Tumblr is to mainstream as mainstream is to Tumblr

Matthew Ingram writes on What Tumblr can tell us about the future of media:

If there was any doubt left that Tumblr is trying to become more of a mainstream media entity, albeit with its own odd twist, it was removed recently when the service hired bloggers to cover the Republican and Democratic national conventions in a kind of Tumblr-style stab at political journalism. But that’s just one side of the equation: While Tumblr is becoming more like the traditional media, many media outlets also seem to be working hard to become more like Tumblr — not only adopting the platform, but taking on a lot of its characteristics as well, including a fascination for animated GIFs and memes. You could argue about whether that’s good or bad for journalism, but there’s no question it is happening.

There are some great points about shareable versus shallow, speed and humor in this essay. (I’m actually toying with some of those topics on a nascent paper.) There’s a lot to be considered, and this is a good read.