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Discussion on: How open-source will Tumblr become?

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firozansari profile image
Firoz Ansari

Ok. Here are some of my speculations:

  1. Tumblr users will systematically migrate to WordPress.

  2. WordPress will inherit some of the popular themes and features like Online Theme Editor etc. from Tumblr. Coincidentally both are PHP based product.

  3. Tumblr will be scrapped. Might be open-sourced which will have no value now as its codebase and technology stack is still so 2007. Because of the acquisition after acquisition after acquisition, Tumblr unfortunately never evolves in terms of technology.

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ben profile image
Ben Halpern

Tumblr, the user-facing blogging network, still appears to be fairly huge.

I imagine the preservation of these URLs is important to somebody and Automattic will want to build on all of this for some purpose.

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II
  1. Tumblr users will systematically migrate to WordPress.

Amend that to "remaining Tumblr users" and, "sure, maybe".

That said, if you were someone looking for a WordPress style experience, you were previously already using WordPress, not Tumblr. Tumblr really excelled at "stream of consciousness" type of content. It filled a nice spot between FaceBook-style sites and Twitter-style sites without forcing people into the straightjacket that is Wordpress (and similar CMSes).

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Tammy Lee • Edited

1) I'm doubtful about the migration; half of the appeal of Tumblr is reblogging/sharing content other people have created, which isn't baked into WordPress. If WordPress.org built that sort of sharable content functionality into it, then maybe?

Tumblr creators have gone to:

  • Twitter
  • Patreon
  • Instagram

With adult content creators (a large base of Tumble users) mostly moving to Twitter and Patreon.

2) WordPress has already copied one aspect of Tumblr, ages ago, which is different media post types. Like image post, audio post, etc. but it didn't seem to really catch on with WP users.

3) This I could see happening. Eventually. Once they figure out how to milk as much value out of the user base as they can.

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ferricoxide profile image
Thomas H Jones II

2) WordPress has already copied one aspect of Tumblr, ages ago, which is different media post types. Like image post, audio post, etc. but it didn't seem to really catch on with WP users.

Many of the "not what WP was originally meant to do" functionalities felt bolted on. There was also the "why use an emulation when native is already out there". Plus, if you were a low-effort user (which accounted for a lot of Tumblr's users), WP felt cumbersome (as many CMS-y systems do).

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drdougtheman profile image
drdougtheman

I hate IG so much. Tumblr was the place to share art.