Things what I don't understand about blogs / the internet

So this was supposed to be a kind of celebratory 1 year bloggiversary type post (not sure I have spelled that right, then again I am not sure that it is even a real word) but I decided instead to use this entry to demonstrate my total uselessness when it comes to blogspot and the world wide web on the whole. I have divided the post into a series of numbered questions (be warned there may be quite a few) so if anyone feels that they can answer just one of them for me, then that'd be a great help.


1. WTF is the point of tumblr?
This is one I have been thinking about quite a bit lately. I used to think it was a photo sharing blog type site for people who are too lazy to write words. Then I read some of my friend Tony's tumblr posts and they are amazing, super well written and cover a huge variety of subjects. Obviously it helps that he is a great writer but I have found a few since then that read like blogs. I made a tumblr last week when I was off work ill and I would describe mine as a place where I write very little, but share A LOT of random shite. What do you guys use yours for?


2. How do I use bloglovin?
This seems like something I should know, but I really don't understand it. I get the whole blogspot/google friend connect relationship. You follow blogs, they update in your reading list or on your sidebar or whatever but then I see this bloglovin thing. I don't know why anyone needs it or how I ought to use it on my blog. I follow a few people through it, but only usually because I have accidentally clicked on "follow through bloglovin" rather than the regular "follow" link. Do you use bloglovin? Why / why not?


3. How do people make cute little photo montages for their blog?
I personally use fotoflexer as it seems to be the easiest way since I don't have photoshop. As someone who takes a lot of photos I would really like a more efficient way of making little compilations. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of fotoflexer (if you haven't used it before, give it a shot now) and as a free tool it is bloody brilliant, but sometimes it doesn't do quite what I want and it sticks and things don't load very fast. I have also recently got into Polyvore, to make collages of things but obviously that is no good for photos you have taken yourself. What do you use for photo tasks for your blog?


4. What does RSS stand for?
I am guessing I will never need to officially know this as I have nothing very technical going on but in my head I have made up that it stands for "Really Simple Script" which I am sure is wrong (I realise now I could just google it but it'd be nicer to get feedback from you folk). Also - why would anyone need it? It just makes stuff look a bit shit.


5. How do I get little buttons to fit in my sidebars?
When I started my blog I spent a long time over at Shabby Blogs choosing just how I wanted it to look and getting it all to fit together in a way that I knew I would be happy with for a long time. I am not a naturally arty or internet-y person so I knew I wouldn't want to do a lot to my blog and over the last year I haven't really wanted to alter anything. I am happy with how it looks and feel it is easy to navigate. There are however a number of tweeks I would like to make that I find insurmountable at the moment. When I want to add little things (such as a little photo and a button from somewhere) I cannot make them fit and they overspill the lines around the body of my text. This is annoying and I cannot fix it so I have given up on having those additions. Also - my follow me links are all there, in a little line but I can't get cute symbols for them. How can I do this?


6. What is all this "prove you are not a robot" shite?
Why is it when I comment on some blogs I get to just type and publish, but on others I have to type in a ridiculous word/phrase (no kidding I had to type "pie face" earlier this week) before my comment will publish? Is there an option for this and does my blog have it? Also, given how sophisticated some "robots" and comp programmes actually are, why can't people just make one that can pass them tests anyway?


7. Why would anyone need tweetdeck or tweetbot?
I am not 100% sure what these tools do and to me they are just mad words with "tweet" stuck at the beginning but I don't see why people would need them. I understand tweetbot helps you do things on twitter a bit faster right? Well if you tweet so much that broadband and your own fingers aren't quick enough then I think you have some social issues and probably need to talk to some people who don't have the word "bot" in their name. I mean no offence by this or anything but sometimes I do worry that the internet may have destroyed the art of real conversation. Does anyone use these tools and can you convince me otherwise?


Ummmm so I think that covers all of the things I have been thinking about of late. Other than that I was wondering about maybe altering the design of my blog, but the fact of the matter remains I really like it how it is - what do you guys think?