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.