![]() In 2017, Tumblr was sold again, this time to Verizon. In February 2016, after posting a Q4 2015 net loss of $4.44 billion, Yahoo announced that it wrote down the value of Tumblr by $230 million. ![]() The fact that Tumblr didn't require user's true identities, and that adult-oriented content permeated the platform, steered away potential advertisers.įurthermore, as social media began to shift towards a creator economy that emphasized creators' real faces and voices, Tumblr, which historically thrived on anonymity and lacked a strong video presence, or follower count, struggled to keep up. Shifting leadership knew little about the platform culture, and the platform's adherence to anonymity and unattractiveness to advertisers, led to Tumblr's decline.Īs Tumblr struggled to redefine itself, competitors like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook developed new front-end features that drew users in by the masses. And Yahoo itself was struggling. Yahoo tried to monetize the platform through ad sales, which previous leadership had resisted, and struggled to do so. The platform was used and loved by a massive user base, but that didn't translate to profits. ![]() Tumblr was exploding, and by the end of 2011, the platform had accrued over ten billion blog posts.Ĭlearly, users were drawn to the platform's unique environment, where they could exchange photos, aesthetics, art, music, and ideas, cultivating a sense of style and opinion, all while never having to reveal their identity.Ĭelebrities, such as Frank Ocean and Taylor Swift, similarly flocked to the site to interact with fans, and entire fandoms centered around television shows and musical artists took shape, and a distinctly Tumblr aesthetic, one that characterized the digital sensibilities of the mid 2010's, began to emerge.īut shortly after making CNBC's very first Disruptor 50 list in 2013, Yahoo acquired Tumblr for a then-staggering $1.1 billion, with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promising, "not to screw it up."īut Yahoo was faced with an undeniable reality - the fact that Tumblr had never really managed to become profitable. In 2009, Tumblr won the Crunchie Award for "Best New Startup," and by 2010, it had amassed over one million users, causing investors to pour an additional $85 million into the business, valuing it at $850 million. And shortly thereafter, Spark Capital along with Union Square Ventures and invested another $4.5 million. Whereas Facebook aimed to put a name and a face to users' entire social network, Tumblr thrived on anonymous accounts, in which the platform displayed no public follower or friend counts, no comment sections, and had no requirements for users to provide real names or information.īy the end of Tumblr's first year, Spark Capital invested $750,000 at a valuation of $3 million. ![]() Tumblr positioned itself against the other social media platforms of the times in another way - its focus on anonymity. I'm sure it will contribute to Google's bottom line I'm not sure it will inspire any creators." They make it as gross an experience to watch your film as possible. "They take your creative works – your film that you poured hours and hours of energy into – and they put ads on top of it. "The only real tools for expression these days are YouTube, which turns my stomach," he said at the time. From its inception, Karp prioritized features that he believed would cultivate the most creativity - and rejected the monetary and status driven incentives that he thought other platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook, relied on to drive use.Īt the time, he spoke plainly on the subject, directly positing Tumblr's anti-advertisement and anti-influencer culture against what he perceived as the anti-creative practices of other major platforms. The platform allowed users to post a myriad of different content, from photos and gifs to music and text entries. He paused his software consulting endeavor and focused on creating his own tumbleblog platform - which he subsequently named, Tumblr. In 2007, after stumbling upon a microblog called Projectionist, which tracked together tumblelogs - a blog variation that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over longer editorial posts - Tumblr co-founder David Karp became fascinated with this alternative to traditional blogging. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lowerĭespite recent years of waning users and declining cultural relevance, 2022 has offered a glimpse into the platform's hope for re-cultivated popularity and significance, as new leadership leans into the ethos of creativity that first begat the platform.įrom its beginnings, Tumblr was characterized by its rejection of the mainstream and its embrace of unfettered creativity. Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit
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