Pinterest vs. Tumblr
I'm a fan of both Pinterest and Tumblr but there are certain things I like more about Pinterest than Tumblr and vice versa. I thought I'd try my hand at a very Beautifully Invisible-inspired post. Only those of you who know her will understand what I'm saying ;) Anyhow, without further ado, let us take a look at their differences and similarities, shall we?
With Pinterest, every user has the same clean and basic layout that matches the website. I really appreciate the professionalism. This is one reason why I always favored Facebook over Myspace. It can be fun to personalize your space but there are people who make their pages a little too busy for my taste. With that said, I still enjoy having the ability to make edits to my Tumblr. Most of the layouts they provide are simple but with options to change the background, header, adding widgets and simple stuff anyone with basic html knowledge can handle.
Verdict: They both have my vote!
Honestly, there have been many times when I've used Pinterest's search bar and because the server was so busy my results wouldn't show. When they do, there are rows and rows of images that pop up and continue to as I scroll down which makes loading time much slower. For me it's not as efficient as when I use Tumblr's search bar. No more than a handful of images show at a time in a single vertical row. My eyes are able to focus and appreciate one image at a time. Once and a while when searching for a specific something I'll use Pinterest because I can see more at once but generally I like to use Tumblr for browsing. Although I will admit that Pinterest has a much larger selection of recipes, DIYs and the like.
Verdict: Tumblr!
Pinterest's Options are as follows:
- "Like" on Pinterest
- Repin
- "Like" on Facebook
- Tweet
- Embed
- Report Pin
- Add your pin to a category (Not shown)
- Add your own personal text (Not shown)
Tumblr's Options are as follows:
- "Like" on Tumblr
- Reblog
- Publish now or later (Not shown)
- Add tags (Not shown)
- Send to Twitter (Not Shown)
- Add your own person text (Not shown)
Nintey percent of the time I use Tumblr to "like", Tweet and reblog something I've seen. However, I use Pinterest's handy "Pin It" button (which I'll talk more about in a second) on Tumblr to categorize the photo I've liked.
Verdict: Tumblr!
I've "liked" 3,357 posts on Tumblr and it's a number that continues to grow on a daily basis. The bad thing is, if I want to go back and look at something I "liked" a month ago I have to go page by page searching for that one photo. It's such an inconvenience. Now, If I reblogged that photo I can look at my archives which makes it a little easier. But why go through all the hassle when everything can be categorized on Pinterest? They have separate albums which contain your individual "likes" by categories that you create. It definitely beats browsing all your favorites page by page on Tumblr with all the fashion mixed up with the food, quotes, Disney and random screencaps from your favorite movies and TV shows.
Verdict: Pinterest!
The "Pin It" option is perfect for whenever you see a photo anywhere on the web and have to save it. A window pops up asking which category you'd like to pin it to, an option to describe your pin, and if you want to send it to Twitter. This handy button sits on your Favorites bar eagerly awaiting to be used!
Tumblr doesn't have a feature like this but they too have something Pinterest doesn't really use. Tags! The majority of Tumblr users use tags every time they post and that's how we find what we're looking for. You can also save tags that are of most interest to you. As you can see above, I currently have Disney, Rachel Zoe and Star Wars. It got a little out of control recently so I toned it down a bit. Since I follow so many people who have the same interests as me it wasn't really necessary for me to have all the saved tags. It's a really great feature though and I love it because it informs you of how many new posts under that tag there have been since your last visit.
Tumblr also has multiple different ways to post and since it's more of a blogging platform than Pinterest is, it makes sense. With a click of a button you can easily add text, a photo, a quote (one of my favorites), a simple link, chat (an open discussion post), audio or a video.
Verdict: That "Pin It" button is mighty tempting :P
I've been a Tumblr girl for a long time and I use it every day. I've used Pinterest a lot more in the last month or two and I've come to notice their differences and similarities and that's why I wanted to share them with you. I've realized that Tumblr is much more like an easy way to blog without really having to write anything at all (although some people do use it this way) and Pinterest is like a large organized e-album. Both are great and completely useful individually but they also work great together (like "pinning" a photo from Tumblr). I've seen both of them used in great ways to inspire people (even blog posts!), to help yourself remember a recipe or a photoshoot idea and I've also seen them expand blog readership. If you're interested, IFB recently posted an article on five ways your blog can benefit from Pinterest that I would highly recommend. You can read it here!
Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest and Tumblr!
My Pinterest
My Tumblr
Do you use both Pinterest and Tumblr or do you prefer one or the other? Do you use them any specific way? I'd love to know!