Soup: Tumble Blogging with Friends
Watch out Tumblr, here comes Soup. Soup is an easy to use tumble blogging application that includes two killer features: social networking (kinda) and outside activity streams. It's sort of a cross between Tumblr, Pownce, and a social activity aggregator. [Ed: I had to look up "tumble blogging". Wikipedia defines a "tumblelog" as "a variation of a blog, that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging." So now I know...]
At its core, Soup is a microblogging app, and a pretty easy to use one. Their tumble blog set up supports text, link, quote, image, and video posts. Sign up is a snap (you can actually begin posting to your tumble blog before creating an account), and like Tumblr, Soup blogs can be mapped to an outside domain.
Using Soup is easy: posting is all done directly on your Soup's page (i.e., your tumble blog page) while logged in. Posting forms and editing options are opened directly on the page you're viewing without refresh using AJAX. This creates a very cohesive experience that doesn't have you bouncing around from page to page in a content management system.
Soup gives you control over which elements appear on your page (i.e., a list of friends, a tab showing your friends' post stream, dates, icons, feed badges, etc.), but the application's skinning tools leave a lot to be desired. You can only switch between 4 pre-fab layouts, change colors, and choose from among a handful of font styles. There is no access to the underlying CSS for advanced users.
One of Soup's killer features is the ability to import outside activity streams. You can import your activity from Digg, Flickr, del.icio.us, eBay, LiveJournal, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Vox, YouTube, Zooomer, and even Tumblr. Soup can also read from any RSS feed meaning you can import your activity from just about anywhere. Posts are automatically created on your Soup when new activity comes in from your feeds on other services. Those posts are marked with icons marking which service the information came from.
The other great feature Soup adds to the tumble blogging experience is friends. Adding friends is as easy as clicking a button on their Soup page. While there sadly isn't much interaction with friends (it would be great to have Pownce-style private messaging), you can keep tabs on your friends' activity from your Soup or from the site's main page (where you can also track the activity of all Soup users). You can repost anything other Soup users post with a single click -- reposted items are smartly not repeated back into the everybody stream on the main page.
Soup is certainly a little rough around the edges and a little feature bare in terms of the actual tumble blogging experience. But it adds some great new features to the core tumble blog service and it is certainly a start up to watch.
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I haven't had a chance to check out Soup yet, but Tumblr (via its dashboard) adds some rudimentary social networking features. More importantly, it has always had the ability to import feeds from any source.
A tumblelog fills this nice niche between a blog and a microblog. The fact that the traffic is mostly one way is rather appealing
This trend towards ever small scraps of information masquerading as web 'content' is kind of funny. The way twitter, tumblr and so on miniaturize our online lives reminds me strangely of Will Farrell's Mugatu in the movie Zoolander, who produces a microscopic mobile (cell) phone from his pocket, and practically needs tweezers to open it. Are we eventually heading for websites that simply serve out regularly updated streams of single words - 'thoughtlets'? Where does it end? ;)
@Deepak: Right you are! I don't think I've logged into my Tumblr account since March. Has it really always had the Feeds option? I don't remember that, but like I said, it's been months. :)
What sort of social networking features do you mean, though? I don't really see any...
To me, it looks like a more rudimentary version of Tumblr.
Tumblr also allows you to add 'friends', and their tumbles show up on your dashboard. Others can also add you as friends and follow your tumbles.
Tumblr also allows you to add other feeds, such as Twitter feeds, to your account.
I don't see anything new in Soup that isn't already implemented in Tumblr.
Some constructive criticism: it probably would have been wise to check up on Tumblr's development before writing the article.
Hi, the link is http://www.soup.io/ and not http://www.soup.ie/
Thanks for this post!
@Skellie: I suppose I probably should have. ;)
Though in my defense, at least I never said Tumblr doesn't do any of those things. And Soup.io does handles outside streams and friends differently. So just ignore that first sentence and there's no issue. :)
@ibanez182: Whoops -- it's too late. Fixed. :)
Tumblr's "social network" (god i really hate those words) is rudimentary, but it does have some stuff. You can add friends, and their tumbling activity shows up in your dashboard. You can also reblog their posts. People who make you their friend show up as your "followers". Friends and followers show up in the right sidebar. It's still basic, but not bad.
I like it - thanks for the tip. This now allows me to aggregate all of my online sites into one site easily. Now I can just take the RSS feed and post it as a widget to my own personal site. Cool little lightweight site.
Out of curiosity, what are some of the ways that this can be monetized? Does Tumblr (arguably the innovator in this space) even have a revenue model? (I ask because I don't know, not to criticize).
..and where is Wordpress in all of this micro-blogging craze? Where is "Wordpress Mini"?
well as I believe there's no revenue model in Tumblr..nothing to monetize...its more of a passion but surely they must think of it as the blogoshere is dominated by giants like Wordpress & blogger
It's "tumblelogging" not "tumble blogging" you silly niwits. "Tumblelog" is a variation of the word "blog" so treat it in the same manner.
I've seen it both ways...
I.e.:
http://developer.flock.com/wiki/Tumble_Blogging
http://garrickvanburen.com/archive/chatter-friendly-tumble-blogging
http://nonsmokingarea.com/blog/2007/07/26/soup-tumble-blog/
http://jaypeeonline.net/internet/tumbleblogs/
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/what_is_a_tumbleblog.html
I could go on... ;)
it doesn't matter how many false there are. it is tumblelog, period.
Well, I made fun of you earlier (on my tumlelog), but I've come to my senses now. Still, I'm not sure how you distinguish blogs from tumblelogs (not tumble blogs) from life streams.
Because that is what Soup and esp. Natuba are. They accumulate and basically, that's what tlogs do too, but in my feeds tlogs are up to a brand new thing...
It's whottit is.
Something is a little off ---- cant find the link to start an account and run under my own domain …. Why would I post my content under their domain. Tumblr Rocks….
Just a lot of Web2ish Enlish all over the site except the main features……pair of Euros trying to be cool dudes and Americans figuring they have fallen behind something called the web.
Thanks for wasting my time soup … Soup this.... learn from Tumblr first...So on, give it a try !!!!!!!!!!!!
Josh: Thanks for trying out Soup, and for this article!
You're absolutely right that the skinning options leave something to be desired. That's an area we're currently working on, and custom CSS should launch within the next week or two. Later on, there will be more customization options for non-power-users as well.
Deuce: We realize that our "sign-up process" is too unfamiliar, and will be changing the front page to fix this soon. The idea is that you can try out Soup with all of its features (*except* custom domains) without committing to a sign-up: Use the links at the top of the front page, or go to http://try.soup.io -- once you've made your first post, you will have the option of actually registering the account. We need to make this more obvious.
We're still in a very early stage: what's online now is a foundation to build upon. Although I do think that the current version already differs in many ways from similar services (most obviously Tumblr, but also Jaiku, Pownce, Profilactic, StumbleUpon, etc), we will be continually iterating and trying out new ideas over the next months.
Tumblelogging, lifestreaming, microblogging, reblogging -- none of these concepts are set in stone just yet, and it's exciting to see the various interpretations everyone comes up with. We believe the whole area is going to (continue to) grow rapidly in the near future, and will do our best to offer our own convincing take on the subject.
That said -- we have nothing but respect for Davidville, but clearly they were as inspired by the original tumblelogs (Anarchaia, project.ioni.st, etc) back in February as we are by Tumblr now.
@Opal: Where is "Wordpress Mini"?
Indeed, there is no mini, but I used:
http://devthought.com/wp-o-matic-the-wordpress-rss-agreggator/
because automaticly it imports, on a regular basis, other feeds, which for a lifestream must be my personal feeds from delicious, twitter etc.
Example: www.joeldebruijn.nl