How to Identify the Author of a Tumblr Blog
By Randall Blackburn
Tumblr does not collect personal information when you register an account -- all you need is a valid email address. This means that you can only identify the author of a blog by his Tumblr username, published in the upper left corner of each of his posts in your timeline if you follow him; click his username to open his blog in the browser. You may be able to search for the email address of the author of a blog, but only if the blog owner has enabled this setting for his account. Find the email and social media contacts using the Lookup Contacts tool.
Search by Username or Email Address
Open Tumblr and log in to your dashboard.
Click in the Search box, and then type the username or email address of a Tumblr user. As you type, potential matches list under the Search box.
Click the matching entry to open the blog, and then click the “Follow” button to follow the user.
Click your browser’s back button to return to your dashboard. You should now see the user’s most recent posts in your timeline.
Hover over the username in the upper left corner of a post to view an information box.
Click the down arrow next to the Person icon to send a fan mail message, ask a question or ignore the user. You can also click the “Unfollow” option to unfollow the user from the information box.
Configure Email Lookup
Log in to your Tumblr dashboard, and then click the gear icon in the top toolbar to open your Account Settings screen.
Click the “Let People Look Me Up By This Address” check box under your email address.
Click the “Save” button to save the settings. Tumblr users can now find you using your email address.
Identify Gmail and Facebook Contacts
Open Tumblr and log in to your dashboard.
Open the Tumblr Lookup Contacts tool in a new browser tab (see Resources).
Click the “Facebook” tab, and then log in to your Facebook account. A list of your Facebook contacts on Tumblr displays in the center panel. Click the check box for each contact to follow.
Click the “Gmail" tab, and then log in to your Gmail account to find Gmail contacts on Tumblr.
Tips
Many Tumblr users provide their contact information on their blogs. Look for a Contact or About Me page on the user’s blog to find her website, email address, Facebook page or other contact information.
Warnings
Though Tumblr Support indicates that you can use the Tumblr Lookup Contacts tool to find your Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and MSN contacts in addition to Gmail and Facebook, as of publication, the Lookup Contacts tool only supports Facebook and Gmail.
References
Writer Bio
Randall Blackburn has worked for several Fortune 1000 companies as a technical writer over the past seven years. He has produced a wide variety of technical documentation, including detailed programming specifications and research papers. Randall has also acquired several years' experience writing web content. Randall lives and works in Austin, TX.