Tumblr: Who has one and is it worth starting one?

[Clara Oswald]

I've got a FB page for both my cosplay and my knitting that I do, and I was wondering if I should start a Tumblr too.  Would that help gain more exposure to what I do? Is it worth my time?  I really know nothing about it save for our DW Cosplay one.  I'd love to hear your opinions and see your Tumblrs if you don't mind sharing!

[Moonflower]

I have a tumblr. I've actually had one for a while, but I didn't start using it until lately. One thing I'll say about it, it's addicting. And really fun, 'cause you find people who like things you do as well. But I'm probably not much help, since I've only started using mine. xD
Here's one of mine: frostyimpossiblegirl.tumblr.com/
(I actually think both of mine, my personal one and my Marvel cosplay one, are in my signature, but anyway. xD)

[Fnuggi]

I do have a Tumblr, but I don't use it for my cosplay stuff. Instead, I use DeviantArt, the reasons for this being that I feel it's easier to organize my photos and control who has access to/can download them - and they also have a great feature where you can add a DA watermark to your pictures with your DA url on it so people can't download your photos without there being a link back to your gallery.

as for exposure, I'm not sure which one'll give you the most exposure. It seems like it's 50/50, so you should go with whichever one of these you feel most comfortable using.

also, if you want to check out my tumblr, the link's www.uss-damnitjim.tumblr.com - be warned, there's some NSFW stuff on it, so if that's not your cup of tea, you might want to not click the link.

[Torchwood TeaBoy]

I only got a tumblr recently and it tends to be a mess of everything from cosplay to fanart to RP to LGBTQ articles to silly cat memes. I've got a nice little group of other DW cosplayers I've been conversing with.  I also tend to reblog and tag cosplay research for myself.

torchwood-teaboy.tumblr.com/  It usually isn't very SFW, because generally I'm not SFW.

[claireish]

I've been using tumblr for a few years now, and I really like it. I have to say that your mileage may vary though, because it probably isn't good for everything (unless you're creative about it) and it's just not everyone's cup of tea. Plus, a lot of it is really the people you follow and who follows you (and what small percentage of those people actually engage with you, though I find that engaging first does help when making friends as well). Basically, for what it sounds like you want to do, it might be difficult, because while you might want to use it to gain more exposure, it also takes a certain amount of exposure in order for people to actually see what you post (if you do end up making one, I'd recommend getting someone to give you a crash course in how the dash works, reblogging, the messaging systems, and most of all tagging and how that works) (also xkit, which is an extension that helps make tumblr more user-friendly). Overall, I would actually say yes. Make a tumblr, post your cosplay, be sure to tag it, and if you like it and whatever community you may find there then do whatever you will with it. That's one of the things I like about it, that it's pretty much completely whatever you make of it. And if you don't like it or if it turns out to not help your cosplay then no big deal, you can abandon it or delete it or only show up long enough to upload a picture or two every so often.

I also wanna say that if you want to use it to seek out or share other content (such as what everyone else lists above), then I'd recommend trying it and seeing how you like the format. If you're gonna do that though, then I'd suggest maybe making multiple blogs (which you can do with a single account) and making whichever one you think you'll use more your primary blog.

As for me, my tumblr is sideranobis.tumblr.com/ . I mainly reblog pretty Doctor Who things, particularly RTD era Doctor Who, and even more particularly everything Doctor/Rose. Like that's really mainly what I post, the entire thing's a bit of a Doctor/Rose mess if I'm completely honest. I do sometimes reblog other pretty stuff from other fandoms (Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, and Community for example), and I keep saying that I'll try to post more personal-ish stuff but I always seem to have something else on my mind. If anyone happens to take a look and you like what you see then by all means give me a follow, but if it's not your thing then please don't feel obligated to. I've got some stuff to do at the moment, but once I'm free I'm definitely gonna check out everyone else's.

[Moonflower]

Claireish, you got your theme from the same person I got mine! Mine is her Clara theme. But yeah, I'm checking out your blog, and it's awesome!

[Clara Oswald]

Thanks for all the info guys. I might start one this spring to promote my knitting, art, and cosplay, so it will be in conjunction with my FB page. What I'm really aiming to do is get to the point where my knitting, art, and costume making really start paying off when I start working just part time next year. And the Cosplay, well that's all just good fun!

I already have a blog (Blogger), but I wonder if I need to move that over to Tumblr. Is that good idea? Will that consolidate things? Does Tumblr work well as a blog, or should I stick to my Blogger account? It seems like more people use LJ and WordPress, but I don't know. Things have changed a lot since I was a kid with my own Star Wars Tripod site! Thanks in advance for the advice!

[Torchwood TeaBoy]

I wouldn't consider Tumblr a blog at all (despite the description). I find it more akin to Pinterest, but with more tagging/retagging abilities. It's like if Pinterest, Facebook, and LJ/Blogger had a fandom-crazed, LGBTQ lovechild.

[Moonflower]

...That is a surprisingly accurate description.