Tumblr facts for kids
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The Tumblr homepage, showing a feed.
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| Type of business | Subsidiary |
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| Founded | February 2007 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, U.S. |
| Founder(s) | David Karp |
| Key people | Matt Mullenweg (CEO) |
| Industry | Microblogging, social networking service |
| Employees | 411 (as of June 2017[update]) |
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Tumblr (say "tumbler") is a popular online platform. It's a mix of a microblogging site and a social media platform. It was started by David Karp in 2007. Today, an American company called Automattic owns it. Tumblr lets people share many types of content. You can post pictures, videos, and text on a short-form blog.
Contents
How Tumblr Started and Grew
Early Days of Tumblr (2006–2012)
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The idea for Tumblr began in 2006. David Karp, who ran a software company, was interested in "tumblelogs." These were like short, quick blogs. He hoped other blogging sites would add this feature.
After waiting a year, Karp and a developer named Marco Arment decided to create their own platform. Tumblr officially launched in February 2007. It quickly became popular, gaining 75,000 users in just two weeks! Marco Arment later left the company in 2010.
In 2012, Tumblr started working with big brands. For example, Adidas launched a soccer blog on Tumblr. This was part of Tumblr's plan to include paid advertising on its site.
Tumblr Joins Yahoo! (2013–2018)
On May 20, 2013, Yahoo! Inc. announced it would buy Tumblr. The deal was for $1.1 billion. Many Tumblr users were not happy about this news. Some even signed a petition to stop it.
David Karp stayed on as CEO. The deal was completed in June 2013. However, Tumblr didn't make as much money from ads as Yahoo hoped. In 2016, Yahoo reduced Tumblr's value on its books.
In 2017, Verizon Communications bought Yahoo. Tumblr then became part of Verizon's Oath company. David Karp announced he would leave Tumblr by the end of 2017. Jeff D'Onofrio took over as the company's leader.
Under Verizon, Tumblr continued to face challenges. In March 2019, it was estimated that Tumblr had lost many users. This happened after the site introduced stricter rules about what content could be posted.
Automattic Takes Over (2019–Present)
On August 12, 2019, Verizon Media sold Tumblr to Automattic. This is the company that runs WordPress.com, another popular blogging service. The exact sale price was not shared. However, reports suggested it was much less than what Yahoo paid.
Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, said Tumblr would work alongside WordPress.com. He also stated that Automattic would keep the content rules that were put in place by Verizon.
In November 2022, Mullenweg shared that Tumblr would add support for ActivityPub. This is a way for different social networks to connect. By November 2023, many of Tumblr's teams moved to other parts of Automattic. The focus shifted to making Tumblr's main features even better.
In February 2024, Automattic announced it would sell user data from Tumblr and WordPress.com to companies like Midjourney and OpenAI. Tumblr users are automatically included, but they can choose to opt out.
In August 2024, Automattic shared plans to update Tumblr's technical system. This change would make it easier to develop new features and share code with WordPress. The company said users wouldn't notice any difference from the outside. In January 2025, Mullenweg confirmed this update would also allow Tumblr to fully use ActivityPub.
In April 2025, Automattic had to let go of some employees. This included a number of Tumblr staff members.
Key Features of Tumblr
Managing Your Blog
- Dashboard: This is like your home screen on Tumblr. It shows you new posts from blogs you follow. From here, you can comment, reblog (share), and like posts. You can also quickly create new posts like text, images, videos, or links. Tumblr lets you connect your blog to Twitter and Facebook. This way, your posts can also appear there. Since June 2022, you can also stop others from reblogging specific posts.
- Queue: You can schedule your posts to appear later. This means you can write many posts at once and have them publish over hours or days.
- Tags: Tags help people find your posts. If you post a picture, you might add the tag #picture. Others can then search for #picture to find similar posts. You can add up to 20 tags to a post.
- HTML Editing: Tumblr lets you change how your blog looks using HTML code. You can create your own unique look. Other users can also share or even sell their custom themes.
- Custom Domains: You can use your own website address for your Tumblr blog. Tumblr offers a service to buy these addresses directly from them. If you had a custom domain before this service, you could keep it as long as you didn't disconnect it.
How Tags Work
Tumblr uses a mix of tags. You can add your own tags to your posts. The website also suggests popular tags or ones you've used before. Tags start with a hashtag (#) and are separated by commas. You can use spaces and special characters in tags.
There are two main ways people use tags:
- Descriptive Tags: These tags describe what's in your post. For example, #art or #sky. These tags help others find your content when they search.
- Commentary Tags: These are unique to Tumblr. Users add their thoughts or reactions in the tags. This way, their comments don't change the original post itself. It's a way to add personal notes without altering the main content.
Tumblr on Your Phone
Tumblr has official apps for many devices. In 2009, they launched their iPhone app. Later, apps became available for BlackBerry phones (2010), Android phones, and Windows Phone (2013). There was even an app for Google Glass in 2013. The iOS app was updated in 2012 to include Spotify music and high-quality images.
Messages and Inbox
Tumblr blogs can let users send questions to them. You can ask questions as yourself or anonymously. Tumblr also added a way for users to chat with each other directly. This started in November 2015. It replaced an older "fan mail" system.
Features That Are No Longer Available
Over time, some Tumblr features have been removed:
- Storyboard: This was a blog run by Tumblr's own team. It shared stories about interesting blogs and users. It was shut down in April 2013.
- Video Content: In 2018, Tumblr started showing videos from Verizon's go90 service. Go90 later closed down.
- Group Chats: In November 2019, Tumblr added group chats. These were temporary chat rooms where users could share content. Posts would disappear after 24 hours. This feature was removed in September 2021.
- Post+: This feature, launched in July 2021, allowed bloggers to earn money from their content. It was removed in January 2024 because not many people used it.
- Tumblr Live: At the end of 2022, Tumblr launched a livestreaming service. It was discontinued in January 2024.
- Tipping: A feature that let users give small amounts of money to other users was removed on June 1, 2024. This was also due to low usage.
How People Use Tumblr
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Tumblr is known for its users' open-minded views. In 2011, it was very popular with teens and college students. About half of its visitors were under 25. By April 2013, the website had over 13 billion page views worldwide.
The number of new blog posts each quarter peaked in early 2014. It then slowly decreased over the next few years. As of May 2019, Tumblr hosted over 465 million blogs. There were more than 172 billion posts in total. Over 21 million new posts were created every day.
According to Jeff D’Onofrio, a former CEO, many new users are from Generation Z. This shows that the platform is becoming popular again.
Community and Identity
Many studies show that Tumblr is a place where people can build communities. It's often used by LGBTQ groups to explore their identity and express themselves. Users often feel safe sharing personal information because they can be anonymous or create a new online identity.
Tumblr's Business Side
Tumblr's main office used to be in New York City. The company also has a support office in Richmond, Virginia. As of June 2017, Tumblr had 411 employees. Now, Tumblr (and Automattic) mostly has a team that works from different locations. They have a smaller office in San Francisco.
The company's logo uses a special font called Bookman Old Style.
How Tumblr Gets Money
As of 2011, Tumblr had received about $125 million from investors. These investors included companies like Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.
In its first funding round in 2007, Tumblr raised $750,000. They raised more money in 2008 ($4.5 million) and 2010 ($5 million). In December 2010, Tumblr raised $30 million. By August 2011, the company was valued at $800 million. In September 2011, they raised another $85 million.
Tumblr makes money through advertising. Their first ads started in May 2012. In 2012, Tumblr made $13 million in revenue. They hoped to make $100 million in 2013.
In 2013, Tumblr began letting companies pay to promote their posts. This helped their ads reach more people. Tumblr also allows people to sell special blog themes.
In July 2016, ads were turned on by default for all blogs. Users could choose to turn them off. In February 2022, Tumblr launched an ad-free subscription. Users could pay $5 a month or $40 a year to remove ads.
In July 2023, the CEO said that Tumblr was losing about $30 million a year.
Interesting Facts About Tumblr
On October 21, 2011, then-U.S. President Barack Obama created a Tumblr account.
In late 2015, a user on Tumblr became widely known for a strange event. This user was accused of collecting human bones from a graveyard. This event was called "Boneghazi" by users. Law enforcement searched the user's home in January 2016. They found 11 bones and four teeth.
See also
In Spanish: Tumblr para niños
- Comparison of microblogging and similar services
- Comparison of free blog hosting services
- List of social networking services
