Holo.net Tumblr - Submission Thread

[Mandy with an I]

http://theholodotnet.tumblr.com/


Since we've been discussing creating social media for the forum, I decided to start a new tumblr blog for us. I talked to Holly about it since she created the original Fans tumblr, and Christin helped create the graphics/some photoshops that I've already posted.

The plan I have is really simple - we use the queue for reblogs, which will keep the tumblr updating and on peoples' dashboards, plus publish original content as often as possible.

People who regularly contribute will get a short 1-2 sentence bio on the Staff page, along with a promo for their own tumblr/twitter/whatever you'd like. I'm not overly worried about having to moderate the tumblr, but I do expect most of the content to reflect the forum and what we're about. I'll just add members, adjust the theme/add things to the pages and contribute content.

Here are my ideas for content we can create:

- Artwork, memes or photoshops. Christin created a watermark, since people on tumblr love to steal things! Tumblr can support music and video uploads as well.

- Short fiction, based on our version of the Star Wars universe. Think of this as a teaser for what readers can find here. I'm also thinking of creating Tumblr Only stories.

- Reviews or opinion pieces. If we cover the creative element with short stories/fiction, we can do articles about geek culture, since it's a very important aspect of Fans. This would include speculation pieces about the new films, video games, other movies, etc.

- Member spotlight. I'd like to include something like this so we can focus on the writers we have, sort of a Behind the Character type of thing. It would be a way to write about non-Star Wars hobbies, while still keeping in the spirit of the whole tumblr ("We are a forum of interesting people, come check us out!").

I'd like to keep anything posted properly tagged - "holo.net original" for original work, "reblogs" for things from other blogs. The first FIVE tags are most important for the search option, plus it makes finding things on the blog easier. We can decide on tags for other content as we get going.

Extra notes: I did create an About Us page, so I'll be adding a short description of the forum and a bit of its history. If anyone would like to write something for it, I'd appreciate it and will credit you accordingly.

Anyone who's interested in becoming a member/contributor, please PM me with your email, since that's the only way I can add people. I'll be using this account for tumblr things, so please PM me here.

Any ideas for content other than what I've posted is welcome. I really don't want this to become a giant discussion thread; the tumblr is made, if you want to help with it, post here! I'll appreciate any and all help with this project. I want it to be a fun experience for everyone, whether you work on it or just look at the pretty pictures on it.



TIDE - Apparently, I can just send people this link to join, so click if you don't want to pm me.
http://www.tumblr.com/join/q5NbV9NGba
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[Captain Untouchable]

Are you intending to have the reviews/opinion pieces and member spotlights as actual Tumblr text posts?

I can see the advantage of doing that with certain things like reviews, since you can tag those with the appropriate fandom and maybe garner a little attention. However, not everyone uses Tumblr, and we already have the Articles functionality on the boards. Would it be better/wiser to try and keep that kind of content "under one roof", and use Tumblr and Facebook to link to those articles?

In terms of marketing strategy, having a review of Arrow that people in the Arrow fandom read on our Tumblr might get the Tumblr a few more followers... but if they've clicked through and read the article on the forums themselves, they might start casually clicking around the rest of the boards, and we've upgraded a potential Tumblr follower into a potential boards member.

*

It might be a good idea to get into the habit of having a "content creator" tag as well. You can hyperlink directly to a particular tag on your blog as part of the explanation text underneath an image (and also as a link on the blog itself). So, if someone sees some of Christin's artwork and wants to find more, they can look in Christin's tag, rather than having to sift through the entire back catalogue of the boards.

*

What should we do if we are already posting theholo.net themed on tumblr via other blogs? Am I supposed to post those gifsets and stuff exclusively to theholo.net now? Do I keep them on my blog and occasionally reblog them? Do I make exclusive gifsets for theholo.net but include a hyperlink back to my own blog if people want to see more of the same?

[Mandy with an I]

Wow, I thought I posted that this wasn't a discussion thread, but...

Don't bring up Facebook here, because I'm not in charge of the Facebook stuff. AFAIK, Christin is going to work on the FB stuff.

I'm sorry, but I'd like to keep the random image claim gif sets off the tumblr. It won't make sense to a random person on tumblr, and it's not really the direction I see this going. If you want to post them to your own tumblr, that's totally fine.

I'd like to have Holo tumblr content created solely for THIS tumblr, which is why I created the staff page and why Christin made a watermark. Staff get a promo on the staff page. If you reblog something, that also links to your own tumblr. Members icons show up when they post something on the dashboard, and really, this isn't about gaining followers for personal tumblrs.

I like the content creator tags idea, but I'm really hoping that people will post their own stuff and tag it accordingly. If someone doesn't want to tag themselves, I don't feel like they have to. Tagging it as original content should help with finding things in a big back-log, since I don'
t see us having a HUGE influx of people working on this.

We can have things linked to the board, but we NEED things on the tumblr to keep followers and gain followers. I don't think people will want to constantly be clicking away to read things on here when they're on their dashboard. Maybe have a snippet of an article, with a link to read the rest on the board as an option for people.

Right now, I want to focus on what people CAN do, and who's willing to DO ACTUAL THINGS. Not discuss why or what we should be doing. I don't want to be a tyrant, but I'm the one who's in charge of this and I'd appreciate input beyond "we should do this, we should do that". I like your ideas, and we can implement the creator tags and links AFTER we actually HAVE CONTENT TO DO IT WITH.

LESS SHOULD. MORE DOING.



TIDE - I want people to be members of the tumblr because I don't want to constantly have to be posting things TO THE TUMBLR BY MYSELF. Christin made a tumblr account, so she'll likely be a member. I'd like people who have some tumblr knowledge to join because this shouldn't and will not be a one person project.

[Captain Untouchable]

You said you didn't want it to turn into a giant discussion thread.

I'm not prepared to contribute content until I know the conditions under which I'm contributing it. I'm especially not prepared to get involved with something if this is going to be the attitude you adopt when someone asks a couple of reasonable questions. I'm sorry if my wanting to know what I'm getting into before I commit to it doesn't jive with the way you want to run things.

[Mandy with an I]

I addressed each one of your ideas, and explained that I would like actually GET SOMETHING DONE, and I guess that's having attitude. I liked two of your ideas, actually, but we can't use ideas when there's NOTHING DONE.

We can talk about things until we're blue in the face, but it doesn't accomplish anything.


I'll gladly delete the work I've done and YOU can plan everything. Sound better to you?


NICE EDIT.

[Captain Untouchable]

Mandi, there's no need to be so angry about everything.

Unfortunately, because of a laundry list of medical problems, I am not capable of doing anything without knowing what is going on. If I don't have plans or contingencies already in mind, I can't pick up the phone. I can't answer the door. I can't dive in at the deep end and make it up as I go along, because the mere thought of that fills me with paralysing amounts of panic and confusion. I asked a few questions, and raised a few issues to help me understand what was going on, and what I was potentially dealing with. I was met with a needless amount of hostility, and a condescending amount of bold text and capitals - that's something else I don't have the mental capacity to deal with at the moment.

You have taken charge of this project, and you've decided to do it a particular way. That is perfectly fine, and all power to you: there's no need to be so defensive, I'm not trying to come in and steal your baby. I was hoping that I could in some way be part of this, as a way of giving me something to do during the day that was in some way constructive... but it unfortunately seems like this isn't the right fit for me.


It's probably for the best if an admin comes in and deletes everything bar the first post, since I clearly mistook the purpose of this thread.

[Charley]

Pm sent. I don't have photoshop so I don't know how much I can do in terms of visual content, but reblogging and writing vignettes I could maybe do

[Mandy with an I]

Jace, I really did want you to have a part of this, and if you need me to make a clearer role for you, I can do that. Seriously. We aren't really friends, so I have no idea about any of your medical problems. I can only respond by what I personally know, and I thought that I had made my ideas pretty clear in my first post. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.


I really want to get things working, because if I don't get on peoples' asses, it'll end up abandoned and forgotten about like other things. I'm really angry that people I do consider friends get dumped on when they are making ALL of the effort. I find it very frustrating. Community projects should be about everyone working together, not just a few people.

I thought by posting ideas for content, people could post and say "I'd like to write X and Y". Or what they would like to contribute. I'd like to get started, that's all.


Thanks Charley :)

[Mandy with an I]

Adding this for people who are new to tumblr.

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Tumblr
http://mashable.com/2012/06/03/the-beginners-guide-to-tumblr/

Once I add people as members, they can remove and edit their posts, so if people want to fiddle around with things while we're just starting, feel free. :) We have 15 posts and 7 followers (...who are all posters here but STILL).

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I sent you a PM :)

[Mandy with an I]

Thanks!

http://theholodotnet.tumblr.com/post/85376869365

It's our most liked (by non-Fans people!) post, lol. >_>;