Steve Rubel is right about Tumblr. And dead wrong.

In last week’s link digest, I mentioned Steve Rubel’s recent switch to Tumblr and said it was a really bad idea. But, in the interest of focus, I said I’d get back to you on why it’s such a bad idea. Consider this my getting back to you.

But, first, some background…

As I mentioned last week, I’m a big fan of Steve’s. He’s one of the most creative minds in new media and, as an EVP of PR giant Edelman, has a great platform to share his creativity. A former company of mine hired Steve to speak at a client conference—at my recommendation—and we were all thrilled with how well our clients enjoyed the talk. So, I’m not just some “hater” itching for a fight (though, full disclosure, I’ll never understand Steve’s unabashed love for the Yankees).

Tumblr, for those of you less familiar with it, is a blogging platform that incorporates some of the best attributes of WordPress, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. Like WordPress, you can host just about any kind of blog on the platform. Like YouTube, it’s great for sharing and discovering rich media. And like Facebook and Twitter, it facilitates dialogues among friends and followers. For instance, I use it for discovering and sharing new music I like. So, as with my thoughts about Steve, I’m a fan.

OK then, you say, where’s the problem? Here’s where.

When Steve decided to move to Tumblr, he “nuked” all his pre-existing websites, redirecting their traffic to the new Tumblr blog. Which means all the great, creative, thought-provoking content Steve produced over the years is gone. Kaput. Poof.

That’s not a requirement of Tumblr, mind you. It was Steve’s choice. And it was a poor one.

For instance:

• His tremendous insight into the devaluation of “friends” and the growth of curated content? It used to live on SteveRubel.com. Now it’s gone.
• Steve’s great look at becoming a knowledge management ninja? It used to be here. Now? Gone.
• His introduction to one of my favorite content authoring tools, Markdown, (formerly available on SteveRubel.com)? Gone.

And countless others, too.

Steve committed one of the cardinal mistakes a geek marketer can make: He thought the platform (Tumblr, in this case), mattered more than the content. In shifting to Tumblr—and, more importantly, “scorching the earth” behind him—he threw away years worth of valuable information and insights. (By the way, the post where Steve coined the phrase “geek marketer”? Gone).

To be fair, I have made the same mistake myself on at least one occasion. If you’ve ever wondered why I’m @tcpeter on Twitter, instead of @timpeter, it’s because when I first started on Twitter I got caught up with the tool and forgot about what really mattered—connecting with friends and followers. Now, although I can use my name there, the idea of losing valued connections prevents me from making the switch.

For the moment, Steve’s action hasn’t cost him. He’s still ranking for many of the search terms he always has. But as many commenters on his post have pointed out, he’s going to pay a severe SEO price over time, to say nothing of the impact to his readers.

As I’ve noted before when it comes to online marketing, tools don’t matter. What matters is whether you’re connecting with your customers. Tumblr is a great tool. But it’s only as great as the content, connections and community it enables. With his move, Steve pulled a big chunk of content away from his community. Will they still connect?

Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Tim Peter & Associates helps companies from startups to the Fortune 500 use the web to reach more customers, more effectively every day. Take a look and see how we can help you.

Technorati Tags: E-commerce, e-commerce, E-commerce strategy, e-marketing, ecommerce, Google, google, internet marketing, marketing, strategy, online marketing, search, search engine optimization, seo, social commerce, social marketing, social media, social search, social strategy, strategy, twitter, Tumblr