Tumblr vs. Wiki questions

[Jenilee]

Hey everyone, I had a couple questions regarding character bios, free companies, etc. using the Wiki vs Tumblr.

 

I have never personally used Tumblr, (however I have seen many others use it for their characters), so please excuse my ignorance if I'm asking obvious questions. I do have a character bio on the Wiki and may explore creating a Tumblr as well if it makes sense. 

 

1.) Are there generally understood pros and cons when compared to one another?

 

2.) Do you personally prefer one over the other, if so, why?

 

3.) Do you find that Tumblr helps to creates new opportunities?

 

4.) Do you find that more people use the Wiki or Tumblr?

 

5.) Anything else I'm missing or should know?

 

Thank you so much for your time, it's very much appreciated!

 

Edited June 27, 2018 by Jenilee

[Maril]

1.) Are there generally understood pros and cons when compared to one another?

They are used for widely different things; but Tumblr is known to have quite a lot of bugs, glitches and the likes, and the editor for themes is more wonky to work with. So if you are planning to costumize a theme you might be in for a small headache. The wiki on the other hand has a risk of sabotage/harrassment since anyone (with an account) can edit, however this happens super rarely; previous editions are always stored (so nothing will be lost) and the moderation team takes it very seriously when it happens.

 

2.) Do you personally prefer one over the other, if so, why?

 

Personally I prefer Tumblr slightly more over the Wiki, but that is because of how I use it; I am very active there, versus me never having had a habit to check the wiki frequently outside of moderator duties. It's easier for me to maintain my character information pages on tumblr because of that habitual activity- but in reference to #1, I have had so many headaches in the process to make things look nice.

 

3.) Do you find that Tumblr helps to creates new opportunities?

 

Tumblr can definitely help you gain exposure for your characters, for example via screenshots and Looking For Roleplay posts- but only if you know how to use it right. You need to follow people, get some to follow you back (Following anyone you RP with has been my strategy + art blogs because I love art), and for things like LFRP posts, you should also tag blogs that specifically help boost those posts.
You can 100% gain the same kind of exposure by taking your wiki and linking it on discord communities that you're in which focus on RP, and if you aren't in any, that's another area you can consider in addition to/instead of tumblr.

 

I can't say that it's going to for sure land you new opportunities. I've recently had 2x LFRP posts out for 2 alts, and in average 3-5 people responded, but the posts got more than 100 "likes" or notes as they're called on tumblr. With RP and opprtunities, the more proactive you are = more opportunities, only focusing on the other way around probably will never be super effective. Tumblr lends itself a little easier to sending direct messages.

 

4.) Do you find that more people use the Wiki or Tumblr?

 

Most people I know have both. I think it does not hurt to have both, if you're interested in the social media aspect of Tumblr as well. Less is not always more when it comes to exposure for your character. If you're not hunting for exposure, but want to use the blog for IC posts (Like journals) and such then you could just as well have that on your wiki with a theme that for example has tabs and such.

 

5.) Anything else I'm missing or should know?

 

Tumblr is an unmoderated bubble-community. As a result, there's a lot more drama (or discourse, as it's mostly tagged as), from gaslighting to callout posts, nasty rumor blogs and what have you not- You need to be aware that you may see a nastier side of the community, unless you use extensions (X-kit, for example) to filter out certain words so you don't see those posts. By bubble-community, I also mean that you'll only see the content you subscribe to, e.g what the people you follow posts- it doesn't hurt to be aware of that, simply because you may end up getting over-exposed to certain ideals.

The Wiki is moderated so whilst we can't guarantee you might be the one to discover something, at least here things that are not in accordance with our guidelines for the site, will get removed. And you don't have the social media aspect of things to worry about.

 

I think that's about it. TL;DR  is that they're two very different things and if anything I'd say use both if you have the energy to maintain both.

[Roen]

Maril has some great advice and explanations, so I don't need to add much.

 

What I like and prefer wiki for is that with just quick glance, the reader can get an idea of what a character is all about. Tumblr being a blog, sometimes you have to scroll through a bunch of images or know how to sift through tags and posts to get to what you might be interested in if you just want to get to know a character. Where as wiki, it's much easier to find some basic character information.

 

Tumblr is also interactive with other people, where as wiki I see it just as a presentation of your character. The only interactive part about wiki really is the rumors you can add to other people's pages. I have found new roleplayers to meet through tumblr, but I always look up wiki first to see if any new character I am curious about has a page there. And as Maril mentioned, you can also find plenty of artists on tumblr, if you are looking for such a thing. But tumblr, more than wiki I think, you need to be active on it to get the most out of it. 

 

Wiki takes a LOT more work to set up initially (from my experience) but once it's set, it's there as a resource for others to learn about your character. How much of an opportunity it creates, I have no idea since you don't really see the traffic on your wiki page. Tumblr, on the other hand, you get some ideas through likes and such, but it doesn't really reflect the amount of actual interaction you get out of it.

 

Both are good resources though though. I recommend both.

[Jenilee]

Thanks so much to the both of you, really great advice!