#different areas ranging

[bengaly]

Experimenting with different visual cues to show that a character is not quite fluent in a language yet. Commentary and extras below the cut. (the other language is kalaallisut, a real language spoken in greenland, albeit machine translated and probs not 100% accurate)

1. Blurred bits

I feel like this one isn't very visually pleasing, but it speaks to me more regarding how learning a language feels. You don't quite make out what the words are, and slowly pick up bits from what is being said. This also adds room for uncertainty on the character's POV, the speech bubble wouldn't be theirs, but what you read off it would be their thoughts regarding whats being said. The blur also helps keeping things incomprehensible even if you speak the other language being spoken.

2. Bits in multiple languages

This one adds room for out of the speech bubble commentary. It doesn't make misunderstandings as easy as with the blurred speech, and with an agglutinative language like kalaallisut it might end up being confusing to organise or break the sentence's syntax. It looks cleaner than the blurred bits though, and it still makes the other language incomprehensible (if you dont speak kalaallisut, that is). Colour coding would help indicate whats being understood by the main character and what isnt, and the texts would slowly be fully red across the chapters.

3. Faded colour to indicate not understanding

This makes the reader able to understand everything, and relies on the reader memorising that faded = not understood by the character. Other than that, colour coding would indicate a change of languages.

I like the reader only understanding what the character can understand and I like the types that leave kalaallisut still visible. Though option 3 might be cleaner and easier to manange.

4. Faded colour + blur

This is something I thought after posting it earlier on patreon. Blurring the parts the main character wouldn't understand can be a way for the brain to quickly skip through the missed text, in hopes that at least the first reading will match what the character is understanding.

Also, for the enjoyment of my 4 greenlandic followers, heres the machine translated kalaallisut version I used for 1 & 2. I had to use a double way translation tool and an annotation tool to be sure the words were somewhat related to what I wanted them to be. I can't really fact check it though, so I hope that whichever way the translator messed up is at least worth a chuckle.

If you'd like to see more of this kinda stuff, please consider supporting me on patreon

#comic #marangatu #language learning #brart #brazilian artist #latino artists #brazilian artists #greenland #if i were to make this a big project id hire a translator btw #and fool myself into learning a 7th language probably #the more languages you learn the less you care about how many people speak it or how profitable it'd be #sometimes the most dellicious languages to study are hidden in a 800km range area #also its amazing to see how many different ways there are out there to structure words and make sentences. i love languages #kalaallisut #comics

[coconi]

I just finished Tulin's storyline and excuse me while I bawl about this game further cementing the fact that Revali made himself a Champion. He was no descendant of an ancient Sage nor did he have a loving family to train him (that we know of). There was no power destined to be his: he crafted his own version of wind control without any support or spiritual guidance and excelled at it and then he and the other Champions went into battle without the special helms, without a sacred tear/charm to further enhance his abilities, without the certainty of two rulers (and a sage from the future) with god-like powers that could back them up if things went awry. Because of this, the original Sages survived where the Champions did not.

Revali was doomed from the start and if he'd known he would've still honed his craft and piloted Medoh with his beak held high and I am in shambles about it

#totk spoilers #tears of the kingdom spoilers #totk meta #don't mind me i'm having a normal one #and to be perfectly clear: this is not me downplaying tulin's achievements #I adore him and he worked his ass off and he /made/ himself worthy of the title of Sage and i wouldn't have it any differently #son boy son i would die for him #but by god do the champions (and revali in particular) hurt an extra amount in retrospective #totk may refuse to mention the champions by name (at least so far idk about the other regions) #but revali is so fucking present in the negative spaces he inhabits #revali's theme still plays at the flight range #when teba is introduced there is an emphasis on the strip of cloth attached to the great eagle bow #revali's landing is the first area of rito village that clears after the blizzard #the village's main spire is now named after medoh #and tulin looks far more honored to receive revali's bow (which is regarded as the very best) than he is about becoming a sage #it is thanks to revali's sacrifice that the village was granted the chance to thrive and defend itself #and that truth lives on no matter what

[junipershouse]

ethnic groups* of rika

kkariko ("embodied child" in kkarikiko, a dominant language spoken throughout much of rika, originating from a mikrikka culture, part of the central ethnic grouping.)

mikkriko ("small underground child" in kkarikiko)

grik krog ("over the mountain" in kkarikiko)

*(these are largely political groups as opposed to genetically distinct groups. like humans, there is a huge amount of genetic diversity and interminging between geographic groups. these images are based on beauty standards and stereotypical depictions.)

#speculative biology #alien species #xenobiology #kkariko tag #worldbuilding #oc #sci fi #the divisions in color represent different culture groupings within the larger ethnic groupings #so for example. western flats as a term includes rikka cultures sinyarr cultures fori cultures and garriko cultures #(rrikrik is from a rikka culture) (karra is from a mikrikka (central) culture) #and the dark teal ground on the grik krog and mikkriko maps represent areas where those two species do not live #mikkriko live underground in cave systems. so they dont live where there arent caves #and grik krog are largely isolated in the west due to the huge big mountain range which created the western flats #grik krog arent very good at climbing mountains or swimming so they dont live on islands either

[andoutofharm]

the thing about asking “is _____ cold” is that yes you can look at the climate ranges for that area and compare them to others and get your objective answer that way, but when Actually thinking about if somewhere is cold nobody thinks that way. they frame it in terms of their own experiences with temperature ranges and seasons. where they live might never get that cold (or only very occasionally, or they experience such extreme high temperatures that anything is subjectively cold to them), and so YES, it is cold. whereas another place might experience such comparatively colder weather and so subjectively, the place being considered is not cold. but it’s all based on experience, and an experience based perception of if a place is cold or not is all that really matters to an individual person. also mocking people for how their experiences inform their perception of temperature is really annoying and pointless

#yes this is about the stupid Massachusetts poll #look . we all have different temperature experiences and ranges that inform our perception of what cold is #and as someone who lives in the south I guarantee my perception is different than that of someone who lives in the north #and . idk it is annoying when people belittle and mock others who live in a different climate zone and so have a different perception #anyway. this post is both unimportant and badly worded but #i am simply a weather person who hears a lot about this kinda thing #and it is annoying to me when people use their experiences as an excuse to mock others #or especially to call them weak or pathetic #because they live in a different area that experiences a different range of extreme temperatures

[essektheylyss]

wearing a california bear baseball hat in arizona to assert my dominance

#listen here's the thing. there's only one thing worse than a californian. A ZONI #anyway I have to wait another hour before I get in n out and I NEED ITTTTTT #do you understand how dire it is trying to get a good cheap burger in the seattle metro area is. it's so dire. #the biggest sin of regional food discourse was trying to claim that five guys is in the same market area as in n out. it is nOT #it is a DIFFERENT PRICE RANGE. #if I want a five dollar burger these days I gotta go to fucking BURGER KING AND I WILL NOT. FUCK THAT. #five guys sells TEN DOLLAR BURGERS AT LIKE. MINIMUM. #they are NOT COMPARABLE. anyway #back to my woe

[rohirric-hunter]

Everyone has been so mean to Corunir and Golodir lately and I loaded up RangerCamp so I could just hang out and watch them vibe and chill and have a nice time.

Then I spawned in 12 bandit chiefs and for some reason they all had the ice spike spell which instantly crashed my game.

#rangercamp #fallout new vegas is doing that thing where when i open it it instantly minimizes itself #i dont remember how i fixed that with skyrim so. le siiiiiiigh #anyway lothrandir did not eat at his scheduled mealtime #radanir did tho so theres that #i need to add eating sleeping and patrol routines for corunir and golodir #i need to add it other assorted routines so they will all mingle a bit more; right now corunir and golodir just kind of hang out alone #radanir comes up here occasionally but the others do not #i wonder if i can expand the sandboxing area? although i think its the presence of stairs that is keeping them from moving #because i specifically positioned corunir in such a way that the stuff in the lower camp would be in his sandboxing range #and yet he doesnt go down there #stairs :shakefist: #the navmesh is fixed tho and what a weight off my shoulders #anyway i added in a thing where if your health is under 50% candaith will have a special greeting where he advises you to sit down #demonstrating you know a reasonable amount of concern for what 50% health actually entails #unfortunately this line also triggers if you are under 5% health and its sort of ridiculous then #so. idk how to fix that. i could add another condition to the line #i could add a different line that triggers if youre under 10% and set its priority higher #i think i tried to do that actually but it didnt work because i was trying to add a scripted event to it #where like once a day if you triggered the line he would give you a small health potion or something? #anyway scripting in skyrim is horrible and i hate it and all the tutorials out there SUCK #so. i might have to put all this on hold while i do a damn scripting tutorial from the beginning #because no one will just explain how to make npcs hand you things #its all 'were going to learn how to make notifications pop up onscreen and make text boxes!' #why would i want that. skyrim modding tutorial authors #why would i want to do that

[skrunksthatwunk]

fuck that last fight against nightmare boooooo this shit is actually so stupid and evil and i don't like it >:(

#it's. eugh. it's. FUCK #i don't like it it's so bad i've done it like 10 times now #eughhhhhhhghhhnghn #dmc #dmc1 #i still ahven't beaten it either.. sheeshhh #and i have to fight the stupid ice lizard things before a lot of the attempts too and half the time i can't dodge their jump thing because #i'm mid-combo so any indication of the wind-up to it can't actually be reacted to bc i'm busy getting hit or hitting #such that by the time the move is finished i literally can't get out of the way. often a roll isn't even enough range and they stand next t #each other so one roll's basically all i have time for anyway. sigh #whateverrr. this blows. this blows actual literal severe ass. ughhhhghh #dante. dante i believe in you i believe in us we can do this. but FUCK YOU NIGHTMARE YOU STUPID OOZE #arrrhghrhharzagraaaaa #sigh.. look the vulnerable points shouldn't only be available during 100% attacks in that area such that you take crazy damage if you #actually try to attack the part you have to attack before it goes away. and i've gotten so close ONLY FOR THE SECOND PHASE TO INITIATE AND #IMMEDIATELY KILL ME. BROOOOO WHAT ARE YOU DOINGG #look maybe i'm a pissbaby who's bad at video games but this pissbaby's got feelings #i should probably try a different weapon combo... sigh... #i did so bad on my alastor attempt that i've been using ifrit (i also like how fast the devil time is given the brevity of the weak spot's #appearances) but maybe sparda would be a better choice. but i like the devil trigger. i gotta listen to the song y'know. it's all about the #devil trigger babyy it's all about the devil time. and sparda's got nothing. maybe i should use that gun that looks like the goop #like. like is that a hint? idk i'd think if they were made of the same stuff it would be less effective #and i don't like that it seems to stunt your devil gauge. but if i'm using sparda anyway in for a penny in for a pound ig #whatever. rant over. i am. Calm (<- lying). so i'm gonna try again #and if i get mad again i'll do hw or something

[designernishiki]

today on tumblr user designernishiki’s autistic-with-a-special-interest-in-psychology deep dives: dissecting the hell out of kiryu/nishiki’s childhoods and kazama’s parenting (or lack thereof) and how it all relates to their emotional development (or lack thereof). they will never be safe from my psychoanalyses

#childhood development isn’t actually an area I have a ton of experience researching which is part of what makes this intriguing tbh #because I was basically thinking a lot about how it makes alot of sense that kazama being a semi-absent father figure would result in kiryu #idolizing and idealizing him to the (objectively unhealthy) extent that he does. because he wasn’t around super consistently kiryu would #hardly get to see/experience his flaws and have healthy disagreements and blatant differences with him and etc all-in-all making it so he’d #never really gain emotional autonomy and come to see him as a full-on person rather than an anti-hero character he wants to emulate as much #as possible. and by the time kiryu does come more face to face with kazama’s flaws and moral greyness he’s already well past the age range #where you’re supposed to develop emotional autonomy and have the most neuroplasticity to do so and thus it’s much more difficult for him #to deconstruct the idolized figure of kazama in his head. not to mention kazama died basically just as kiryu started to be confronted with #kazama’s less-than-perfect actions and traits and etc so he can’t humanize him through in-person experiences #it’s. a whole mess #I should save it for the big analysis post and not these tags fhshdjsnd #nishiki may have to be his own post completely because I feel like I’d end up having to talk about why he absolutely reads as borderline to #me and why it makes a lot of sense that certain symptoms/maladaptive thoughts/behaviors grow to be so out of control eventually #I have many thoughts about that boy and I already have many many notes on his potential bpd and image issues in general #hoo boy. #rambling

[housemousecooking]

Cheap Lunch - Soup and _____

*** I am using prices from the Walmart in the college town my sister lives in. Your area may be different***

I’m going to put two recipes for the soup, one that includes fresh vegetables, one that is ONLY canned. Both recipes are vegan but can be made with meat products added. 

This should be eaten with another food. Simple salad, a basic pasta, or a sandwich. 

Basic Minestrone -Makes 7 servings

2 tsp Olive oil - 3.94 Whole bottle

1 onion diced - $.85

2 Celery stalks sliced - $1.87 Whole bundle

3 medium carrots peeled and sliced - $.98 pound

3 tsp minced Garlic -$2.83 jar (45 servings)

1 (28 fluid ounce) can crushed tomatoes - $.98

4 cups Vegetable Broth - $1.94 for a carton of broth OR 1 Jar Better than Bullion $3.97(makes 3 cartons worth of vegetable stock for $1.33 each)

1 Small Zucchini halved then sliced - $.81

1/2 pound fresh green beans - $.86

1 Can red Kidney Beans - $.72

1 Can Canellini Beans - $.72

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning - $.98 whole container

1 Cup small shells -$.92 whole box

$17.79 for the recipe the first time making it. $10.21 in the weeks using the leftovers from the first week.  Or $2.50 a meal week 1 and $1.46 a meal weeks you use leftovers

Can Vegetable Soup 14 servings

1 28 ounce can of Crushed Tomatoes -$.98

1 6 ounce can of Tomato Paste - $.62

1 15 ounce can of sliced Carrots - drained -$.58

1 15 ounce can of Green Beans - drained - $.54

1 15 ounce can of Peas - drained -$.54

1 15 ounce can of Corn - drained -$.54 Regular $1.82 Fire roasted for more flavor

2 15 ounce can of Potatoes - drained -$1.56

2 32 ounce cartons of Garden Vegetable Broth - $1.94 each

2 Tbsp of Italian Seasoning - $.98

2 tsp Minced Garlic -$2.83

$13.59 for the recipe the first time making it. $9.78 in the weeks using the leftovers from the first week.  Or $.98 a meal week 1 and $.70 a meal weeks you use leftovers(recommended to freeze half and thaw it out the second week. 

#Cheap lunch #cooking #budget cooking #Fresh vegetables are cheaper at other store in the area #But using Walmart for simplicity purposes #This is to show healthy foods at different price ranges #And at different levels of availibity #frozen vegetables can also be used in either recipe

[cryptcatz]

idk if this makes sense or is just me but. i feel like if Harlan had been a token lgbt character (if there were no other lgbt charas) or something y’all would be more upset about him being senselessly killed. but him being a token autistic/disabled character is fine. lmao

#also if he was like within the main family age range and attractive idk #just feeling like. man we could’ve had a super powered autistic character in this show… #ua season 3 #ua s3 #umbrella academy season 3 #umbrella academy spoilers #ua harlan #harlan cooper #we had two other disabled characters this season for like what. 3 minutes lmao before they died too #the umbrella academy #autism #but yeah i honestly don’t get ppl saying him being killed was reasonable #Allison’s logic didn’t make sense imo #he didn’t kill Claire. really it is viktor’s fault because going back in time and messing with the past in season 2 did it #even if harlan hadn’t killed their mothers how does she know Claire would exist? she would’ve grown up totally different in a different #in a different area #it was just to hurt viktor i guess. #personal

[worm-wood-words]

Too tired to write but also can't stop The Scenes™ from playing out in my mind.

#bits about Arvel's healing magic and also the man in the bar healing Kahn's broken bones #i mean it's not perfect and it's painful for both the man and Kahn for different reasons but it does work in the end #also just sort of trying to flesh out the healing magic in my head. for most people who have it (mostly loethan) it's close #range or on touch. depending on the person it might hurt or drain the caster too and they might have to be able to see #the specific injury or at least where it is (such as when the man in the bar has to cut into Kahn's leg and arm to see his bones) #it almost never works on nerve damage. never on organs except maybe internal bleeding or injuries so severe the organs are #exposed. (basically just trying to say it won't heal organ failure). so it's pretty much best for broken bones and cuts. works better the #more recent the injury was. technically has the ability to regrow limbs but that's most likely never shown. (torn between whether #or not veren gets his arm regrown or a prosthetic. probably prosthetic since he lost it years ago) #doesn't work on illnesses or poisoning or stuff like that. that's still the domain of alchemists. also since on the areas it shuts #does. I'm not retyping that. on the areas it does heal its just rapid cell regrowth which most of the time is fine. but then there's #Arvel. who can do it both on touch and at range and uses the whole rapid cell growth thing as a method of torture. add the whole #light minions thing and the fact that his abilities include a rapid healing factor on himself (and that unlike a lot of people #his abilities work rapidly on others and he can easily get over any drain it has on him) #and yeah it's understandable why Len loses the first fight and why a lot of people don't stand up to him much. even his wife who doesn't #have powers at all ends up progressively more afraid of him. like the only way to possibly wound him in a meaningful way is to get the #drop on him and find some way to inflict severe damage on a vital spot and keep whatever you used to do that inside of him long enough #for him to eventually not be able to heal around it anymore. i don't know just thinking about how he's such a twisting of typically 'good #guy' powers. like his main things are light and healing he should be the hero or like high up supporting cast but nope he's just #trying to subjugate everyone and rule the whole damn continent because of a might makes right ethos and the fact that he does #certainly have might on his side #maggot original

[audiovisualrecall]

Constant pain only dulled for a whole day by daily taking full dosage of tylenol and also 1 advil even tho I'm not supposed to take NSAIDS

Miserable

#extraction is friday. home today then work tues-thurs #and thurs is inventory night :)))) #advil is bc in the 4pm-9pm time range the tylenol is not enough #like ive been staggering the doses bc max dosage is 6 pills #and also i want tp try not having to take the advil by overlapping differently but so far not working #earlier pill wears off at 5. took another at 2:30 thats good till 8:30 so in theory i should be ok rn bc i have 2 tylenol in my system #cant take another one until after 4:52 (took the prev dose at 10:52) and its 4:39 and ive been at 6-8 level pain since 4pm #ish. #have a few tricks that lessen the pain and should be helping like cold compress and tugging on my ear and holding my tongue against roof of #my mouth bc it helps for some reason. but all thats doing is stopping it from being a level 10 pain #between tmj pain and whatwvers up w my ear rn (may be related to tmj) and the pain in the gums around the tooth #and the pain from where she did the numbing injections. and both that and the gums are swollen/irritated #the pain bounces back and forth between the different spots and the gums/tooth area throba #throbs* occasionally. so I'm just. in a lot of pain #earlier in the day I'm fine with the one tylenol wearing off soon after i take a 2nd one #and I'm fact i went an hour between one wearing off while a 2nd was in my system before taking the 3rd instead of #what I'll be doing now which is taking another asap after the one wears off. 5pm or asap #last night had to take an advil #and this morning got up late and didnt take a tylenol till 7:30 after last one wore off at 3am #I'll have 1 extra pill tonight i can take either after 11:30pm or after 3am #Or if i can wait it out and take it ehem i get up for work #otherwise my 24 hrs resets at 7:30 tomorrow which means not taking a tylenol when i get up in the morning #reluctantly id take an advil tonight or in the morning i guess

[raythereader01]

P: Ah!

R: Peter! What’s wrong?!? Are you alright?!??

P: Oh no it’s ok Rumi. A raccoon just bit me again, I’m alright.

R: Right.. Peter what is a raccoon?

P: They’re the furry ones with the black around the eyes that kinda look like a cat if you aren’t careful. Why?

R: …

P: …

P: Rumi? Did I say something wrong?

R: No Peter never. You’ll also never have to worry about those “raccoons” again :))

P: What does that mean?

P: Rumi what does that mean.

#songstone #angelstone #angelstone/songstone au #jrwi apotheosis #jrwi patreon campaign #god rumi #lil peter sqloint #he’s just a guy #my contribution to the au #for context Rumi has smited every single raccoon in this universe’s existence #or he smited a different animal (my vote is the cacomistle) and thought he solved the problem #but raccoons keep attacking peter #so after a few more tries at smiting them #Rumi makes it his mission to bring holy judgement on all of them individually as soon as they are in a 30 ft range of Peter #peter is constantly unknowingly surrounded by a ring of dead raccoon-looking creatures whenever he enters a nature area #Rumi insists it’s no big deal #she’s pissed off

[thornshadowwolf]

greatest battle of all time trait I don't actually like vs gender euphoria GO!!!

#I have ONE!!! beard hair. #the moustache is fine idm that #WHY do we not have tweezers in this house I wanna rip it out #and I mean rip it out not shave so don't even suggest that #also now that I'm making this post I'm gonna bring up some other things that've been getting on my NERVES #ok like I don't mind a happy trail that's cool as hell but because of shot locations it's coming in in a stupid pattern cuz it #acts faster in the localized area of the shot. also I have a single black gair on my belly and it's ANNOYING AS HELL!!!! #losing the higher vocal range also annoying but the range isn't shrinking ofc just shifting so at least I get it #voice cracks annoying as all hell I can't sing anymore cuz there is a range of abt 4 notes that goes to the same completely different note #that'll go away tho (it already is starting to tbh) so whatever #uhhhh because of what I mentioned above. anyone know in theory anything about doing shots in your chest?? #cuz like. that's mostly fat right. #not that I'm on T rn so not gonna do that but I'm just curious now. #like besides potentially it being more sensitive skin is there any issue with it? #ok n e ways byeeee #ThornShadow.said #personal

[tj-crochets]

Thanks everyone for the medical alert bracelet advice! Mine arrived today, I got it sized the way I want it, and now I just have to get used to wearing a bracelet again lol 

#the person behind the yarn #it's like the 'get used to wearing a ring' I do once every few years #or the 'get used to wearing pants instead of shorts' I do every winter #constant sensory input where there was none before?? (or at least none I wasn't used to tuning out?) #restriction of range of movement???? (admittedly that's more for jeans than for bracelets or rings but still!) #I'll get used to it but it might be a bit #also I might end up trying a different band style for this ID bracelet #because the faceplate thing can go on a bunch of different bands #but I'm going to give it at least a few days before I decide to switch #because I know it's the 'sensory input I can't tune out from an area that normally rarely has sensory input' dislike #idk if y'all know what I mean but idk how else to word it?

[staff]

Tumblr’s Core Product Strategy

Here at Tumblr, we’ve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. We’re publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr’s future.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience. 

Tumblr’s competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content. 

To guarantee Tumblr’s continued success, we’ve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Tumblr’s usability, we must address these core guiding principles.

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Improve the platform’s performance, stability, and quality.

Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr has a “top of the funnel” issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog view—where there isn’t much of a reason to sign up. 

We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand “what is Tumblr.” which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.

Actions & Next Steps

Improving Tumblr’s search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to “get” Tumblr and entice them to sign up.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the user’s diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.

The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.

Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a person’s preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant. 

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content each time the app is opened.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are. 

Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds. 

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr’s charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.

Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.

Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs. 

Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread. 

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads. 

Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a user’s Following feed. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (“Following”), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.

Actions & Next Steps

Get creators’ new content in front of people who are interested in it. 

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.

Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.

Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.

Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a user’s shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events.  

Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy.  

Actions & Next Steps

Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.

Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary.  

Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages. 

Test what the right daily push notification limit is. 

Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.

Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.

The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.

Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.

Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users. 

Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.

Conclusion

Our mission has always been to empower the world’s creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

#tumblr #engineering #core product strategy