Don't blog: Tumblog

Tumblr is a simple yet powerful blogging platform that solves a couple big gaps that most blogging platforms neglect.

With a tumblog, you can enter your account information from all your online sites: Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Vimeo, and any other service that has RSS feeds (Last.Fm and tons of others).

What this does is keep your blog up-to-date and fresh even when you're not blogging. I'll go through several-month periods where I don't post. But with my tumblog, my Flickr photos show up. My twitters show up. My Youtube videos show up. My reblogs from FeedDemon show up.

Here's how mine is setup:

Initially tumblr only allows 5 external feeds, but you can request more (I have 6):

• Importing from NickDavis.com (this site - personal weblog)
• Importing my Twitter updates
• Importing my YouTube videos
• Importing my weekly top 5 Last.Fm artists (through a Yahoo! Pipe)
• My Flickr Photos Tagged "tumblr"
• This is an advanced maneuver, that allowed me to get over the tumblr feed limit. I created a Yahoo! Pipe that combines several feeds:
  • Importing my FeedDemon "republish" clipping folder. FeedDemon (my RSS reader) allows you to set up multiple clipping folders, and each can have its own RSS feed. So, if I read something I want to republish, then I right click it and choose "Send to Clipping Folder-Republish". I also use this method to share liks with Tracie - that republish feed shows up in her Google Reader.
  • My del.icio.us links tagged "republish"
  • The iLike songs I like.

You can also blog like any other service. It's free and simple to setup. I set one up for Tracie and she loves it. So much, in fact, that she helped her sister set one up. Let's hope this spreads! I'd love to keep up with more friends and family this way.