david:

#3 in time spent online!! I love you guys. :D

(via Nielsen’s Social Media Report: Q3 2011)

First off - I hear that. An unhealthy amount of my time gets sucked into that vortex.

However, I take issue with the fact they’re calling Tumblr a social network. I wouldn’t call Tumblr a social network any more than I’d call Twitter one. They are both communication platforms (one a bit more expressive than the other - I’ll let you figure that out.) but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re “social networks”, the way Linkedin and Facebook are, or MySpace and Friendster used to be. None of those platforms allow asynchronous information flow (fancy way of saying one-way communication), which is the ‘key’ difference in defining an online social network.

Which is also, precisely where the appeal and the power lies for both Twitter and Tumblr.

For many of us they are two of the most well designed, well thought-out, highly effective tools for personal expression and content consumption without the fuss and the clutter - or “Friends” as they’re often referred to on those other platforms.