A formal introduction

Hi, I’m Tal Rosenberg, the digital content editor of the Chicago Reader. I used to tumbl here, and also run this; I twitter here. 

I love Tumblr: Its functionality, the often appealing design templates, and the ability to communicate with and respond to people all over the web. However, one thing that I see missing from Tumblr, or something that hasn’t been figured out yet, is the identity of a publication’s tumblr. How does a publication’s tumblr differ from the blog on its webpage? What does a publication’s tumblr do?

A significant source of Tumblr’s entertainment can only be accessed by experiencing it: Following other people, hashing out conversations with them, creating a space where the walls and doorways dividing the hallways and the classrooms are collapsed. Part of the problem, or the perception of a problem, is that Tumblr functions primarily as a personal space, which means that a magazine—which is really an institution—has a hard time creating a space for itself in Tumblr’s universe. 

I’m hoping this tumblr will be an open space for a couple Reader writers to go beyond simply reposting our own content. We will link to our content, and we will refer back to stuff that’s going on online and in the print issue. But I also hope that we can venture beyond that stuff to do some of the things that one might do on a personal tumblr: Longform writing, having conversations with people, reposting smart writing, and reposting pictures of Ryan Gosling and puppies. 

So I’ll be the primary riddim selector, and Miles Raymer will often be toasting here as well. Who knows: We might have guest posts, too. Lengthy writing and responses will always have bylines affixed to them. Onward!