Instagram has shown us the mobile-first model, and I think it looks pretty good!

instagram.com
"Is it compelling?"

Compelling to what? Action? Consumption? Not sure what you're really asking.

It seems like we're moving to a point where mobile-centric as well as desktop-centric apps are designed from the beginning to look (and sometimes function ;) well in both domains. Cause how can you honestly create something today and never think "what will this look like on a phone?" while you're building?

First off, that's one good looking Instagram profile.

I'm asking if a mobile-first (textual) publishing platform – typing words into boxes – would be compelling? What if you designed your blog – picked the template, colors, layout, etc. – to look good on an iPhone screen? And if the compose form was designed to make it easy to post on the go...

Imagine if Tumblr was mobile-only, like Instagram. Would it work?

Hmm- I think text input is the problem. If inputting text were as easy as it is on a laptop, then yes it could definitely work. Instagram couldn't have worked as desktop first cause it's way harder to snap photos with your macbook!

So, right now, text-based mediums will be primarily on desktop, with a pretty direct relationship between how many characters you have to type and where you prefer type them (140 chars is short enough that twitter mobile works well, branch on the other hand.... ;)

But when text input gets better/easier on mobile (and god I hope it happens fast), then we'll see won't we?

What are other types of content generation besides pictures and text....?. none come to my mind quickly right now....

I don't think the issue is the creation of content, but rather the context in which you create it. Creation of photographic content is way more context-dependent than text content is — without the mobile phone, you'd be limited to uploading photos from a separate camera when you get home. I don't think text creation has the same issues, so a parallel between them isn't very fair. Yes, you have seeds of ideas throughout the day, which mobile is great for recording those, but completing and refining the content isn't something so context-dependent that many people would opt for a tiny touchscreen keyboard.

I think it could work if people are looking for a specific, small-range audience. By making it mobile only, you're essentially saying you don't want people consuming when they're at home, and only when they're on the go and on cellular data.

For example, Path is mobile-only, and the audience is so limited for that — so limited that I found little to no use for it, as not all of my close friends have a smartphone, so there was no point.

I can see similar problems for personal publishing — if your audience isn't there, you wouldn't want to invest the time there instead of a platform-agnostic platform where anyone can enjoy your content.

Another thing that is missing from this comparison of Instagram and Tumblr/personal publishing is the fact that instagram's popularity is mostly around its ability to make any photo look pretty damn good. If someone figured out a way to do this for text (highly unlikely in the near future — in terms of making you sound more intelligent, or funny, or whatever you aspired to write) it would be successful on any platform, really.

"That's because Tumblr, WordPress, et al. churn out websites designed for the desktop browser. They're pre-iPhone platforms that have no choice but to show you (imprecise) adaptations on your mobile screen."

This may be true for older templates, but many new WP and other blog templates are coming with mobile-friendly versions. I think Tumblr may have some, too. I see this problem going away very soon.

Just realized that a big part of my thinking process is expressing doubts and getting them out of my system so I can think clearly-er about things.

"If someone figured out a way to do this for text (highly unlikely in the near future — in terms of making you sound more intelligent, or funny, or whatever you aspired to write) it would be successful on any platform, really."

Maybe unlikely in terms of an automagic filter-type solution, but there could be cool things in the composing process that help you get better at stuff. Just like Instagram helps you with post processing like in real photography (where all cool effects happen) and some other apps help with composition of the photo, specific moments in writing could be "assisted". Hmmm