{"id":573,"date":"2012-07-15T18:56:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-15T18:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/?p=573"},"modified":"2012-07-15T19:00:09","modified_gmt":"2012-07-15T19:00:09","slug":"comment-philosophy-on-tumblr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/2012\/07\/comment-philosophy-on-tumblr\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment philosophy on Tumblr"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From an <a title=\"david karp tumblr comment philosophy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/07\/15\/magazine\/can-tumblrs-david-karp-embrace-ads-without-selling-out.html\" target=\"_blank\">interview<\/a> with David Karp, founder of the <strong>Tumblr blog network<\/strong>, I want to highlight a concept where design shapes behavior:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Karp\u2019s thinking about the comments section, which is generally assumed to be a core blog feature, helps illustrate his broader ideas about how design shapes behavior online. Typically, a YouTube video or blog post or article on a newspaper\u2019s site is the dominant object, with comments strewed below it, buried like so much garbage. Thus many commenters feel they must scream to be noticed, and do so in all caps, profanely and with maximum hyperbole. This, Karp argues, brings out the worst in people, so Tumblr\u2019s design does not include a comments section.<\/p>\n<p>How, then, to encourage feedback while discouraging drive-by hecklers who make you never want to post again? First, Karp notes, you <em>can<\/em> comment on someone else\u2019s post, by reblogging it and adding your reaction. But that reaction appears on your Tumblr, not the one you\u2019re commenting on. \u201cSo if you\u2019re going to be a jerk, you\u2019re looking like a jerk in your own space, and my space is still pristine,\u201d Karp explains. This makes for a thoughtful network and encourages expression and, ultimately, creativity. \u201cThat\u2019s how you can design to make a community more positive.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While the imagined rationale for commenters acting poorly because they <em>can&#8217;t be noticed easily<\/em> is a weak cause-and-effect, I find the design response innovative and appealing:<\/p>\n<p>Your readers&#8217; comments are shown on <strong>their blog, not yours<\/strong>, thus keeping your blog more positive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From an interview with David Karp, founder of the Tumblr blog network, I want to highlight a concept where design shapes behavior: Karp\u2019s thinking about the comments section, which is generally assumed to be a core blog feature, helps illustrate his broader ideas about how design shapes behavior online. Typically, a YouTube video or blog &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/2012\/07\/comment-philosophy-on-tumblr\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Comment philosophy on Tumblr&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design","category-social-media","category-website"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p415hC-9f","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":581,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573\/revisions\/581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paulgurney.com\/whats_new_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}