I’ve just come across one of the most interesting websites I’ve ever seen – Tumblr.
I’m willing to forgive them copying the name and much of the format of the untouchable Flickr because their content is, quite simply, fabulous.
The basic premise is that users “post text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos”. Like Pets Who Want To Kill Themselves (above), or the below Cookie Monster Muffins (or is it Muffin Monster Cookies?) that I found via It’s Nice That. Their explore page is fascinating, but the real highlight is the map, which shows the locations of where people are posting, in real-time.
The trends section is also neat. You can enter up to four search terms and graph their popularity amongst Tumblrs. In fact, I reckon you could use trends to outsource most of your decision-making. For example, I can’t decide whether to go to the gym tonight, or have beer. Enter it into trends, and you can see gym wins hands down. What a relief – one less question I have to answer today. And I don’t have to feel guilty: “the machine told me to do it, officer”.
Not quite blogging, yet not photo- or video-sharing either, Tumblr is fascinating, fresh and user-friendly. Although I certainly don’t need any more distractions in my life, I love it.
