In the countless varieties of
possible platforms to use in social media, there is one of several services
that have managed to keep interested regular users even in the shadow of
Facebook, Twitter and the like. This is Tumblr, launched in 2007 as a platform
to do micro-blogs of content such as multimedia inserts, with options to make
user blogs private or public. It was not all success however, with Tumblr acquired
in 2013 by Yahoo!, becoming part of Verizon-Oath when Yahoo! in turn was
acquired, and Verizon prohibiting adult-themed content afterwards. And it looks
like the platform will be changing hands again, to a company that specializes
in blogging.
The Verge tells us that Verizon has decided to offer Tumblr to
Automattic Inc., with the acquisition being announced just this Monday, August
12. Tumblr, as a subsidiary of Yahoo! at the time, was part and parcel of the
2017 acquisition of the former internet search engine giant by Verizon, with
repackaged them into a new division called Oath. The American
telecommunications giant was interested in offering the microblog service to
potential buyers from the start of 2019, and has now landed an undisclosed deal
with the corporation that developed the open-source WordPress blogging software
and the WordPress.com blogging website.
A statement by Verizon Media CEO
Guru Gowrappan noted that they were happy for Automattic expressing interest in
the Tumblr platform, remarking that the latter’s track record and
specialization with the development of online blogging will make it the perfect
parent company and partner. “Tumblr is a marquee brand that has started
movements,” says Gowrappan, “allowed for true identities to blossom and become
home to many creative communities and fandoms.” Analysis by Axios Systems
estimate that what Automattic paid for Tumblr, allegedly under $3 million, was
a far cry from the over $1 billion Yahoo! had paid for in 2013.
From a cynical perspective, that
devaluation is confirmation of how far Tumblr has gone down from the heights of
its early years in the previous decade. The fact that the platform created by
David Karp in 2007 allowed adult discussions and content made it a choice
social network for the LGBTQ community. They and many Tumblr users were
concerned by the acquisitions made of the service by Yahoo! and Verizon, with their
fears confirmed when Verizon pushed to make Tumblr all-ages with an
adult-content ban in December 2018. Many users quit the platform in response.
There has already been speculation
on how Tumblr might be integrated into Automattic’s sphere of products and
services like WordPress. Since they are both blogging platforms some service
and functionality sharing is possible, but none of the parties involved have
made any post-acquisition statements yet.
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