Unwrapping Tumblr for PR Writers at Marquette University
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@ myklnovak • postmarq.tumblr.com • unwrapping.tumblr.com with ADPR 3600: PR Writing at Marquette University Unwrapping Tumblr Jan. 24, 2013
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Tumblr tutorial and tips for public relations students at Marquette University.
Transcript of Unwrapping Tumblr for PR Writers at Marquette University
@myklnovak • postmarq.tumblr.com • unwrapping.tumblr.com
with ADPR 3600: PR Writingat Marquette University
Unwrapping Tumblr
Jan. 24, 2013
20 years with Marquette
MU Public Relations writer/editor from 1992-96
20 years with Marquette
Currently:IT Services
Web Development Manager at
Marquette University
Overview
I. What is Tumblr?
II. Posting on Tumblr
III. Engaging on Tumblr
IV. 12 tips for writers
$1,000 Jeopardy! clue (Dec. 16, 2011)
I: What is Tumblr?
•Place to “follow the world’s creators.”
•“Tumblr makes it effortless to share anything you find or create.”
tumblr.com/why-tumblr
So what’s Tumblr really?
• “...a digital incubator for all things visually stunning.”(Christine Erickson, mashable.com)
• “...a swirl of photographs, songs, inside jokes, animated cartoons and virtual warm fuzzies.” (Jeff Bercovici, Forbes)
• “...the Lost and Found Department of the entire Internet.” (Salon.com)
• “...the end of your social life.” (urbandictionary.com)
Easy posting
Easy sharing
Blogging hybrid
followers
timeline
retweets
favorites
longer posts
pages
scheduling
multimedia
templates
replies
tags
Undercover Tumblr
Dashboard (dash) view
Who’s on Tumblr?llbeanpr.tumblr.com
WITH A BEAN SLANT
Image source: llbean.com
Who’s on Tumblr?
Who’s on Tumblr?
Who’s on Tumblr?
Who’s on Tumblr?
Who’s on Tumblr?
Your favorite Tumblrs?
Demographics
•Top 15 websites in U.S.
•#2 U.S. mobile website
•56% female, 44% male
•Especially attracts ages 18 to 24
•College educated audience
Source: www.quantcast.com/top-sites/US
ranked 13th by
Tumblr hyperactivity
41.4 billiontotal posts on Tumblr
91.1 milliontotal blogs
www.tumblr.com/about/
Google search trends
Google Trends: bit.ly/googletumblr
“Tumblr” surpassed “blog” as a Google search term in Dec. 2012
Tumblr culture“The core of Tumblr’s ‘social’
experience is how people consume and share content
based on their interests, rather than through a
conversation with their social circles.”
(emphasis mine)
— Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch
Why Tumblr for Writers
• Post your own stories and other’s stories
• Mine Tumblr for story ideas
• Engage your readers (Tumblr followers)
• Connect with other writers on Tumblr
• Group blogs allow multiple authors
PR uses for Tumblr?
Chronicle Books contest
Tag:
Write reviews
milwaukee-museums-more.tumblr.com
Haley Teresa Carter
Other MU Tumblrs?
II: Posting to Tumblr
The Dash
•Read posts•Post stuff•Interact
Use top-right corner
• Hover over a post’s top-right corner for date/time
• Click to view post page
In dash...
Access Blog Settings
•From dash, click Settings icon
• In the left column, click yourblog’s name
Blog Settings• Upload your avatar photo to replace...
• Replies – I suggest checking both:
• Allow replies from people you follow.
• Allow replies from people following you for more than 2 weeks.
• Ask – I check “Let people ask questions” but I do not check “Allow anonymous questions”
• Set the time zone (MU is GMT -6:00)
7 types of posts
Choose wisely. Once selected, you cannot switch post types. If text should be a photo, you will need start a new post.
Image driven
of original posts are photos
Source: mashable.com, 11/14/11
GIF: Word of the Year
(as picked by Oxford American Dictionary)
New feature: Panoramas
Photo uploads
•10 MB limit for most images
•Animated GIF limit is 1 MB
•Use JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP
•500 by 700 pixel default for dash
•1280 by 1920 pixel limit for larger version
1. Posting a photo
Click Photo
Upload photo form
Photopost
Add caption (optional, but do it)
Tag it (optional, but do it)
Photopost
Set URL (optional, but do it)
Dash result
Blog result
PhotosetAdd
multiple photos
to a single
post and arrange
2. Text post
Click Text
Text Post form
Textpostingoptions
Compose text post
Styling the post
bold (Ctrl-B or ⌘B)
italic (Ctrl-I or ⌘I)
strike-through
insert/edit link
unlink
numberlist
readmorebreak
bulletlist
uploadimage
blockquote
editHTML
spellcheck
Upload photo in text1. Place cursor at insert
2. Click & select photo
Photo inserted
“Read More” break
• If your all-text post fills more than your whole screen (5+ paragraphs), consider using the “Read More” break.
• After your compelling intro text, the “read more” break offers a link to more.
• It’s optional but good Tumblr etiquette.
read more break
“Read More” break1. Place cursor at insert 2. Click “read more”
“Read More” break
3. Read more break appears
Set URL & photo reply
Set URL
Photo reply(optional)
Click gear
Tag the post
Add tags
Tag the post
• No pound sign needed; Tumblr adds the #
• Spaces allowed in tags
• Comma or return after each tag
• No hyphens in tags
• Search tags from dashboard or use a URL like www.tumblr.com/tagged/marquette
Save draft
Share draft for feedback• From your Drafts
page, click the upper right corner to access an unpublished draft page.
• Copy the URL of the resulting draft blog page and send it to someone for review.
• Reviewer cannot make changes. After the post is published, that URL stops working.
Where are my drafts?
only appears if you have drafts
From Drafts, let’s publish
Text post, dash view
Image is 125 px wide;must click to enlarge
Note “read more”
link
Text post,blog view
Full imageappears
Note “read more”
link
Text post, page view
3. Quote post
“Be ignited, or be gone.”
(Mary Oliver)
4. Link post
5. Chat post
Overheard at Brew Cudahy Cafe:
Barista #1: I’m really tired.
Barista #2: You work in a coffee shop. Do something about it.
6. Audio post
•One audio upload per day
•MP3s only with 10MB limit
•Toll-free number to record
7. Video post
• Embed YouTube or Vimeo by URL
• Upload 5 minutes of video per day
• 100MB max per video file upload
Post options
• I mean, right now
• Stagger your posts
• Schedule your posts
• Stockpile your posts
• Only you or group members
• See preview
Pages• For FAQ, about, résumé or resource content
• Followers cannot like or reblog pages
• To create pages...
• On public blog, click (usually upper right)
• Scroll down the left column to Pages (click to open)
• Click “+ Add a page”
• Resembles text post creation
III: Engaging on Tumblr
• Reblog
• Like
• Reply
• Answer
Notes
Reblog
• Before Twitter’s retweet, there was reblog
• Quickly shares what you love on Tumblr
• Creates a copy to your Tumblr blog
• Allows you to add your own comments
• Attributes to the original author
• Adds to notes on the original post
• Notifies author on dashboard (if set)
Why reblog?
• Share other’s ideas, stories and images
• Strike a balance: creating vs. curating
• Add your own comments and images
• Engages followers; converts non-followers
• Founder/CEO David Karp saw it as a more thoughtful way of engaging online...
bit.ly/karpcomments
Visit the David Karp video link below. Start at the 8-minute mark and go for 4 minutes.
Reblog from dashboard
clickhere
Reblog from blog page
clickhere
Reblogformappears
If you like, add your comments here
Add your tags here
Click reblog post
Reblogging longer textTumblr may
truncate longer text posts to a link post to
save space on the dashboard.
But you want the whole
post...
truncated here
Reblogging longer textClick hereto changereblog type
Reblogging longer text
Click hereto changefrom linkto text
Like
• Marks what you like from Tumblr
• Similar to Twitter favorites
• Does NOT create a post on your blog
• Adds to Notes on the original post
• Likes may appear in a sidebar or link (if set)
• Notifies author on dashboard (if set)
Reply
• Replies to your posts are off by default
• Can allow replies from people you follow
• Can allow replies from those following you for more than two weeks
• For comments, use DISQUS add-on:disqus.com/admin/tumblr/
Reply to a post
• Reply to those you follow
• Click Reply icon on dashboard posts
• 250 character limit
Answer a question
Seen in dash: a question post with answer box
Making a question post
• Start a text, photo, link, audio or video post
• End a text post, headline or a caption with “?”
• The ? prompts this option on the right
• Check “Let people answer this”
• Creates a question post with answer box
Submit stuff to others
dearmarquette.tumblr.com
Bowl of Real Chili in 1980: $1.40; Today: $5.74
Ask others a question
• Click avatar, ask link or go to /ask
• 500-character limit;10 asks/hour
• No web or email addresses
• No “sent items” folder
Send Fan Mail
About Fan Mail
• Must follow for 48 hours to send Fan Mail
• Click mail icon in upper right of blog home (or click the avatar on the dashboard)
• Unlike asks, Fan Mail allows URLs
• Limit of 500 Fan Mails per day
• Fan Mail cannot be disabled, but you can ignore the user to stop unwanted messages
Your Inbox
• Watch for the new message indicator
• Inbox gathers asks and fan mail
• Settings > Email > New Messages for alert
• Fan Mail responses go to their Inbox
• For asks, either publish response to your blog or answer privately to their Inbox
Tie to Twitter/Facebook1. Set up in Blog Settings 2. Select when posting
Integrates to Facebook’s Timeline, News Feed and Ticker. Shares replies and likes on Timeline.
Promote this post
Be careful with promoted posts; not all Tumblr followers like them.
Pinned Post
Pinned posts stay at the top of follower’s dash for 24 hours or until unpinned.
Highlighted Post
Highlighted posts put a flag (“Answer this!”) next to the post on the dashboard.
Following
• Follow accounts that fit your interests
• Click in the upper right of blog
• On the dashboard, click + to follow
Following suggestions
• Spotlight: 55 categoriestumblr.com/spotlight/
• Storyboard:storyboard.tumblr.com
• Media Tumblrs: unwrapping.tumblr.com/media
• Marquette Roster: postmarq.tumblr.com/roster
Seedy side of Tumblr
• Spam likes or reblogs (use “ignore”)
• Beware of phishing for Tumblr logins
• F-bombs, even on official Tumblr stuff
• F***yeah blogs (100,000+ blogs)
Tumblr loves bacon!
26 F***yeah bacon blogs, as of Apr. 2012
Check archive, likes
Track topics with tags• Tracked tags on
upper-right of dash
• Search for tag
• Results show a button
• Click to track tag
• Limited to 20 tags
IV: 12 Tips for Writers
1. Identify yourself
2. Stick with a blog name
3. Add visuals to stories
4. The Tag Advantage
•Only 10% of Tumblr users tag
•Surfaces content for others
•Focus on the first five tags
Top 10 tags on postmarq
5. Consider length
tl;dr
6. Formatting matters
•We read text 25% slower on screen than on paper.
•Use subheads to emphasize your points and create a clean, visual structure.
•Making several points? Consider a list.
7. Post often but stagger
•Post too often and you may receive less notes
•Post infrequently and you may not gain a following
•Undercurrent.com study: One post per day
8. Post in the p.m.
9. Link your related posts1. McCormick Hall2. Mashuda Hall3. Cobeen Hall4. Abbottsford Hall5. O’Donnell Hall6. Carpenter Towe
r
11. Find a blogging niche
12. “Write about what you care about and do it often.
Build up a portfolio of work. Eventually, if your work is good, someone will notice,
and if they don’t, start pitching it to places and
people you respect.”
— Anthony De Rosa (soupsoup.tumblr.com)
Questions?
