Media companies using Tumblr to extend social media reach

The New York Times ran an article Sunday about media companies using Tumblr to increase their social media reach.

Over the last few months, other media outlets have caught wind of Tumblr, which is free to use. The newest recruits include The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, BlackBook Media Corporation, The Paris Review, The Huffington Post, Life magazine and The New York Times.

The article focused on Mark Coatney, who set up a Tumblr account for Newsweek and was recently hired by Tumblr. Coatney’s role is to help media companies understand what they can do with Tumblr.

“I saw it as an opportunity to talk to our audience in a new way,” he said. On Twitter, he said, “the main feedback comes mostly from retweeting,” or retransmitting an interesting message. On Tumblr, “the tone is a lot more conversational.”

There is certainly potential here. Tumblr doesn’t have nearly the reach of Twitter or Facebook, but news orgs that have mastered those two and are ready for something else might find it valuable.

I used Tumblr for one of my classes this spring. Students posted their homework right to their Tumblr, which made it simple for me to see everything all in one feed.