Lifehacker has an interesting writeup of Tumblr, the tumblelog equivalent to Blogger that I’ve known for a while — it inspired my personal blog’s latest redesign (because I’ve been blogging for so long now, I don’t have it in me to write long articles about my life anymore, and the tumblelog format is a perfect fit for burned-out bloggers).

I knew what a Tumblr page looks like, but I never registered and had no idea how the interface worked; I like the screenshots. And next time I want to push someone to create a blog I’ll just point them to Tumblr instead: it’s true, the way it’s structured puts much less pressure on you, and it also has more of a sense of purpose (since it’s essentially coming back to the original, etymological meaning of web-log, which you can interest people in by saying: Hey, every time you’ve got something to share or show off or that you find remotely interesting, you should post it there for all your friends and acquaintances and soon-to-be fans to see!).

“I don’t have the time to keep it up.”

“I don’t have that much to say that often.”

These are the reasons most people abandon their personal weblog or never start one. But we all come across interesting tidbits online every day that we want to remember and share — links, photos, videos, even that side-splitting IM session you had with your co-worker. A new blog format, called a “tumblelog,” is a no-hassle, no-writing-required way to share those bits and maintain a personal site with the least possible commitment.

The only limitation I think isn’t quite right is the absence of comments — I think by now any publication system needs comments (and that also includes Twitter).