What is “Original Content” Anyway?
When I joined Tumblr, I did so because I thought it offered a better platform to interact with other bloggers and potentially other like-minded people than the comparatively austere WordPress. However, I did not realize that Tumblr was more or less Pinterest Part 1, full of 16 to 19-year-old girls reposting pictures of anything ranging from glitter to hardcore penetration gifs without really attributing anything to anyone. It can be annoying having my dashboard comprised almost solely of pictures, gifs, and quotes (particularly when they get reblogged multiple times by others that I follow), and sometimes I’m just aggravated when someone posts something I love (a dress, a hotel, a shade of nail polish) but I have no way of finding out where it came from. I just can’t figure out how no one on Tumblr gets in trouble for essentially stealing the work of others or why we are all so content getting spammed by “curated content” blogs. To be fair, there are some that I love, follow, and draw inspiration from, but I regularly come across copy-cat blogs or blogs that are more sloppily curated, and I can’t understand how they have amassed so many followers.
I’ve been on the hunt for some great original content blogs on Tumblr, but it’s been harder than I would have imagined. In my (brief) quest, which took place via a Google search, I came across an amazing article on Get Off My Internets that discusses the way in which Tumblr has completely clouded the meaning of “original content” such that it has become increasingly more difficult to find anyone on here that shares unique thoughts:
I’ve gotta say, this continual PR push from Tumblr that a valued blog is one composed of content that doesn’t belong to the blog owner and is instead the equivalent of an inspiration board or magazine cutout scrapbook has got to be really frustrating to the bloggers that actually try. Even Sara Zucker…must wonder why she even tries. She could start posting photos of her favorite editorial spreads and call it a day. They’d still love her for her “original” stringing together of pretty pictures.
I get that they want blogs with a strong follower base and consistently high traffic, but to say that they chose these bloggers because of original content is way off the mark and, frankly, embarrassing in the way it’s embarrassing to watch someone say something really stupid in front of a crowd. Are they confused about the definition of “original content”? Are they egotistical enough to think they can define it however they want? Probably both.
I could be old-fashioned, but I think it sets a poor example to reward people for hijacking other people’s hard work. Their argument would probably be that the Tumblr platform is designed for reblogging and content sharing. However, if that means that a blog entirely composed of stolen photos with credit only randomly assigned is something to be celebrated, then their leadership is even more intellectually challenged than I thought. Hmm, actually? It’s par for the course.
Ironically enough, I’ve kind of “stolen” someone else’s content for the purposes of this post - but at least I attributed it! In any event, if anyone knows of a great blog featuring mostly original content, please let me know. It’s always nice to get a taste of others’ writing styles, be exposed to new ideas and opinions, etc.
