How does tumblr work? How do I use it?

[Amellia]

I really want to get into tumblr but I have no idea how, it's so confusing to me, I created an account. But then it asked me what "blogs" I want to follow, first of all I don't even know what a blog is? and second of all I have no idea!!! Should I follow some fandom ones? and then some "blogs" take you to a whole other place? I don't want to post pictures of me or anything I just want to "follow" if thats what you do. I am super confused about what to do. What is tumblr even about? It seems like it's really cool and everyone uses it, but I don't get it! I'm not old either, I'm a teenager and I feel so alone.
I use Facebook, outlook, and youtube.

[Forever94]

First off, Welcome to Tumblr!

Now, down to business:

Once you sign up it will take you through a prompt to try to get you started, so that you can see stuff on your dashboard. Your dashboard is where you will control your blog basically. You'll be able to reblog posts and like them and add them to your queue. A reblog means that once you see something you like on your dashboard you can click the little arrows making a square and it will be published onto your blog. Liking a post simply means that it doesn't appear on your blog (unless you have a theme that allows others to see your "likes") and all you have to do is click the heart, it will turn red meaning that it's now saved in your likes area. You'll also see an option to queue a post, this simply means that it will post automatically whether you are or are not online. You can only have 300 things in your queue at one time, and you are only allowed to post 250 things a day.

Do you see the white bar at the top that says "Text, photo, quote, link, ect?" Those are your links to create new posts. So if you wanted to upload a selfie you just click on "Photo" and follow the instructions.

Following blogs is a lot easier than you think. Search for something like your favorite tv show - you'll (hopefully) find blogs that are all about that show and from there you can start to really have a good dashboard.

You can edit your settings, including theme, ask box, submit box, and more on your settings page. To get there, simply click the little gear at the very top of the page near the search bar.

Once you feel comfortable with where things are and what you can use and how you can use it, you might want to think about getting a new theme. I recommend getting themes from http://themesbyjames.com/ or Max Davis (google his name). You might also want to search for xKit and use it, it makes tumblr so much more easier.

If you want to gain followers at some point you can try this stuff, and also it might help you find new blogs to follow:
+ You could add "for more posts like this, follow me!" on every caption of every image you post/reblog.

+ Ask people questions OFF anon - and not things like "hey check out my blog!" because that can be annoying. Try asking them actual questions like: What do you like best about your favorite movie? - it's like a promo when they publish the ask to their blog and then all of their followers see it.

+ You could do promo games EX: Reblog for a promo!

+Try a follower site - the ones below have worked for me before on one of my blogs:

http://tumblrplug.com/
http://www.tumblrfollowers.com/
http://infinitefollowers.com/
http://www.gatherfollowers.com/
http://www.ezfollowers.com


I'm sorry if this sounds generic, I just wanted to give you as much information so that you don't get confused or anything, it's kind of easy to do sometimes when you start on tumblr. If you have any more tumblr questions, I'd be more than happy to help, you can find me at scarlettpoison.tumblr.com