Tumblr

Tumblr is a microblogging and social networking platform that enables users to create and manage blogs containing text, images, video, and audio. Launched in February 2007 by David Karp, the service emphasizes short-form posts, multimedia sharing, and customizable blog themes. Users can publish various post formats, reblog content from others, like posts, and organize content through tags, with a dashboard that aggregates activity across followed blogs.

Historically, Tumblr has changed ownership several times. It was acquired by Yahoo in 2013 for about $1.1 billion. After Yahoo’s sale, Tumblr became part of Verizon’s media holdings via the Oath arrangement in 2017. In 2019, Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, acquired Tumblr; the sale price was widely reported to be around $3 million. Since the acquisition, Automattic has continued to operate Tumblr as a standalone platform and expanded some development and monetization efforts.

Tumblr has been associated with diverse online communities, including art, fan cultures, and creative writing, due in part to its emphasis on reblogging and the ease of sharing multimedia content. The platform offers built-in moderation tools and content guidelines, and it has periodically updated policies related to safety and explicit material. Tumblr’s cultural footprint includes a focus on individuality, creative expression, and a looser, more exploratory form of social media compared with some other platforms.