Tumblr.com is a free microblogging site that’s quietly built up a massive user base without a lot of mainstream media attention.
It’s not the place to connect with your ex-girlfriends or high school friends, but if you’re looking for a social media option that skews heavily towards the younger set, Tumblr is the place to be.
Tumblr’s Place in Social Media
Nailing down Tumblr’s place in the social media spectrum is a little tough because Tumblr is a little bit of everything. It’s a place to make social connections like Twitter; it’s a place to share found web content like Reddit; and it’s also a place to do your daily blogging, like a WordPress site. But for everything Tumblr is, there’s also something Tumblr isn’t.
Thanks to its graphic-heavy nature, it’s not the place for long winded rants about politics and self-discovery. (Though there is no 140 character limit like Twitte.) In fact, about half of all posts on the site are photographs.
While doing business on Tumblr is a real possibility, it’s not the place to go looking for a job. Corporate entities are almost non-existent on this network.
Who’s Using Tumblr?
If you’re not all that familiar with Tumblr, there’s a good chance that you’re a grown up. This social network skews young with over half its users falling under the age of 25. In some ways it fills market niche MySpace once occupied. Because, let’s face it, young people don’t want to be on the same social networks as their parent are on.
Tumblr users are not only young, they’re active and loyal.
Currently there are around 59 million blogs on the network that rack up an impressive 13 billion monthly page views. Once these youngsters start on Tumblr they usually stick with it, too. Unlike Twitter, which has a 40% retention rate, Tumblr rocks an 80% retention rate.
What is Microblogging?
Part of the confusion surrounding Tumblr revolves around that term microblogging. That’s too bad because one of Tumblr’s main selling points is its elegant, and anything-but-confusing, user interface. Sharing web content and photos from a phone, tablet or PC is astoundingly easy on this network and users can even cue up a series of posts to go up one after another with almost no effort.
Because tracking who is re-posting your content is so easy on Tumblr, building up a large group of followers isn’t tough.
Is Tumblr Good for Affiliates?
Affiliate partners in some market segments can definitely make good use of Tumblr as an revenue-generating vehicle.
While the audience is probably a bit young for bingo sites, it’s a good fit for poker and sports betting. There’s no shortage of Amazon.com affiliates in the Tumblr ecosystem peddling everything from books to, uh, adult accessories.
Tumblr isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking to start grabbing players, it might be worth giving a shot.
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