Tumblr (tumblr.com) is a relatively new microblogging platform with fast increasing popularity. The main reason for that can be explained in a single word: simplicity. The most used software for creating and managing a blog in recent years is, undoubtedly, WordPress. But it quickly expanded its functionality beyond the needs of the regular blogger and currently is a full-featured CMS (content management system). While in the beginning those were exciting additions, it soon became an increasingly difficult and confusing software. Bloggers simply didn’t need all that power and flexibility. Ten and more template files, needed to render and display blog pages, are certainly more than needed.

And then Tumblr appears on the scene, offering an easy and straightforward way to create an attractive (due to the huge pool of ready Tumblr themes) and easy to use blog. It also utilizes the terms “microblog” and “tumblelog” as modern methods to share text, quotes, photos, useful links, music, and video in an extremely fast and efficient way. The time of those classical long articles is over. Users can use their mobile phones to post new content to their tumblelogs with minimal efforts.

As an addition, Tumblr is an absolutely free web service with little restrictions. Users don’t need to buy domains (it’s optional actually) and hosting or install or manage any kind of software. They just need to register and pick a suitable theme. You could think that since Tumblr is a relatively new service, there won’t be much variety of cool-looking and functional Tumblr themes. You couldn’t be further from the truth! Tumblr was quickly embraced by the most modern and progressive web designers and developers, who discovered the simplicity and elegance of the platform and produced an impressive number of Tumblr themes — both free and premium.

The official Tumblr Theme Garden offers thousands of great user-submitted themes and there are additional places you can find your theme if those aren’t enough. Every Tumblr theme is automatically optimized for displaying on mobile browsers. All theme assets — images, CSS and JavaScript files, are stored on the Tumblr servers — users don’t need to upload and link them externally.

Today Tumblr has more than 200 million users and around 125000 new users sign up every day. It’s even used by celebrities such as Katy Perry, John Mayer, and a number of other famous bloggers, artists and developers.

Pros:

• Publishing on Tumblr is as easy as choosing the post-type (image, video, text, or link) and hitting publish.
• Tumblr’s Control Panel makes it extremely easy to manage multiple blogs.
• Large variety of stunning themes.
• Mobile friendly interface; dedicated mobile apps.
• Ability to publish posts on the fly through SMS, email or audio message.

Cons:

• Highly visual design does not encourage text-heavy blogging.
• Lack of comprehensive CDN, caching, or anti-virus plugins.
• Emphasis on sharing devalues original content, particular textual content.

Recommended for:

• Casual bloggers who want something between Twitter and WordPress.
• Businesses trying to expand their brand through visual content.

There is no question that Tumblr has become the new way of blogging. Over 7 million Bands, musicians and individuals alike from around the globe are choosing Tumblr thanks to its super easy interface, fantastic customization options and social networking hookups. Tumblr is a great way of creating a new blog with a powerful CMS.