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   Mr. Encyclopedia (mrencyclopedia@retro.pizza)'s status on Sunday, 12-Nov-2023 06:06:00 JST Mr. Encyclopedia

   Recently a document came out showing that Automattic, the company that currently owns Tumblr, failed to meet their expectations for revitalizing the site. I could point out how I think their strategy was flawed, but there's an underlying problem that I think is more interesting.

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     Mr. Encyclopedia (mrencyclopedia@retro.pizza)'s status on Sunday, 12-Nov-2023 06:05:54 JST Mr. Encyclopedia

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     I think all the things that Tumblr did in an attempt to boost usage, and all the missteps Tumblr has made over the years, break down to making decisions to boost consumption over creation. They favored folks coming to scroll through a "for you" page, and neglected the people who actually put their creativity on display.

     esmevane, sorry repeated this.
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     Mr. Encyclopedia (mrencyclopedia@retro.pizza)'s status on Sunday, 12-Nov-2023 06:05:56 JST Mr. Encyclopedia

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     This is not how Tumblr was conceived, but it is what their attempts to revitalize it focused on. They tried to make Tumblr a place for people to come consume content, but that's not how Tumblr has ever worked. How do most people see Tumblr? Screenshots shared on other social media sites. Tumblr is for the weirdos who want to make things and collaborate. The quintessential Tumblr post is a witty addition to someone else.

     esmevane, sorry repeated this.
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     Mr. Encyclopedia (mrencyclopedia@retro.pizza)'s status on Sunday, 12-Nov-2023 06:05:57 JST Mr. Encyclopedia

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     Eventually the answer became clear: No, you don't tweet about your lunch. You don't talk about your boring day. You shut up and consume the content of other people who are more interesting than you. It became clear that only a tiny fraction of people produce the majority of content on social media, and the rest are there to watch.

     Sites like Instagram and TikTok are successful because they focus on this by making sure the watchers always have an endless stream of content to consume.

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     Mr. Encyclopedia (mrencyclopedia@retro.pizza)'s status on Sunday, 12-Nov-2023 06:05:59 JST Mr. Encyclopedia

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     Tumblr launched in 2007, during the blog boom. Folks believed the thing you did online was write and talk about yourself. It doesn't have to be interesting, or insightful, it could just be a little diary about your life that others could see if they wanted to.

     This is why in 2006 when Twitter launched, people were amused by it. What am I supposed to do with 140 characters? Talk about my lunch?

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     Mr. Encyclopedia (mrencyclopedia@retro.pizza)'s status on Sunday, 12-Nov-2023 06:06:03 JST Mr. Encyclopedia

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     But the underlying problem still remains: The Internet is no longer a place for people to share themselves. Instead it's gradually becoming something to passively enjoy as algorithms feed you content to keep you engaged. Where that content comes from and who makes it is becoming less and less important, because there's no direct line from content creation to corporate profits.