7 ms·

Alternative Title: "Tumblr will lose 80% of its visitors come December 18th" Another one: "Tumblr preparing to shut down"

fullshark 8y ago
Which is what Oath probably wants.
- masklinn 8y ago
  "fuck oath mate" has never been so true, or so relevant.
  - scottmcdot 8y ago
    Nah it's "fucking oath mate"
- rthomas6 8y ago
  As someone out of the loop, can I get an explanation for this?
  - debt 8y ago
    Too expensive to police. Losing users every month, downward trends, etc. Tumblr has become a money loser and won't ever be competitive with Facebook, TikTok, etc. Another botched acquisition.
    - danaris 8y ago
      > and won't ever be competitive with Facebook, TikTok, etc. Which is just another example of why the corporate culture today is absolutely insane. Why can there not be a site like Tumblr that is perfectly stable (leaving aside for the moment whether today's Tumblr is or could become that stable), but is not and could never be "the next Facebook" or "the next Twitter"?
      - plorkyeran 8y ago
        Sites which break even do tend to keep on trucking. The fact that Tumblr now seems unlikely to become huge is relevant specifically because it's a money pit that needs further investment merely to continue to exist.
      - debt 8y ago
        Because Oath's board would rather pay it's useless execs fat salaries rather than competent engineers to maintain Tumblr.
      - wtracy 8y ago
        Before the Yahoo acquisition, Tumblr was hemorrhaging cash. I don't think it ever was "stable" financially, which is all that matters in the end.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
b1r6 8y ago
This is exactly correct. Sure there are "clean" portions of Tumblr, but from what I can tell the real purpose is to host adult content. And there's nothing wrong with that! It's a fantastic magnet for eyes, with which to show ads. They're basically killing themselves with this.
- x0x0 8y ago
  The vast vast majority of advertisers do not want to be displayed next to porn. Think of tumblr as nothing but a way to get pageviews for Cheerios and Volvo ads. It explains their decisions perfectly.
  - michaelchisari 8y ago
    Every day results in another example of why free platforms supported by advertising might not be viable a long term solution. I've always said that cheap is better than free. If all services like Tumblr had debuted at a nominal $0.25 or $0.50 a month and that had become normalized as a way to support the platform without mining data or being at the whims of advertisers, the internet might be in a better place. Instead we have clickbait, engagement addiction and users as products and not customers.
    - jotm 8y ago
      Maybe pay per (full) view? Granular to 1 view if possible, with thumbnails? People would conserve their views but still watch/view the stuff they like. Better than shitty Chinese ads that make me wary of even opening the Youtube app.
    - Hoasi 8y ago
      > Every day results in another example of why free platforms supported by advertising might not be viable a long term solution. Not just free platforms. No publication supported by advertising is a viable long-term solution let alone a desirable one. Advertising-based publishing was never a good idea. The current state of the press is a good example of that too. Unfortunately, there are not that many viable alternatives. People would pay for good journalism, not sure they would or should pay to reblog memes and other people's posts.
varjag 8y ago
Really, way to shoot yourself in the foot. What's next, Twitter banning all bot accounts?

fullshark 8y ago

Which is what Oath probably wants.

masklinn 8y ago
"fuck oath mate" has never been so true, or so relevant.
- scottmcdot 8y ago
  Nah it's "fucking oath mate"
rthomas6 8y ago
As someone out of the loop, can I get an explanation for this?
- debt 8y ago
  Too expensive to police. Losing users every month, downward trends, etc. Tumblr has become a money loser and won't ever be competitive with Facebook, TikTok, etc. Another botched acquisition.
  - danaris 8y ago
    > and won't ever be competitive with Facebook, TikTok, etc. Which is just another example of why the corporate culture today is absolutely insane. Why can there not be a site like Tumblr that is perfectly stable (leaving aside for the moment whether today's Tumblr is or could become that stable), but is not and could never be "the next Facebook" or "the next Twitter"?
    - plorkyeran 8y ago
      Sites which break even do tend to keep on trucking. The fact that Tumblr now seems unlikely to become huge is relevant specifically because it's a money pit that needs further investment merely to continue to exist.
    - debt 8y ago
      Because Oath's board would rather pay it's useless execs fat salaries rather than competent engineers to maintain Tumblr.
    - wtracy 8y ago
      Before the Yahoo acquisition, Tumblr was hemorrhaging cash. I don't think it ever was "stable" financially, which is all that matters in the end.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

b1r6 8y ago

This is exactly correct. Sure there are "clean" portions of Tumblr, but from what I can tell the real purpose is to host adult content. And there's nothing wrong with that! It's a fantastic magnet for eyes, with which to show ads. They're basically killing themselves with this.

x0x0 8y ago
The vast vast majority of advertisers do not want to be displayed next to porn. Think of tumblr as nothing but a way to get pageviews for Cheerios and Volvo ads. It explains their decisions perfectly.
- michaelchisari 8y ago
  Every day results in another example of why free platforms supported by advertising might not be viable a long term solution. I've always said that cheap is better than free. If all services like Tumblr had debuted at a nominal $0.25 or $0.50 a month and that had become normalized as a way to support the platform without mining data or being at the whims of advertisers, the internet might be in a better place. Instead we have clickbait, engagement addiction and users as products and not customers.
  - jotm 8y ago
    Maybe pay per (full) view? Granular to 1 view if possible, with thumbnails? People would conserve their views but still watch/view the stuff they like. Better than shitty Chinese ads that make me wary of even opening the Youtube app.
  - Hoasi 8y ago
    > Every day results in another example of why free platforms supported by advertising might not be viable a long term solution. Not just free platforms. No publication supported by advertising is a viable long-term solution let alone a desirable one. Advertising-based publishing was never a good idea. The current state of the press is a good example of that too. Unfortunately, there are not that many viable alternatives. People would pay for good journalism, not sure they would or should pay to reblog memes and other people's posts.

varjag 8y ago

Really, way to shoot yourself in the foot. What's next, Twitter banning all bot accounts?