tumblr is trash. Am i tumblering wrongly?

[lechat]

I'm about to come off as a leetist asshole just having a go at the tumblr generation but I need to find a replacement for flipboard as a news feed so basically I somehow managed to get tricked into installing tumblr and I'm about 5 seconds away from uninstalling.
what i want is a sort of news feed with my interests but i seem to be getting nothing but cat gifs, mildly related content and whatever bullshit Marilyn Monroe equivalent quote is trending.
Is there a way to get tumblr to be somewhat educational and not just waste my time (however cool the cat gifs are)?

Edit: to clarify I read that tumblr was a good place to find people with similar interests and hobbies and have informed discussions, it was made to sound like a sort of community where like minded people could get to know each other but it seems like everyone is trying too hard to get retweets or followers or likes or whatever and the only people having a discussion are either uninformed or idiots.

Also I'm not in it for the news or porn. I get all my news from fox and my porn from VHS tapes like a boss.

I'm still trying to figure it out so I'm gonna see if I can bounce around between users and see I can make something of it.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Tumblr is trash, yes.

The only way to get educational use out of it is not to use it, so it doesn't destroy your brain cells.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

You do know you can choose who to follow on Tumblr, right? Just follow things and people you like, and fine people who post stuff you like and follow them, too.
And when you see someone post something you think is stupid, unfollow them

 

[Albino Boo]

You mean there is something other than porn on Tumblr?

 

[Queen Michael]

Tumblr consists of these things.

1. Funny gifs.
2. Misguided social justice.
3. Porn.
4. My excellent blog that you all ought to follow.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Tumblr consists of these things.

1. Funny gifs.
2. Misguided social justice.
3. Porn.
4. My excellent blog that you all ought to follow.

If your blog only posts funny misguided social justice porn gifs, I'd follow the hell out of that

 

[Beliyal]

First of all, Tumblr is not really a good source for news. It's purpose is more casual and related to hobbies. However, I'm sure there are good blogs dedicated to news, so I would suggest searching "news" or going into the news tag. There will be shit, but there will also be dedicated quality blogs, you just have to find them. When searching, several most popular blogs will show up first. Some news sites even have their own official blogs. You can also search something specific, like "politics" or "video games". For example, I'm an archaeologist, so I follow some archaeology news blogs.

The same with education. While Tumblr is not an education-oriented site, there are good blogs who don't just post gifs and memes. I follow several quality blogs about writing for example. Basically, go into the tag or search for the term you are interested in. There, find blogs with content you like, follow them, they will appear on your dashboard (feed). You can unfollow if they change their content or post something you dislike and you won't see them again on your dash. You can follow as many blogs as you like, but you dashboard may become cluttered if you follow too many.

There's a blog for pretty much anything and anyone, you just have to find it. Also, some good blogs have a list of other quality blogs they follow so you can check that and find more. Though it's perfectly possible that you just end up not liking Tumblr format.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Wait, you can install Tumblr???

I mean sure I got an account but at the most, I just follow a bunch of people for their cool artworks.

Maybe you could somehow follow the right people on Tumblr if that is even possible? (Yes Tumblr is awful.)

 

[Silence]

Go.

Go far away. As far away as you can.

Tumblr is the equivalent of your personal 8chan.

Captcha: Cloud nine. HOW DOES CAPTCHA KNOW WHAT DOTA GAME I JUST WATCHED. MAGIC. NEED TO POST IT ON TUMBLR.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Tumblr consists of these things.

1. Funny gifs.
2. Misguided social justice.
3. Porn.
4. My excellent blog that you all ought to follow.

Don't forget people asking how to get their tumblr to work.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Tumblr isn't for news, it's a social networking site, wanting news on Tumblr is like wanting news on Facebook or Twitter.

That being said, you can follow blogs that post content you enjoy (if you want news, follow blogs dedicated to posting news [footnote]though I would be careful to check the credibility of such blogs first[/footnote]) or

Block content you'd rather not see (just don't follow those blogs, or even block the tag completely if you're following a friend who occasionally posts social justice stuff you'd just rather not look at).

I don't understand why people make fun of Tumblr, the site is pretty much what you want it to be, my dashboard is dedicated to artwork, art resources, dragons, writing resources, cute animals and of course, cat gifs. If a person doesn't want to see the more controversial things, they don't have to.

 

[Michel Henzel]

If you aren't laughing your ass off at the shit that gets posted there, or using it for fapping, then you are doing something wrong. Or Tumblr might not be the place for you.

But maybe this guide can help you.

 

[DefunctTheory]

No.

Any expectation of 'education' from tumblr is the dream of a fool. If that's what your looking for, then you are in the wrong place.

Tumblr is for four things - laughing at poorly thought out and constructed arguments, masturbating, cool things people have built/made/drawn, and masturbating. If you have another interest in tumblr, I suggest you re-thing it.

 

[Erttheking]

It's no more full of self righteous assholes than the rest of the internet is. Just avoid the dicks if you want to stay on it. But then again around these parts Tumblr seems to be the current acceptable punching bag, the website that it's ok to sterotype. Can't sterotype 4chan but sterotyping tumblr is a-ok.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I don't understand why people make fun of Tumblr, the site is pretty much what you want it to be

Pretty much exactly this.

You decide what you see on Tumblr. Tumblr is a reflection of you and your interests. All I ever see on there is cheeseball jokes, memes, and cats being cats. I've heard there is also pornography but I cannot confirm that as I am pure of heart.

If all you ever find on it is stupid, annoying bullshit, then...well...I have bad news for you.

 

[Erttheking]

It's no more full of self righteous assholes than the rest of the internet is. Just avoid the dicks if you want to stay on it. But then again around these parts Tumblr seems to be the current acceptable punching bag, the website that it's ok to sterotype. Can't sterotype 4chan but sterotyping tumblr is a-ok.

People stereotype 4chan all over the internet, especially here.

Maybe it's the recent GG mess but I've actually seen people get angry on this website for sterotyping 4chan. Plus nowadays I rarely see people do it, at least here.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

It's no more full of self righteous assholes than the rest of the internet is. Just avoid the dicks if you want to stay on it. But then again around these parts Tumblr seems to be the current acceptable punching bag, the website that it's ok to sterotype. Can't sterotype 4chan but sterotyping tumblr is a-ok.

People stereotype 4chan all over the internet, especially here.

Maybe it's the recent GG mess but I've actually seen people get angry on this website for sterotyping 4chan. Plus nowadays I rarely see people do it, at least here.

I used to see 4chan get stereotyped here often, though not recently, Tumblr seems to have taken it's place. I don't particularly think it's related to GG however, maybe people just got bored and moved on to a different target; a person can only beat a dead horse so many times before the corpse turns to dust.

Kind of like making fun of ikea furniture being hard to assemble.

 

[Ishal]

I don't understand why people make fun of Tumblr, the site is pretty much what you want it to be, my dashboard is dedicated to artwork, art resources, dragons, writing resources and of course, cat gifs. If a person doesn't want to see the more controversial things that are the subject of internet memes, they don't have to.

Well... aside from the various subsections of questionable ideologies, being a hive of the more extreme part of (from what I've seen) liberal politics. I just don't like the format.

I don't like how most posts are enormously large. Where I have to scroll up and down what seems to be a huge distance. It's all very... how do I put it... touch-screeny??? If that makes sense? The whole thing reminds me of something tailored to be manipulated and searched through a smart phone... and it probably is, at least to a degree. I really don't care for that.

It also doesn't seem to be a place to have any sort of conversation. I've seen the threads people love to post and if there's more than a few people replying to something it just makes my eyes bleed trying to read it. Those lines that come down to denote the post, and the person's name who made it is at the top of the page by the time you scroll down? Christ it's awful.

People talk a lot about "echo chambers." I'm fully aware that to proclaim all of tumblr as bad is foolish and dumb. But at the same time, that's not really a feasible stance to take any way you slice it, good or bad. People don't see all of tumblr when they're using it. They see what they choose to see, what they choose to follow. Any site or place can become an echo chamber, but I believe some are built for it more than others. Tumblr and Twitter are two such places. Sites who's main functions are "follow" and "reblog/retweet."

I have a tumblr, and use it mostly for art. I follow precious few blogs, and barely check it. Just not a fan of the format.

 

[Passive Aggression]

Tumblr is perfect for porn, or if you're a narcissist, the whole social justice thing.