Onetime social media star Tumblr, which reached a peak valuation of over $1.1 billion, was sold to its long-time competitor WordPress for a paltry $3 million in 2019. The site was launched in 2007 by (then) 20-year old David Karp, with the intent of offering users an easier “less-techy” blogging experience. The site quickly picked up steam as popular bloggers, musicians, writers, and social-media influencers moved their content over to Tumblr. The popularity paid off. In 2013, Yahoo bought Tumblr for $1.1 billion, with Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promising “not to screw it up”. However, in the following years Tumblr struggled to compete with rising social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The final nail in Tumblr’s coffin came when it banned porn-related material, which turned out to be a primary attraction for the majority of its remaining users. Traffic plummeted, monthly views dropped by hundreds of millions, and its fate was sealed. (Chart from chartr.co)
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August 31, 2020