Is Tumblr back again, again?

Every now and then, someone says that Tumblr — the charming social media platform that will not die — is having a resurgence. We discussed this in 2022, when The New Yorker reported that 48% of Tumblr’s users and 61% of new sign-ups were Gen Z. Now, Business Insider reports that Gen Z makes up half of its active monthly users and 60% of new sign-ups.

That’s not much of a needle move, but maybe that works. A little history David Karp founded Tumblr as a microblogging platform in 2007. It enjoyed a popular run until Yahoo acquired it in 2013 for $1.



1B. Users liked Tumblr for all the reasons they didn’t like other apps. It wasn’t gummed up with ads, users could be anonymous, and it allowed NSFW content (which Yahoo banned).

None of that screams profitability. WordPress parent Automattic acquired Tumblr in 2019, reportedly for just $3m. Today.

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.. Tumblr benefits from chaos: it reported a 350% surge in user growth after Brazil banned X, and a 395% increase in posts tagging “TikTok ban” in January, when TikTok was briefly offline for US users.

But in an era of cozy gamers and surging plushie sales, Tumblr’s real strength is in vibes. The big platforms are swamped with ads, algorithms, attention-seeking influencers, and arguing. Automattic has made some changes, including a video/GIF tab and plans to join the fediverse, but Tumblr has remained mostly the same.

A recent Tumblr ad campaign leaned into its weirdness. An example line: “There’s been a lot of talk about masculine energy, but at Tumblr, we’d like to inject some asexual trampoline ghost energy.” But.

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.. are vibes sustainable? While advertisers once avoided Tumblr due to its NSFW content (it reversed its nudity ban in 2022) and difficulty targeting ads to anonymous users, it is currently free of the controversies that have led many to dump X.

Andrew Roth, the founder of Gen Z-focused research and consulting firm DCDX, told BI Tumblr could capitalize on monetizing users’ “intentions on social media versus the attention of them being around,” focusing on their desires and how to reach them. That, too, sounds very vibes, but if it gives Gen Z at least one platform that isn’t totally enshittified, Godspeed..