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.

[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 :|

[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.

[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)

[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 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!

[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.

[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]

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

[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]

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.

[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?

[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.

[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*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Do you have a Tumblr account?

[nenne.livejournal.com]

No. I wouldn't even know how to get one.

[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.

[ladytory.livejournal.com]

I am all for a retirement home where we are sorted into houses! :) I will crochet the house scarves and we can play wheelchair quidditch.

Yes, I was born in July of 1975 and Benedict Cumberbatch was born in July of 1976. He totally falls with in my preferred age range on match.com. ;-)

[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.

[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]

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. ;-)

[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.)