my fic < advertising fic < Tumblr < my ignorance let me show you it

[lettered]

So I was going to cross-post my Star Trek fic to st_reboot and maybe singularity, but then I realized it might not be polite to post it to reboot-verse comms, since the fic is about the problems I had with the new movie. Although it is totally possible to like the movie and like the fic, I think. And it might be possible to have those problems and still love STID, but I feel sort of guilty, like I might harsh someone's squee. But those were the main Star Trek comms I was involved in, because of the 2009 movie. Does anyone know a comm that takes all Star Trek fandoms, that is still active, that might be an appropriate place for a fic that sort of calls STID on its fail? I just want people to be able to enjoy the fic, maybe get something out of it, but I don't want other people to feel like it's in their face.

Anyway, this leads me to another question, which is really less of a question than an observation: I really no longer know how to "advertise" fic anymore. It used to be you could cross-post to certain comms and people would be sure to at least see your fic, but it doesn't feel like that's the case anymore. Is that because everyone's going to AO3 for fic? I love AO3, but I do feel like because it is so searchable, you're going to see, say, all the Kirk/Spock or all the Spock/Uhura or all the John Harrison fics, instead of, say, the fic with the OCs that's gen and mostly meta. Or maybe it's just that people use Tumblr and Twitter to find fics, which is even more confusing to me.

Anyway, this leads me to another question, which is really less of a question than an observation: I don't get Tumblr. When other people say they don't get Tumblr, I feel like what they're saying is, that they don't get why people use it, or why they use it for purpose X, or why they like it. What I mean is, I don't get it. I literally don't understand how I can search for a tag I know to exist, but Tumblr tells me it doesn't. I literally do not understand how sometimes it seems like you can leave a comment on stuff, and sometimes you can't. I do not understand how to reblog a conversation.

Comments

[likeadeuce]

So I was at the tumblr panel at WisCon, and basically EVERYBODY, including the people on the panel, frequently admitted they had no idea how some aspect of tumblr works.

Essentially, nobody knows what the designers of tumblr think that tumblr is supposed to be for. Essentially everything that makes tumblr work is a user hack of some kind. And while there is probably something website out there by now that walks people through how tumblr works but I don't know what it is, and the only way I've found out to learn about this stuff is word of mouth.

I can explain the extreme basics (like reblogging and commenting) if you are interested, though I'm far from an expert. But if I can explain basics, probably anybody can, I would say? I don't know if you're asking or just venting.

BUT, networking wise, I can say that tumblr is probably a GOOD place to 'advertise' a fic with the characteristics you're describing -- there are a lot of star trek tagged conversations, and a lot of people talking about fail. Honestly, tumblr seems like a better place to find discussions of fail than to find actual enthusiasm.

[lettered]

Well, it's sort of a relief to find out that other people find Tumblr confusing in more than the "why would anyone use this" sense.

I don't know whether I'm venting or asking either! I understand how to reblog a post, but not a conversation? Or are all the conversations just reblogs with added comments? And I don't get how to comment in a post without reblogging.

Anyway, thank you!

[likeadeuce]

Tumblr doesn't have built in comments. If you see a 'comments' section that's a hack that was installed using disqus or a similar program.

Users can also enable 'asks' (the word balloon you see on some posts), and I think those can either be private or public, or they can enable you to email or fanmail them. This is all at the user's option though (even if they don't realize they've opted for it, depending on what account defaults they have set.)

The main mechanism of commenting is to reblog and add your own words either in the space below the message (though if you do this and you have the format set for HTML, be sure to write your comments within the 'p' brackets; it took me forever to realize this), or add your commentary in the tags. What you write under the post will continue to show up when the post is reblogged. What you tag will only be visible to people who follow you or who go directly to your post.

Helpful at all?

[lettered]

Yes, that is very helpful! I had no idea asks were different from comments. It may be that I've never even seen the comment option; I've just been seeing the ask button. WHO KNOWS. Thanks so much.

[likeadeuce]

Yeah, the way I understand it, asks are limited character messages and they only show up if the recipient wants them to. They can be answered privately or publicly.

[jjhunter]

Maybe we need something like crack_van for DW? I know crossovers can get advertised on crossovers, but otherwise fic reccing / advertising seems to be done on fandom-specific comms.

[lettered]

Isn't crack_van for people to rec you, though? I mean, you can't advertise yourself. But yes, it might be nice for recs.

[eruthros]

What I mean is, I don't get it. I literally don't understand how I can search for a tag I know to exist, but Tumblr tells me it doesn't. I literally do not understand how sometimes it seems like you can leave a comment on stuff, and sometimes you can't. I do not understand how to reblog a conversation.

I'm afraid that the answer is often "because tumblr is broken?" There are a lot of things that just plain don't work on tumblr, and they include tags with hyphens and sometimes the search bar for individual tumblrs. (For the site-wide tag search, it only counts the first five tags on a post, which can also be why things don't show up there.) Commenting happens in two ways and both of them have to be enabled by a tumblr user - people can enable disqus commenting or replies. And even if people have replies active, they're usually limited to people who mutually follow each other, so sometimes other people can reply to a post but you can't! To reblog text posts and keep the long text, click the button on the top right next to the gear there's an option for reblog as text. (If you mean, how to reblog a conversation involving asks ... you can't, there's no reblog option for it. For reasons.)

I find tumblr's UI hilarious and tedious, but because I don't have much invested in it I can just sort of eyeroll at it. I know a lot of people who don't use it at all because of the idiosyncrasies, though - it's frustrating to run up against problems all the time.

[lettered]

it only counts the first five tags on a post,

Okay, wow, this makes so much more sense.

people can enable disqus commenting or replies.

Oh! I honestly just thought I was being a luddite. Good to know replies have to be enabled.

If you mean, how to reblog a conversation involving asks ... you can't, there's no reblog option for it.

I think this is what I meant, but honestly, I don't even know what asks are. I think I meant reblog a conversation that is in comments to a post, which it sounds like you can't do.

Thanks so much for all this, though. It really helps! Plus I love Spock with kitties :o)

[eruthros]

Yeah, tumblr is such a weird mess! When I can't make something work, I try to remember that it's probably not me, it's them :)

PS: this is what an ask looks like, but that's a fake one - the artist screencapped it so the post could be reblogged.

Spock with kittens is my favorite, except for Spock holding that dog with the hilarious antenna costume.

[lettered]

Okay! This is really helpful. Also, Tony riding a narwhal!

ZOMG the evil unicorn dog. That was good times.

I like Spock and a Buick:

[eruthros]

That is a great picture! Awww, Leonard Nimoy.

[likeadeuce]

Isn't there a way to make asks rebloggable? I don't know what it is but I sometimes see that it's been requested, or people are responding to such a request.

[eruthros]

Maybe? I can't do it, but maybe other people can?

Mostly I see people using screencaps to do it - screencapping the ask box from the original post, or sometimes the original post in its entirety. I think missing-e used to let you do it, but then some tumblr update broke that hack.

[likeadeuce]

Ahh, that might be it, that makes sense.

I've never tried it b/c I've never gotten an ask :(

[eruthros]

I don't post anything to tumblr, so I just notice when I'm trying to reblog someone's fanart and I keeping reloading the page going "why is there no reblog button geez! ... oh right."

[katie_m]

As far as I'm concerned, "I wrote this story because I wanted to call the movie on its fail" is sufficient warning and if people are traumatized just by knowing people were unhappy about some aspects of the movie they need to get a grip. (And I say this as somewhere who didn't read the story, because that very description informed me I didn't want to! So I think you were very successful.)

[lettered]

Thanks! that's good to know.

[natlyn]

I still discover fic through fandom-specific LJ or DW newsletters. Surely there is a Trek newsletter that you can submit your fic to? I don't read Trek fic so do not know.

[lettered]

hm! There was, so I bet there still is. Thanks for the idea :o)

[cest_what]

As well as only counting the first 5 tags on a post, tumblr.com/tagged/YOURTAG will only show things that were posted for the first time with YOURTAG attached to them. So if you use e.g. the tag "super individualistic and witty tag about black widow" for all your avengers reblogs, but never put it on original posts, then tumblr.com/tagged/super-individualistic-and-witty-tag-about-black-widow won't show any posts. (But YOURURL.tumblr.com/tagged/YOURTAG will.)

Possibly that wasn't what you were talking about, but it's something that used to confuse me :/

[lettered]

It still confuses me! But this is really helpful, thanks.

[everbright]

*looking at comments* *writing down tips* Tumblr: how to make a profoundly broken interface that replicates a good Skinner box. Every post on your dash is a hit of happy chemicals, and then everytime you get someone to response to YOUR POST is practically a high. The only thing Tumblr does really well is get you addicted!

[lettered]

idk about that. I like to be where fandom is, so I've tried to get into Tumblr many times. I think I'd have better luck getting hooked on a drug.

[melannen]

So, for the record: a) nobody knows how Tumblr works; and b) in direct contradiction to all the above, it is possible to comment on Tumblr posts without Disqus or any other add-ons being installed. Because I don't have any add-ons installed and I can comment and get comments on my stuff (I work with a Tumblr that is not only broken-as-designed, but also broken because I insist on using Opera and even half of the stuff that's technically 'functional' doesn't work on Opera.)

As a result I seem to actually know more about Tumblr than most of the power users who have dozens of third-party fixes installed, though.

...by which I mean, NOBODY knows how Tumblr works.

(for the record, you can leave comments on a) original posts (but NOT reblogs, ever) if they are b) on your dash, and made by people you have been following for a set length of time (I think it's a few weeks?) and c) they have the 'allow comments' option turned on. If any of those three conditions do not apply, however, then, uh, possibly there are still add-ons? I don't know anything about Tumblr add-ons.)

(Also you can only leave one comment per post - trying to leave multiple comments makes earlier ones magically go away; there's a teeny-tiny character limit for comments; and you can't reply directly to comments, they're mixed in with all the other notes.)