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Tumblr is a microblogging platform created in 2007 by David Karp and Marco Arment and owned by Yahoo.
Tumblr is often referred to as a “microblogging” service because its features are designed for simplicity. Though the blogs offer users background themes and other design options, Tumblr is not as customizable as platforms like WordPress or Blogger. Tumblr allows users to post text, images, video, quotes, links or audio through a basic content management system. Tumblr also incorporates elements of social media, as users can follow each other or “reblog” items posted by others. Its distinct style has been recognized as an important evolution in the form of blogging. It has also been an important platform for social TV activity, similar to Twitter.
In June 2013, Yahoo bought Tumblr for $1.1 billion, pledging that it would run Tumblr as an independent company, though noting that it planned to add more advertisements to Tumblr blogs.
As of September 2013 Tumblr had 140 million users. Before its purchase by Yahoo, the site raised a total of $125 million in venture-capital funds.
Tumblr and the media
Media organizations began establishing a presence on Tumblr in 2010. Much like Twitter and Facebook, news outlets began using Tumblr as an alternate channel for content and as a new means of connecting with readers. Newsweek was among the early adopters, using Tumblr as a place to promote stories in the magazine as well as links and images. By May 2011, at least 60 publications were active on Tumblr.
Newsweek’s Tumblr was also noteworthy for its voice, which was looser and more humorous in tone than the magazine. Mark Coatney, the Newsweek.com editor behind the effort, joined the staff of Tumblr in July 2010 as a “media evangelist” for the company.
Beginning in late 2010 Tumblr introduced features aimed at helping users discover more blogs that also had the consequence of aiding in the curation of news. Tumblr’s curated tag pages allow a select group of editors to tag posts in areas such as news and fashion, as well as event-specific tags related to news like the 2011 revolution in Egypt.
Tumblr has ventured into producing its own original media content, sending correspondents to the 2012 U.S. political conventions to post content to a Tumblr election site. It created a four-person editorial team called Storyboard in 2012 but dissolved it in 2013.
The New England Center for Investigative Reporting is a nonprofit investigative journalism project based at Boston University, the first such organization that covers local and regional issues. The Center was founded in 2009 and is funded by the university as well as a $400,000 Knight Foundation grant. The Center was staffed as of 2012 by four…
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