Tumblr VS. Blogger

There is now a multitude of platforms where you can publish yourself. Whether you want to talk about your cats or engage in a serious social debate, there are a ton of services to choose from. Two of the most popular are Tumblr and Blogger.

Both Tumblr and Blogger are cloud-based publishing platforms that offer weblogs for free. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and we’re going to discuss them here.

Tumblr

Tumblr is relatively new to the scene, having been launched in 2007. The design and capability is simpler than other micro blogging platforms, but it offers a lot in return. The system is geared more towards mixed media posts rather than just text and an image. This makes it ideal for our bite-sized media appetite.

It’s more a middle ground between social networks and a blog rather than a pure blog. The advantage of this link to social media is a much more active and vocal community. Rather than just posting something, hitting the share buttons and waiting for the search engines, a Tumblr post has more options.

Tumblr has its own search function and tagging system, making it easy to gain an audience if your content is good enough. The “reblog” and “like” features we are now all familiar with are built-in to Tumblr, making it a simple exercise to share good content with others, and, when having enough followers, the potential of that content going viral is high.

The interface is clear and easy to use. It’s easy to post content, attach media and comment on other people’s posts. The Tumblr team have tried to make it as easy as possible to get content out there.

If you’re the creative type, there is much more freedom to mold Tumblr in your own image too. There are many more styling options and themes for Tumblr. While you can skin Blogger, it’s much harder to pull off a decent theme there.

Blogger

Blogger, as the name suggests is a blogging platform. It’s more suited to typical blog-length posting rather than micro blogging. While blogs are still hugely popular, they aren’t as easily digestible as a Tumblr post.

Blogger was launched in 1999, so has a lot of experience in the game. It gained ever more when it was snapped up by Google in 2003. Now it has the power of the Big G behind it, which goes a long way to making it a successful platform.

As a free platform from which to shout to the world, Blogger is awesome. The interface is simple, it’s straightforward to add content and the platform supports rich media. It isn’t as intuitive as Tumblr, it isn’t as easy to comment and share and it isn’t as easy to customize.

You can get under the hood of Blogger, but there doesn’t seem to be as many options as there are with Tumblr. While that may not matter to many of you, it is a slight mark down for Blogger.

Essentially, Tumblr is for the cool kids who can say a lot with little. The demographic is young and cutting edge, primarily those comfortable with sharing their lives over social networks. Blogger is for those who write. The system has a definite text bias that supports longer posting and more “serious” blogging.