Tumblr is described by Wiki as a 'microblogging platform', which basically means it's a lightweight blogging website. There's no faffing around and an account can be made within seconds.

A step by step guide to tumblr:

STEP 1: Type www.tumblr.com into your browser. You should be greeted by a blue page with tumblr in a large white font. If you're not sure that you want to join tumblr, click on '30 reasons you'll love Tumblr'. This will bring up a page with lots of details as of what the site does, which i'll move onto in a minute. Once you've decided you'd definetly like to get a tumblr account, simply click on the blue 'home' tab on the top right corner. This will take you back to the page you were first greeted with. In the first box, labelled email address, enter your email address, make sure it's one you actively use and that you've typed it correctly. Now click on the next box, labelled password. This can be anything, and doesn't have to be the same as your email password. Just make sure you can remember it! Now, last but now least, click on the box labelled 'URL'. This is where you get to choose your tumblr ID, which will be your tumblr URL, for example if you're name's Katy, then it could be katyissilly or katystumblr, etc etc. Many people on tumblr have extremly random names. My tumblr is ninetyeightowls (ninety eight owls). Ninety eight is my goal weight and i love owls, so although it seems random it is actually meaningful to me. A few of my favourite tumblrs are also just as odd, like 'chunkycardigan' 'jamjars' 'blackbruise' etc etc, although there are a few people who simply use there first and last name to create an url.

STEP 2: Now you've created your url you need to click onto the 'start posting' tab. You'll be redirected to a page which requires you to copy a mixture of letters in a picture into the text box below; this confirms you're human and not a machine spamming the site by making hundreds of accounts. Copy the letters into the text box and click 'i'm human.'

STEP 3: You're now logged into your brand new tumblr and will be greeted which a speech bubble saying 'Create your first post!' and it will point to the 'photo' tab. If you don't want to, click the X in the right hand corner of the speech bubble. A box will appear, asking you to choose a blog title and a portrait photo (icon). You can choose anything you like as a title but have the option to leave it blank. On the portrait photo option you can also choose to leave it blank. It doesn't have to be of your face though, for example my portrait photo is a pretty floral pattern. If you do leave it blank, you run the risk of not getting any followers, as tumblr users see users with the blank face icon as 'anons' and usually associate anons as been nasty and inapropiate. Once your blog title and icon is chosen, click onto the 'show all appearences' option. You'll have a number of tabs on the left hand side at the top.

INFO - Essentially the same as the icon and blog title page

THEME - How your page is layed out. Lots of themes to choose from so be sure to look thoroughly to find one you like. Upon clicking on a theme it'll change your page to look how it'd look with the theme. This is not permamant and as long as you don't save it, your page will still be how it was before you clicked it. If you like a theme, click on it, click on install and click save and close. (top right).

APPEARENCE - Background colour, font, various other options to choose how your page looks.

PAGES - Gives you the option to add different layers to your blog such as 'pictures of me' or ' about me'.

SERVICES: Facebook - allows you to share your tumblr posts and posts them onto your facebook wall if enable. Twitter - sends tumblr posts to your twitter account if enabled. Various other options.

COMMUNITY - Now this is the important bit. I have all these boxes checked to ensure i can interact with my followers.

1. Replies: This allows someone to reply to one of your posts. EG: I post 'bad day'. Someone can then reply 'are you ok?'
2. Let people ask questions. This is slightly dodgy due to bullies and perves, but if you turn off the anonymous option then it should be fine. I usually get asks such as 'how old are you?' 'what is your theme?'etc. I then reply and click post, and it will appear on my tumblr page and be visible to all of my followers.
3. Submit: People can send you pictures of themselves etc. Again, as long as anonymous is turned off this is a good feature.

ADVANCED - Language, time, date options and you can choose how many posts appear on each page of your blog. Various other options.

Step 4: Once you've chosen how your page should look, click save and close. Your tumblr page will now be customised to your taste. Now you need some people to follow. Simply click onto explore. This will bring up the most popular tumblr blogs in different catergories, such as fashion and computers. Click onto the catergory you're interested, eg fashion and lots of posts will appear. If you like a particular picture, click the heart or simply reblog. If you want to follow the person who posted the picture, click on the user icon on the left, then once on there page, click 'follow' in the right hand corner. Then click dashboard (next to follow). You'll be back to your tumblr dashboard (basically your personal homepage) and will see everything that the people you follow post.

You'll soon adjust to tumblr. I'd say it's mainly aimed at young adults. Children using tumblr in my opinion is a bit dodgy as there is graphic pictures on there so younger people may be a bit shocked by it, but it's up to them who the follow. Many people post rude pictures, disturbing pictures etc. If someone i follow posts something i don't like, i click on to there icon, and once on there page click 'unfollow' on the top left. This will delete any posts of theres from your dashboard.

There are also meet ups, mainly in cities, where you can meet the people you follow/follow you. These are usually around 50-60 people which is a bit daunting but the one i attended was quite good, and although everyone was around the 16yr old mark (i was 18 at the time), it was still really fun and i made alot of friends!

DOWNSIDE: The tumblebeests, which is just a silly name for when the tumblr headquarter computers crash and no one can get on. This only usually lasts for around 5mins but happens pretty often which is annoying.

Overall tumblr is a great way to discover photography, quotes, make friends, get stuff off your chest and generally blog.

Hope this review helped!