Is Tumblr the next big version of whatever the last big deal thingie is/was?
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You know what I mean?
Look, as someone covering tech, I get more than a little fatigued by Next Big Thing stories. You know the ones, such and such web site will build a powerful e-community of like-minded people to discover and share blah de blah de blah. The Onion’s coverage of this phenomenon was outstanding.
Next Big Thing stories come up all the time. I mostly stay away from them online and on radio because I try to focus on things that will actually matter to people in the near term.
So I initially took a jaundiced view when the New York Times decided to cover Tumblr as a new phenomenon. I mean, it’s a bit like introducing talented new artist Boy George, you know? Tumblr’s been around for a while as a blogging platform with a heavy social element.
But the article is really about the increasingly diffuse ways in which companies are expected to live in social media. You can’t have a business right now without a Facebook and Twitter presence. You just can’t. You probably don’t need MySpace anymore but the article asks if you might need Tumblr. Thing is, whether you do or don’t, there will be some other new thing that businesses might need going forward.
You knew where I was going, right? :
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