I’ve noticed that a lot of authors on the forum have a Tumblr page. I’ve also found some IF’s I’ve never heard of on there that I couldn’t see on the forum.
I have tried going through the IF rec list on there but I always get the “stop: classified” pop up that directs me to make an account. I’ve never had Tumblr and don’t know anyone who does so I’m unsure whether I should make an account just to view the IF’s and keep track of them.
Has anyone here made a Tumblr account just so they could discover new IF’s? Is it a good platform? I honestly didn’t know where to ask this.
As one of the authors what I can say is that tumblr is great for interacting with readers, getting feedback, questions, suggestions etc much, well, easier than on the forum.
For readers, I’d argue this brings the advantage of seeing what others think, and get a better sense of community?
I don’t like Tumblr all that much, but practically speaking, authors for some of the games I follow like to post on there more often, so creating an account is more a convenient thing
Yes, initially it was mostly to follow the authors of the WIPs I was already reading (especially the ones from Itch-io or ones where the author doesn’t use the forum often) but I also found some good new IFs in there.
It’s a big place for IF from what I have seen, but be cautious. Tumblr, for whatever reason, seems to be a place where the ratio of people who actually write compared to people who talk about writing but don’t actually do much of it is rather askew. I would advise readers not to get too attached to a lot of the stories they see over there. Some are too ambitious to ever actually exist, and others will just get updates every other year or so to keep luring people along as they squeeze them for Patreon and Ko-Fi cash.
Still, if you’re just using it to follow writers and their exploits, go for it. In the end, it’s not much different than any other social media platform. A lot of content, not a lot of depth.
I made Tumblr just to follow IF authors, and now as I write I do use it to interact with readers.
@hustlertwo is correct that there are a lot of authors who make introposts, but never publish a demo. Still, I do think its a platform for keeping up with authors, espically those who don’t have forum threads.
I did make a tumblr years ago to follow some WIPs.
But I absolutely hate using tumblr (it feels really grating and unintuitive for me), so I don’t really use it…
Oh I adore tumblr. It’s my preferred way of finding stories I might be interested in, actually. There’s so many demos out there nowadays that I’d rather read a blurb and see if it sounds like my thing and go from there rather than give everything a shot, I just don’t have the time to do that anymore. So I didn’t make a tumblr specifically for that but I do use my personal tumblr to find and keep up with stories that excite me.
I had Tumblr like a billion years ago, which was linked to my old email account. Which I deleted like a million years ago lol. I had to go thru hoops just to get that account back.
I had to revive it just for following IF works. I don’t do Discord, so Tumblr and Patreon are the only places I can get updated and find new things to waste money on read.
Had a Tumblr account for ages, not sure if I made it pre- or post purge these days I just follow various if and mostly twine if tags. Though I’d suggest that unless you’re after adult IF you’re better off browsing itch.io and filtering to “interactive fiction” plus whatever other tags you’re interested in.
Not much adult stuff gets surfaced by the itch browse filters so for that you really will have to crawl over Tumblr.
Another avenue for finding IF is https://if-whats-new.itch.io/ I think that team floats around here occasionally too.
I’m a big tumblr user–for private fan stuff, not professional game dev things. I haven’t interacted a ton with the IF community on there. I enjoy following @HarrisPS (here) and IF What’s New zine (here). Trawl through Interact-IF’s directory (here) for zillions of those little WIPs and rec lists.
Yeah, it seems like I should make an account if only to follow my favourite IF’s. Especially since they seem to post updates there more than on the forum. Thank you for responding!
Thank you for reminding me I completely forgot about what’s new in IF. I don’t really mind if the IF has adult content or not. Although I will filter out explicit content if I’ve got the option.
I’ve been trying to go through the IF directory but it almost always directs me to make an account. Looks like realistically I’ll have to make a Tumblr account to keep up to date. Thank you!
Yeah, I’ve never actually joined Patreon or been a ko-fi supporter. I’ve thought about it but then again I’m supposed to be saving up right now and I don’t have cash to spare. It looks like I’ll make an account if only to keep up to date with the writers updates. Thank you so much for replying!
What is true is that a lot of authors struggle financially, so the support does directly go into giving people the security to write to begin with.
What is NOT okay, though, are authors that charge absurd amounts of money for… nothing. Authors that post their 10 bucks tier stuff on their social media simultaneously, or, worse, who have you pay to be allowed to do their work for them.
I’ve seen a few that made it clear they don’t want feedback on their blog or forum, but accept it only from people on this and that patreon tier.
purge these days I just follow various if and mostly twine if tags. Though I’d suggest that unless you’re after adult IF you’re better off browsing