Blazing into the Tumblr "For You" Feed, the Twitter Algorithm, an Open Letter to Stop AI, the HBO Rebrand to Max, and Dark Movies from The SUM
After four months of extracurricular effort, The SUM "Edition X" is here. Given the accolade, it deserved a new look and new format. You'll find short-form news highlights at the bottom and a long-form story at the top.
If you hate the lengthy reads, message me. It's an experiment.
Thank you to everyone who has followed this newsletter, shared it with friends and coworkers, left comments, and personally messaged me. The analytics have continued to blow me away, with 250+ subscribers and over 200,000 organic impressions since kicking this off in November 2022.
Also, big thanks to Grammarly for bringing me on as Brand Ambassador. I've been advocating for this service (that I personally use every day) for a while, so it's amazing to be acknowledged for the work.
Stay educated, cause a ruckus, and make change happen.
In this newsletter, you'll find:
Leave a comment at the bottom if you learned something, hated
something, or just want to say what's up.
Tumblr Community Backlash on Blazed Post: How Recycled Content Doesn't Work Everywhere—Especially in the "For You" Feed
Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking platform where my interest has been piqued for months—going on a year. Its heyday was within the whereabouts of 2010 after it was founded in 2007 by David Karp. Think peak housing crisis.?
History aside, it's slowly had a resurgence, added some new features, copied some other features, and increased its daily active users (DAUs) within Gen Z throughout 2022 and into 2023. It's an interesting spot to hang out, try new things, and archive embarrassing posts circa 2007-2012.
A Paid Media Social Experiment of Recycled Content from LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram
The whole recycling of well-received, what you could consider "good" content from LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram was an absolute failure. It's something I expected but needed to test.
PREMISE: Recycle Pepsi's rebranding content from other social channels to see how it is received and measure response on Tumblr.
PURPOSE: Pepsi is a household name with a fierce rivalry against Coke, and consumers of sweet, sugary carbonated bubbles are very opinionated.
CONTENT: Reuse 1x1 meme-worthy images created for an Instagram carousel, add a brief contextual summary under 50 words, and utilize the poll feature to gauge reactions. See native post on Tumblr .
EXECUTION: Post in the morning (around 8 A.M. ET) for best organic exposure, and boost for extending reach beyond the nonexistent audience of my blog.
***For context, this was a small-scale attempt to provoke reactions. I am not an influencer and do not have a large following on any social network to drive auxiliary impressions.***
What Happened After the Post was Paid For and ?? Blazed
For starters, the post was boosted via ?? Blaze—meaning it was backed by $10.00 for a minimum reach of 2,500 impressions, the lowest pricing tier. Typically, you reach well beyond the minimum figure because Tumblrs interact with the content via reblogging, commenting, and liking the post. Any interaction is counted as a Note.
Within 15-20 minutes of the boost, it was fairly unanimous among the commenters that this is not the type of content to Blaze.
Also, it was interesting to hear Blazing a poll will wildly skew your data because the community will act hostile toward a Blazed post. It begged the question of how effective the boosted option is on the platform, but later on—and after some side conversations on Reddit, it was easy to recognize Tumblr users just despise big, corporate brands.
After 1 hour, the promotion was "Extinguished" (nice one, Tumblr), and hopefully, Tumblrs were happy to not be fed "ad" or "hustle" content. It was an interesting response to a simple news item and poll, which caused immediate confusion.
Some thought the content was an ad company pushing the Pepsi rebrand, while another thought it was a promotional scheme, the equivalent of those YouTube pre-roll ads telling you "how to turn $25 into $250,000 overnight if you buy this course" type of thing.
For fun and intrigue, this same experiment was run on Reddit to equally hasty and accusatory comments of "working for Pepsi" or some advertising agency with a paid media budget. This only further enraged the commenters. Those comments stemmed from a larger, broader community within r/business —whereas r/branding contributed to a good discussion with great thoughts and insights from commenters.
Can Branded Content Work on Tumblr?
Should brands and companies be on Tumblr OR is it a sacred space for artists, creatives, nostalgic millennials, and angsty Gen Zers??
The easy answer is yes and no (sorry for the indecisiveness). Your brand can be on Tumblr in some capacity, depending on your product set. If you’re selling products or services to consumers, especially a younger demographic, this can be a platform where you find success. If you’re working business-to-business, there’s no reason you need to be there.
After further research and once the mayhem ended, my advice for Tumblr content (especially if this is something you intend to Blaze):
To some extent, Tumblr is restricted from mainstream interference and the Boomer invasion, being more of a “famous microblogging website for freaks” than a social network like Facebook. You’re appealing to a nostalgic millennial and Gen Z user base with a big, big emphasis on humor and Tumblr inside jokes. If it’s a platform you’re considering in your strategy, create an account (or reboot your old one) and go get a feel for the trending content.
Tumblr can absolutely work for consumer brands in disguise—but a word of caution: tread lightly.
A Question for Any Frequent Tumblr Experts on LinkedIn
If you are a Tumblr user, what do you expect from a ?? Blaze post?
领英推荐
Email me at [email protected] with any thoughts.
Tumblr will be a platform I continue to explore and work on understanding as a curious social explorer.
Why Movies Have Become Darker, Literally
Darker cast films, notably since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy, have always felt more realistic, less Hollywood. In my opinion, that’s preferable.
But, unbeknownst to me, it all has to do with lighting and a preference for natural realism. It’s the difference between motivated light and unmotivated light (i.e. unrealistic lights on a movie set versus the sun's natural light).
Bottom Line: The darker movies and tv shows over the last decade are a preferential, stylistic thing, not a mistake or bad VFX.
Dig deeper into the topic and let filmmakers pursue their own creative choices. It doesn’t mean you have to like the film. ??????
Understanding Twitter's Algorithm: The Code is Now Public
You think you know?Twitter … But did you know:
Halting AI Experiments for 6 Months (i.e. Pump the Breaks)
It's worth your time reading this "open letter" that calls for a halt to AI experimentation and development for 6 months. It's titled "Pause Giant AI Experiments: An Open Letter" from the?Future of Life Institute (FLI) .
The premise is pump the brakes on generative AI technology.
If you haven't heard, big names have signed—from Elon Musk to?Steve Wozniak ?to?Andrew Yang . As of today, April 12, there are 22,922 signatures. ??
Interestingly, it's rumored that Elon Musk is investing heavily in generative AI project for Twitter . Slightly hypocritical—but also not surprising and very on brand for Mr. Musk.
HBO is Going By Max Now
You can hate the rebrand but not mind the new logo. This could be said about Warner Bros. decision to drop HBO from HBO Max, and simply become Max. This change will consolidate HBO Max and Discovery+ into a single streaming platform with three subscription tiers.
The optics on the rebrand have been defensive, primarily from HBO and Max Content Head,?Casey Bloys. In a statement to IndieWire , Bloys said:
"The same people who are concerned today about taking ‘HBO’ out of the name ….were outraged that ‘HBO’ was put in the name in the first place, that it was called ‘HBO Max,'” Bloys told a room of reporters. “It was a lot of, ‘How was HBO going to be put next to ‘The Big Bang Theory?'” he recalled.
Maybe Casey was having a bad day or didn't listen to his PR team. But, to be blunt, Bloys' statement feels more like a sniveling elementary schooler than a department head of a multibillion-dollar media property.
Regardless, dropping HBO seems unwise, especially with its roots going back to 1972. The black and white logo screams premium and luxury, and HBO’s reputation for outstanding programming precedes them—whereas Max Originals could be described as iffy or meh.
But progress requires change, apparently, even if it's unnecessary.
What changed with the logo?
The big change will be fully realized on May 23.
The SUM is derived from industry news and insights related to marketing, copywriting, advertising, branding, web best practices, and more. If you enjoyed The SUM, subscribe for biweekly updates or follow?Zach Burger ?for content that doesn't miss a beat.