Well, here it is. A fresh start, the inaugural blog post, such a calming moment before the literary storm to come.

I've recently re-examined my online presence in an effort to appear more streamlined and less "all over the place." I realized I had many different blogs and was just throwing my thoughts onto different pages without much thought into where they were going, which audience would read them, or why I was writing them.

So this is where I write things, and why I've chosen these platforms. 

Flavors

My flavors is "my" website- you know, the one you put under the "website" option on different profiles. It's perfect for a portfolio and first landing page as it allows for me to show off where I am on the internet and my latest activity within different social networks.

It's simple and my audience can just browse me at the surface level or go deeper and connect with me on whichever platform they feel most comfortable with. Your tumblr/posterous/wordpress all look the same to the reader.

Posterous

I made the decision to delete my personal Wordpress blog as I didn't find it relevant to my online experience anymore. I had simply outgrown it. What used to be a place for me to put short and long form thoughts had evolved into a stagnant piece of art mainly composed of 2009 memorabilia. I wanted to start fresh, and I wanted to make my "blog" more professional and relevant to what I am doing right now (which is pursuing a future career in online media). 

I then began looking at my peers and what they were doing with their online spaces, and one person's approach stood out the most- my friend Matthew.  While his tumblr is definitely less ESFP (no emotional break up posts) than mine, and his Twitter more conservative (after all, he didn't because semi-famous because of drunk tweeting bout in 2009) his style flows effortlessly and he's made the right place to write things. He describes his tumblr as "a repository of what I find interesting every day" and uses Posterous for his "long-form thoughts on marketing, media, and management." 

 I have borrowed from his approach, and am now using Posterous for my long-form blog where I will be primarily writing about online media, which is currently what you're reading. Posterous also works perfectly for blogging via e-mail! It looks clean and I'm looking forward to writing more about my favourite industry. 

Tumblr

Tumblr is one of my absolute favourite spaces on the internet. When I created my profile, I envisioned it to be like my personal online diary, which the archive feature tackles flawlessly (as pictured above).

"Unlike blogging, where you spend time thinking carefully about what you say in each post, Tumblr is really more about the moment of consciousness, and capturing a snapshot of it. Hence, where blog posts are supposed to be solid and stand-alone, Tumblr posts stand in relation to an entire thread or posts. That's why looking at a Tumblr page is like taking a peek into a person's stream of consciousness." - The Manila Bulletin: Retention, self-expression, Tumblr. 

I think this observation is perfect, my tumblr works exactly like my stream of consciousness. It's raw, personal, and simply whimsical.

I've also employed Tumblr to create other projects, including a recent job application, because of it's simple interface and beautiful, customizable themes. I will never use Wordpress again, because Tumblr has it all: a user friendly backend with it's own community, a strong visual landing page, the ability to add pages, and when used with Disqus it has a full comment system.  

Also, Matthew wrote a blog post about how Wordpress shouldn't be worried about Tumblr, but Twitter should. It's worth a read and makes a very interesting argument. 

While my internet thoughts may be divided up on different blogs, my identity is not. When you visit my Twitter, you get the personal and professional Taylor all rolled into one hilarious mess of personality. What is your feedback on my current blogging system? Does it make sense, or do I seem too fragmented? What is your approach to blogging?

P.S. The Ubyssey, which I write for, uses Wordpress. But! They will also be creating a tumblr this year, used mainly for graphics/photos but along the same lines of the National Post's, which I adore.