:: LNR Journalism ::

Tumblr apps: Improved content creation and sharing

The Next Web :: Tumblr has updated its iOS and Android apps to bring a raft of new features which makes content creation and sharing easier, while the discovery process has also been aided to allow tag following and make blogs from friends easier to find.

A review by Jon Russell, thenextweb.com

'Reporting live: From Tumblr': A meta-blog with an audience growing a newsroom

Buzzfeed :: Of the estimated thousands of journalists at the Republican National Convention, these people stand out. For one, they're not political reporters in the traditional sense of the term. And, though this is less of a novelty than it may seem, they're posting exclusively to Tumblr. They're also posting for Tumblr, as part of one the site's early forays into original journalism.

[John Herrman:] The world's biggest GIF repository grows a political newsroom.

Tumblr's political newsroom - A report by John Herrman, www.buzzfeed.com

"Tumbling the Conventions" - election.tumblr.com

Tumblr confirms: Twitter blocks Tumblr from your friends list

Buzzfeed :: As predicted, Twitter's cut off Tumblr's access to your list of Twitter friends, just like it did to Instagram a few weeks ago.

Inclusive official statement from Tumblr to Buzzfeed - A report by Matt Buchanan, www.buzzfeed.com

The Power of Twitter & Tumblr: Progressive Insurance reaches settlement with Fisher Family

Observer :: Never underestimate the power of internet shaming! Not five days after New York comedian Matt Fisher recounted the tragic story of his sister’s fatal car accident and her auto insurance company that went so far as to intervene on behalf of the defendant in court to avoid paying out the premium on her policy, Progressive has agreed to pony up the entire amount due to the Fisher family.

A report by Drew Grant, observer.com

Twitter timeline: "Progressive Insurance PR Nightmare Progressing Unabated (UPDATED)" by Abe Sauer, www.brandchannel.com

Evan Williams, Biz Stone reveal 'Medium' - Jalees Rehman: But do we need it?

CNN :: There's yet another way to post writing and photos and share them with other people online. Medium is a new blogging tool for people who feel constrained by Twitter and overwhelmed by Blogger or Tumblr. Its founders are Evan Williams and Biz Stone, who co-founded Twitter and Blogger, so they know about blogging, both long and short form.

A report by Heather Kelly, edition.cnn.com

Discussed here:

Fragments of Truth :: When we look at our Twitter feeds, Facebook updates or the millions of blog posts that are generated, it is difficult to claim that the quality of information being exchanged is improving. However, improving the quality of exchanged information seems to be a rather lofty goal and it is not clear that a new platform will necessarily achieve that. "Medium" will apparently rely on two key principles: Rating and Organizing.

[Jalees Rehman:] Do we need another information sharing platform?

An opinion piece by Jalees Rehman, fragments-of-truth.blogspot.de

Jalees Rehman on Twitter

New York Times launches US election Tumblr as part of its news site

Journalism.co.uk :: The Agenda is the title's first Tumblr blog that is integrated into the news site. T Magazine, the New York Times's fashion Tumblr blog, and The Lively Morgue, which showcases the newspaper's photographic archive and sells prints, are both standalone Tumblr blogs, containing "Tumblr" in the URL. Speaking to Journalism.co.uk by phone on Friday afternoon, Alexis Mainland, the New York Times's social media editor, explained the differences between The Agenda and the two earlier Tumblr blogs.

A report by Sarah Marschall, www.journalism.co.uk

Can Facebook capitalize on the social discovery trend?

ReadWriteWeb :: The people at Powerhouse Factories, a brand strategy consultancy, point to recent statistics that show people are spending less time on Facebook. The change isn’t massive - yet - but Powerhouse social media expert Taylor Weigert believes that the trend reflects people splitting Facebook time with more specialized social networks like Pinterest, Tumblr and Deviant Art. All these sites focus on social discovery: finding new connections, ideas and products through social media.

Facebook may face a big problem - A report by Dave Copeland, www.readwriteweb.com

Can Tumblr’s David Karp embrace ads without selling out?

New York Times :: “Pretty much every large tech company today,” David Karp, Tumblr, said, is essentially “metrics driven.” Google, Twitter, Facebook: they’re obsessed with “optimizing” services, design, functionality and aesthetics through constant testing and tweaking. That ability to optimize and (not incidentally) monetize user experiences by reacting to microlevel data is the essence of Web-business magic, as it is generally understood. Karp chose not to operate that way. Rather than monetizing clicks, he wants advertisers to view Tumblr as a place to promote particularly creative campaigns to an audience whose attention is worth paying for.

Continue to read Rob Walker, www.nytimes.com

HT: Nieman Lab, here:

Tumblr has cultivated a community around design. Can it make ads work? nie.mn/NquHrz

— Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) July 13, 2012

Tumblr lets people "Pin Posts" for $5

Business Insider :: Tumblr has been toying with a few ways to make money, the latest of which are "Pinned Posts." Users can now pay $5 to have one of their Tumblr posts pinned at the top of their followers' blogs for 24 hours.

Continue to read Alyson Shontell, www.businessinsider.com

Rick Webb: I join Tumblr for the next 6 months on an advisory basis

Rick Webb Tumblr :: I will be working for Tumblr for the next six months on a full time basis as a consultant for their Sales and Marketing team. I’ve been talking to them and working with them for a while on an advisory basis, but I think now is the time and come and help them for a while in a more hard core manner. I obviously love Tumblr, but I also love that they are committed to this whole “good” thing when it comes, well, anything, but also to advertising and revenue.

Continue to read Rick Webb, rickwebb.tumblr.com