Make the Internet Work For Your Business

Creatives love Tumblr

I love Tumblr, because it’s fun, fast and super-easy to use. I created my Tumblr blog for all the stuff I want to remember online, which doesn’t fit onto my other blogs. There’s no serious intention behind that particular blog; it’s a giggle.

You’d think that Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr wouldn’t matter much to me — I don’t have much of an investment there. If it all goes to hell, I hope they’d give people time to move their stuff, as Posterous did, before it closed up shop.

The acquisition does affect me however. I’ve been helping clients to create little outposts on Tumblr for their businesses; I also encourage my writing students to blog on Tumblr.

What concerns my clients and students concerns me, and I’ve been telling anyone who asked, just to sit tight and see what happens.

On the official Tumblr blog, Tumblr boss David Karp says:

…. let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing.

So what’s new? Simply, Tumblr gets better faster. The work ahead of us remains the same – and we still have a long way to go! – but with more resources to draw from.

OK… We won’t panic, then. :-)

If you’ve been wondering why Yahoo bought Tumblr, John Battelle knows: native advertising (content as a form of advertising), which is the hot new online advertising trend. Everyone’s a content marketer now.

He writes in, Yahoo! And Tumblr: It’s About Display, Streams & Native at Scale | John Battelle’s Search BlogJohn Battelle’s Search Blog:

“The reason native works is because the advertising is treated as a unit of content on the platform where it lives. That may seem obvious, but it’s an important observation. When a brands’s content competes on equal footing alongside a publisher’s content, everyone wins. “

So, there you go. If you’re looking pale and feeling shaky, buck up. Tumblr isn’t Posterous. Let’s take David Karp and Marissa Mayer at their word, and carry on.

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