4 ms·

I wonder how this will pan out for Tumblr with Marissa Meyer at the helm. If we look at Flick (bought by yahoo in 2005), it hasn't seen much innovation or new f

I wonder how this will pan out for Tumblr with Marissa Meyer at the helm. If we look at Flick (bought by yahoo in 2005), it hasn't seen much innovation or new features in the last 8 years and has been mostly coasting. I wonder if this will be the case for Tumblr under Marissa's leadership.

copper-horse 13y ago
As a long term Flickr user, I can only say I totally love it. It is simply perfect for what it is and I happily pay for my pro subscription every year, and I would hate to see it change into something else because someone else thought they knew better than me what I needed. Yahoo may be better maintainers than innovators, but I'd rather have seen posterous acquired by Yahoo and maintained than acquired by Twitter and killed.
dave5104 13y ago
And wasn't one of Marissa's plans when she came aboard to try and revive Flickr, since she saw it as a big asset? Not that it's jumped leaps and bounds since then, but I would think that she'd want to nurture tumblr a bit.
- pavs 13y ago
  According to the verge there is a flickr redesign coming up soon: (check update2: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/17/4341144/yahoo-to-hold-monday-press-event-nyc-tumblr-acquisition-rumors http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/17/4341144/yahoo-to-hold-mond...)
- greghinch 13y ago
  The updated Flickr iOS app is pretty awesome, and exactly what Flickr needed.
jalev 13y ago
Maybe Yahoo's involvement with Tumblr will be limited, much like Conde Nast's management of Reddit.
- pavs 13y ago
  Then it would defeat the purpose of the acquisition. Perhaps a middle ground? Initially limited involvement, slowly integrate feature/traffic to other yahoo property in a way that doesn't devalue current tumble experience but also gives yahoo a younger crowd as their userbase. Its obviously very hard thing to do, but I am (probably the only one in HN) rooting for Yahoo. Tired of 2-3 companies dominating the tech world. I am rooting for Marissa Mayer to succeed and give others a run for their money by doing an epic u-turn with yahoo and changing everyone's perception of what yahoo is usually associated with.
- technoslut 13y ago
  It'll have integration with Yahoo's own services but it also presents a few more headaches with pirate links and takedown notices.
larrys 13y ago
"it hasn't seen much innovation" For the existing team at tumblr (say anyone who has stock that is) things like this end up being a buzz kill after it settles in. Working towards something is fun and motivating. Once you get it things simply change (speaking from personal experience and observation here (also as you are pointing out). For example, would you like to get paid now for all the work you are going to do for the next 10 years in advance and still find it as fun and challenging? If you were an athlete would you want to know in advance that you were going to win 2 medals in each of the next olympics? To me that takes the fun out of things. I think it's obvious why things are different after money changes hands. In this situation how do you show up for work at twitter and still be creative after essentially the "game", if you want to call it that, is won? You will probably itch to get over to a new challenge. Not to be cliche but the journey is a big part of the picture.
- brown9-2 13y ago
  You write "twitter" where you mean "tumblr".
  - larrys 13y ago
    Thanks - fixed (will happen at twitter just the same!)
kmfrk 13y ago
I share your reservations, but has Tumblr really been going anywhere the last couple of years? It's a little like Flickr in how it's calcified in development, but is still a solid product, nevertheless, albeit one that feels a bit stale.
- arindone 13y ago
  Tumblr really has blown up in terms of users and content created (anecdotal evidence from some folks I know that used to intern there) -- however their issue is they waited too long to figure out how to monetize. And to be honest the formula for monetizing requires experimentation and iteration.
rhizome 13y ago
Flickr had a major interface refresh a couple of years ago, and I'm also pretty sure Flickr has lots and lots of paying customers. So, it may have already "panned out," in a "don't mess with success" sense, depending on what that means in the context of Tumblr.
- technoslut 13y ago
  Flickr updated their site a few months ago along with the release with their new iPhone app. It still doesn't feel like a modern site and it doesn't work as well as it should. Supposedly there is a new Flickr being shown off tomorrow and hopefully Yahoo rebuilt the site from the ground up.
  - rhizome 13y ago
    Yeah, the overall UX has needed updating for quite some time, but I also imagine their paying customers (photo nuts) are some of the pickier users out there. I wouldn't be surprised if the best course for Flickr is to be as conservative with changes as possible.
    - antiterra 13y ago
      Even if it's the best course, it might still wreck on the coral reef cruft of dead accounts and abandoned groups. Flickr has been in decline for a while. I doubt incremental changes could bring it back.
      - rhizome 13y ago
        dead accounts and abandoned groups don't pay for their accounts. those who do pay are the picky users.
  - wildgift 13y ago
    It needs an overhaul, but it does what I need, which is share a few hundred images, broken up into sets. I've tried a couple other sites and apps, and haven't switched yet.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

copper-horse 13y ago

As a long term Flickr user, I can only say I totally love it. It is simply perfect for what it is and I happily pay for my pro subscription every year, and I would hate to see it change into something else because someone else thought they knew better than me what I needed. Yahoo may be better maintainers than innovators, but I'd rather have seen posterous acquired by Yahoo and maintained than acquired by Twitter and killed.

dave5104 13y ago

And wasn't one of Marissa's plans when she came aboard to try and revive Flickr, since she saw it as a big asset? Not that it's jumped leaps and bounds since then, but I would think that she'd want to nurture tumblr a bit.

pavs 13y ago
According to the verge there is a flickr redesign coming up soon: (check update2: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/17/4341144/yahoo-to-hold-monday-press-event-nyc-tumblr-acquisition-rumors http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/17/4341144/yahoo-to-hold-mond...)
greghinch 13y ago
The updated Flickr iOS app is pretty awesome, and exactly what Flickr needed.

jalev 13y ago

Maybe Yahoo's involvement with Tumblr will be limited, much like Conde Nast's management of Reddit.

pavs 13y ago
Then it would defeat the purpose of the acquisition. Perhaps a middle ground? Initially limited involvement, slowly integrate feature/traffic to other yahoo property in a way that doesn't devalue current tumble experience but also gives yahoo a younger crowd as their userbase. Its obviously very hard thing to do, but I am (probably the only one in HN) rooting for Yahoo. Tired of 2-3 companies dominating the tech world. I am rooting for Marissa Mayer to succeed and give others a run for their money by doing an epic u-turn with yahoo and changing everyone's perception of what yahoo is usually associated with.
technoslut 13y ago
It'll have integration with Yahoo's own services but it also presents a few more headaches with pirate links and takedown notices.

larrys 13y ago

"it hasn't seen much innovation" For the existing team at tumblr (say anyone who has stock that is) things like this end up being a buzz kill after it settles in. Working towards something is fun and motivating. Once you get it things simply change (speaking from personal experience and observation here (also as you are pointing out). For example, would you like to get paid now for all the work you are going to do for the next 10 years in advance and still find it as fun and challenging? If you were an athlete would you want to know in advance that you were going to win 2 medals in each of the next olympics? To me that takes the fun out of things. I think it's obvious why things are different after money changes hands. In this situation how do you show up for work at twitter and still be creative after essentially the "game", if you want to call it that, is won? You will probably itch to get over to a new challenge. Not to be cliche but the journey is a big part of the picture.

brown9-2 13y ago
You write "twitter" where you mean "tumblr".
- larrys 13y ago
  Thanks - fixed (will happen at twitter just the same!)

kmfrk 13y ago

I share your reservations, but has Tumblr really been going anywhere the last couple of years? It's a little like Flickr in how it's calcified in development, but is still a solid product, nevertheless, albeit one that feels a bit stale.

arindone 13y ago
Tumblr really has blown up in terms of users and content created (anecdotal evidence from some folks I know that used to intern there) -- however their issue is they waited too long to figure out how to monetize. And to be honest the formula for monetizing requires experimentation and iteration.

rhizome 13y ago

Flickr had a major interface refresh a couple of years ago, and I'm also pretty sure Flickr has lots and lots of paying customers. So, it may have already "panned out," in a "don't mess with success" sense, depending on what that means in the context of Tumblr.

technoslut 13y ago
Flickr updated their site a few months ago along with the release with their new iPhone app. It still doesn't feel like a modern site and it doesn't work as well as it should. Supposedly there is a new Flickr being shown off tomorrow and hopefully Yahoo rebuilt the site from the ground up.
- rhizome 13y ago
  Yeah, the overall UX has needed updating for quite some time, but I also imagine their paying customers (photo nuts) are some of the pickier users out there. I wouldn't be surprised if the best course for Flickr is to be as conservative with changes as possible.
  - antiterra 13y ago
    Even if it's the best course, it might still wreck on the coral reef cruft of dead accounts and abandoned groups. Flickr has been in decline for a while. I doubt incremental changes could bring it back.
    - rhizome 13y ago
      dead accounts and abandoned groups don't pay for their accounts. those who do pay are the picky users.
- wildgift 13y ago
  It needs an overhaul, but it does what I need, which is share a few hundred images, broken up into sets. I've tried a couple other sites and apps, and haven't switched yet.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]