Cartoon of the Week: Tumblr joining the Automattic team

Verizon is selling Tumblr to WordPress owner Automattic Inc., two years after buying the social network as part of its Yahoo acquisition.

Automattic has bought Tumblr for less than $3 million, which is a huge drop compared to its former value of $1.1 billion in 2013.

Tumblr is known as a ‘microblogging’ service and was founded in 2007. It gained popularity by allowing people to publish blogs for free and it has been a hugely influential force in the blogging and social media sphere. But platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube have become much larger forces over recent years.

‘Tumblr is a marque brand that has started movements, allowed for true identities to blossom and become home to many creative communities and fandoms,’ said Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan in a statement. ‘We are proud of what the team has accomplished and are happy to have found the perfect partner in Automattic, whose expertise and track record will unlock new and exciting possibilities for Tumblr and its users.’

Following this acquisition, Matt Mullenweg, Automattic CEO, said that his company will try to ‘preserve the passion and sense of community that so many people around the world – and all over the web – have come to associate with Tumblr.’

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Nouha Blagui

I am a marketer and social media junkie. I work to optimise eXo’s online brand with content, social media technologies and digital marketing. I mainly write cartoons but I am also a big fan of topics related to internal communications in the digital workplace. I would love to connect with you, so get in touch and join our LinkedIn group ‘Intranet & Digital Workplace’.