a kinkmeme for people who are inspired by pictures and fanart, because little off-the-cuff snippets are something I post there a lot. I know it's not the ideal fic-reading experience, but then those pieces aren't the ideal fic, either. ^_^

But part of what's been so exciting for me about Tumblr is that I've never been in a big, active fandom with lots of fanart before, and now that I am, it's exciting to be able to see so much fanart and so much squee rolling by all the time! I came to almost every single fandom I was ever in about five years after its heyday, so the fact that I can actually feel immediate with my fandom is pretty exciting, and unlikely to get old soon. :)

I think Tumblr also helps a lot with fannish drift. XMFC isn't nearly as big as it was last year (it was one of last year's summer fandoms; this year, the torch has been passed to The Avengers), but the fact that you can still get pictures of the actors doing their current projects means that the fandom still has things to talk about and things to be inspired by, even with no current canon on the big screen. So the fandom may not be quite as active on the kinkmeme, or whatever, but when Fassbender shows up in promos for Prometheus, we all cheerfully cry out for sexbot fic, and whatnot. :)

I do think it's funny that I read LJ for you and reena_jenkins and loobeeinthesky and otherwise I don't know anyone on LJ anymore -- everyone else I hang out with, including all the people I got to know in 2004-ish and have been hanging out with ever since, are over on Dreamwidth. My DW reading list is a lot more active than my LJ list, but it is also a lot less fandom-based... er, I mean, I know these people through fandom, but I share a fandom with very, very few of them! So really thinking about it... Tumblr has really become the primary place I get any fandom-specific activity; DW is really more for people who are friends, or who share fannish interests (like podfic or kinky fic), but not where I keep my squee. (I suspect I'm not alone in that, either, because DW has always been so much smaller than LJ that it was impossible to specialize quite so much. Here on LJ, a few years ago, you could have a flist that was all people from a single fandom, and it would be active and busy, but on DW, we've never really had that -- we've all gotten to know each other based on other stuff. Interesting thought!)

[onlyonechoice.livejournal.com]

OMG!

Small, small world :D You wrote my favorite Flashpoint fic! I've recced It's The Only Moment That Counts to everyone Donna/Jessica Steen fan I know.

May I friend you?

[elfflame]

You've pretty much said what I think about the two, though I think even meta suffers on Tumblr. I think Tumblr does media best, and LJ etc are better at text in general. Especially responses.

As for age range, I definitely agree. I think it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't make such a fuss of it, but they do seem to shout it out over there. And I know that there are older, but they don't seem to be the ones who talk about it. Even things you think they wouldn't be the leaders on, they seem to be the most vocal--I've been looking for a good Beatles tumblr ever since I got there. I've already gone through at least three because they posted so often and went on rambling talks about their lives instead of posting about actual Beatles things...

As for searching on tumblr, it is hit or miss, but I have been shocked at what I've been able to find. Another option, if you need it is using google, and searching for what you want + tumblr, and it'll bring up a bit more.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yeah the fan culture there is really different, and I think that's one of the things I've been struggling with there. I have an expectation of how fandom discourse goes, and when I try to do that there, I get little response. So it's sort of confusing to me when people say they have all these amazing discussions there, because I not only can't figure out how to engage with people that way, but I don't even SEE those big discussions happening. SO either I'm really missing something, or people have a different definition of big discussion than I do. :-P

[dracavia]

I haven't bothered to get a tumbler account. Everything I've read/seen about it seems to be more hassle than it's worth, and the odd thing on it that I am interested in (like Simon Pegg's many wondrous comments) are almost always posted on at least one of the blogs I follow on my LJ flist. I much prefer LJ/DW for fandom interaction for pretty much all the reasons you listed for why LJ is better than Tumbler. It's the same reason my fandom interaction in things like Yahoo!Groups has significantly decreased over the years as well. The LJ-style blogging format just seems to have the best all-around feel to me.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I do love Tumblr for what it is, I really do. It just isn't going to be my primary spot for fannish participation, I think. LJ is the best combination of my favorite things about fandom, but I also enjoy Twitter and Tumblr. Like f and I were discussing above, I'm not looking for a centralized on-stop-shop for fandom anymore, and that's okay with me, because ther really isn't all that much overlap of content between the places.

[chickadilly.livejournal.com]

I just can't get into Tumblr for all of the reasons you state here. I look at mine every once in a while but I just don't GET the appeal. The graphics are nice but it feels like there's very little substance and it's impossible to have a conversation there. The reblogging thing eludes me even though I've done it occasionally. It seems like its the equivelent of the FB 'Like my status' thing - if you like/agree with something you reblog but it feels like other than that there's no way to really engage with an original post.

I mostly hang out on LJ and Twitter these days for fannish stuff. It really bums me out that Tumblr seems to be replacing LJ as the place to 'be' too - it's just inferior to me. (But that's just me so ... )

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It's definitely about the shiny there! And you know, sometimes shiny is exactly what I need. ;-)

But yeah, it's frustrating that it's almost impossible to engage with people directly. Replies are even limited to something like tweet length. It's like it's set up to prevent people from having more than superficial discussions.

[waterbird.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this. I haven't had a chance to really explore Tumblr, but I'd also heard that fandom had "moved" there. I'd like to check it out sometime, but you've convinced me not to make it a priority ... which, with a little baby to run after all day, was unlikely to happen anyway. :)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Well, I didn't mean to do that, honestly. Tumblr is cool for what it is, but for me, it's not going to be my primary place to participate in fandom. It;s sort of the fannish equivalent of reading a trashy magazine, I think. ;-)

[nivahl.livejournal.com]

For the fun, I go to tumblr.
For the fiction, LJ or AO3.

p.s. and I am and "old" 38 years girl... ;)

I love both.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's basically it for me too!

[floppybelly.livejournal.com]

I'm 21, for reference. I use Tumblr for my writing, and for keeping up on current trends in fandom. I only really use LJ for following artists/authors who rarely post anywhere else.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

What kind of writing do you post there? Like fics or meta, or something else? Without a way of archiving, it doesn't seem like a good place to post fic. I see a lot of links to AO3, that sort of thing, but not really much actual fic except drabbling-type short things in response to a gifset.

[girlofavalon.livejournal.com]

I've got a Tumblr account, but it's pretty much secondary to me. I'm still trying to get the hang of that site, but at least for now I prefer LJ.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I definitely prefer LJ, but hanging out on Tumblr is sort of the fannish equivalent of reading Cosmo, yanno? It's fun. :-D

[wickedcherub.livejournal.com]

I think one more thing - and it's probably different for you, because you are likely to have a large following in both places, is that strangers are much likely to respond to my posts on Tumblr.

I have a larger following on LJ - my Tumblr doesn't have a consistent theme, nor do I keep up updating it - but if I post to fandom as a whole and tag it properly, people will respond on Tumblr, whereas I can only rely on the few people on my LJ who are part of my fandom to respond on LJ.

It also seems to be where the people are. I love LJ wholeheartedly, and a *lot* of people on Tumblr have LJ, but no one's posting and I can hear crickets. LJ requires you to come up with your own material. To participate in fandom on LJ, you have to contribute by writing, drawing, recc-ing etc. On Tumblr, you can just reblog and voila! YOU ARE PART OF FANDOM. There's no effort involved and it's a lovely feeling :D

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

On Tumblr, you can just reblog and voila! YOU ARE PART OF FANDOM. There's no effort involved and it's a lovely feeling

I can see that, though honestly that's all I do on Tumblr! I have a lot of followers, but I don't really understand why because I don't generate any content. I literally just reblog things I find interesting and that I want to be able to find again. I basically use Tumblr as a way to archive gifsets, I guess. I've only posted something I created a handful of times, and for the most part there was no response. I mean geez, nothing like there would be here.

Maybe I just haven't discovered the formula for getting people to respond on Tumblr. :-P