#there is no tumblr algorithm

[britcision]

Hey by the way Dungeon Meshi gang, I have noticed that we seem to be pretty heavily stuck in “people hit like instead of reblog” gang so I just wanna throw this out there

Hitting “like” on Tumblr is basically a nod across a crowded room to OP. It doesn’t share it, doesn’t increase reach, nobody is gonna see it from your likes

If you wanna actually boost a post and encourage OP to make more of the same, you gotta hit reblog, maybe go a little feral in the tags, maybe just hit the same tags the post had before

Cuz again: nothing happens when you hit “Like” except the heart turns red and it adds it to a list on your profile

(You cannot meaningfully search this list)

Now this has absolutely nothing to do with anything I post, because this is about fan artists! Because we have some goddamn INCREDIBLE artists blessing us every single day in this fandom

And every time I see and share some of this goddamn majestic pieces and see “3 reblogs 1500 likes” it makes my heart sad, both because the majestic art deserves so much more acclaim and also less of us will get to see and enjoy said art

This is a goddamn tragedy

Imagine if you just… never saw that absolutely bangin’ Laios-dragon with his tiddies out because you just… weren’t following the artist because you didn’t even know they did Dungeon Meshi art, or weren’t browsing the tags right when it was posted

And listen, I want you to feel encouraged to interact with every post you even vaguely feel like tagging with a key smash! Even if you don’t tag at all and just silently hit the reblog button!

But seriously guys you gotta reblog all the fanart and go full feral in the tags if you don’t want to go in the comments or hype it in a full post, because while I am a full proponent of “you gotta create for yourself”

We

We want them to share their creations, right? We want to see them on our tumblr?

So we gotta give them that good good dopamine on the tumblr

Cuz lemme tell you I’m sure as shit not gonna stop or even slow being feral and unhinged in the tags and text posts and shit posting, but I might not bother posting fic here first and just toss it on AO3 if only 3 people are gonna see it here

(I’m also not gonna stop or slow writing unhinged fic or sharing it all on AO3 it’s just… not gonna get posted here separately?

Cuz yeah for real hype your own stuff, reshare and gas yourself up and all that and keep tossing it out there for shits and giggles, but it does take extra time energy and effort for me to double post and I am a Lazy Bitch and perpetually busy on a new unhinged project

There’s no real number I’d look for, it’s more the near complete lack of reblogs even when something gets liked, it’s the ratio that’d tell me it’s worth it to y’all for me to put the work in)

And also if enough people reblog a post you get to see the super cool viral explosion of all of the reblog chains and where people saw it and they’re awesome

Go find a well noted post and check it out

[realist-shit-just-happened]

Is anyone else suddenly following people they weren't before? I've been getting a ton of posts on my dash from blogs I don't recognize and don't post the kind of content I follow.

[peggycatrerr]

today on the train home the guy next to me was on his phone and at one point i saw him go on tumblr and he just had like. a normie dash. like it was all photography. of nature and architecture. he was using tumblr the way a heterosexual landscaper for rich people might use instagram. i actually had to watch his screen for a few seconds to be sure it really was tumblr because i was so taken aback by the content he was viewing. this is why algorithmless websites are so beautiful btw because i genuinely didn't know that this side of tumblr even existed. he didn't even so much as scroll past any text posts.

EDIT: look i'm not going to turn off reblogs but i cannot stress enough that THIS WASN'T A HIPSTER BLOG DASH IT WASN'T AN AESTHETIC BLOG DASH IT WAS THE MOST WILDLY GENERIC COLLECTION OF IMAGES YOU HAVE EVER SEEN IN YOUR LIFE. I AM NOT EXAGGERATING OR BEING A QUIRKY FANDOM TUMBLRINA WHEN I SAY "NORMIE" I GENUINELY MEAN "SO NORMAL THAT IT CIRCLES AROUND TO WEIRD". CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME? HELLO?

[rice-crackerz]

Ppl on Tumblr are really out here tagging shit "fyp ツ"

Like GIRL- THAT'S NOT HOW THIS WORKS, GET OUTTA HERE WITH THAT KATAKANA TSU

[prokopetz]

Tumblr's algorithm has decided that I occupy the intersection of a very specific Venn diagram.

[peachybunana]

THEYRE HERE AND THEYRE REAL

[icemankazansky]

It costs $0 not to tag the ship you're bitching about.

People are always like “Icemav has so much sexual tension” WHEN HOLLYWOLF IS RIGHT THERE

Thanks for coming to my ted talk

[ckret2]

I've been thinking about these tags the last two days

[ionomycin]

Welcome home

[kimeoshi]

[suburbanbonfire]

our lady of flame

[alix-tran]

What I like about Tumblr

[kouibin]

me when im looking for a fic but all im getting is pure smut

[lunar-wandering]

literally. when i joined tumblr when i was like, 14, i had no goddamn clue how this site worked. i didn't understand reblogs, and i couldn't figure out how to tag my posts correctly so all my tags got jumbled together "kindalikethis".

but i saw that i could leave replies on people's posts. so, i'd search the name of my fave show/things i liked, and when i saw a post that was neat, i liked and replied to it. and, usually, got replies back (usually from the op). i had whole conversations in the replies of posts. i'd usually follow the poster soon afterwards, and after i noticed the ask box, began to send asks as well.

within a month, despite initially not knowing how to reblog or how the site really worked, i'd made about 10 friends, and had a dash constantly covered in new posts that i enjoyed. around this point i really figured out how reblogs and tags worked, and i was off to the races, dragging in more followers and friends.

all of this, without an algorithm. i never needed one. and neither does any new user.

it might feel disheartening to get not as many responses at first, or for your dash to feel quiet, but you just got to keep trying + learning. don't just give up immediately when your post only gets one note or you go 30 minutes without seeing anything new on your dash. if you wanna have a good time on this site, you gotta make an effort to adapt to it.

[prokopetz]

*flips over to the "For You" tab out of sheer morbid curiosity*

*first result is one of my own posts*

I mean, it's correctly identified my interests, I'll give it that.