Tumblr users take to blogs to express fear over ‘Yahoo takeover’
Many Tumblr users are already up in arms over worries that their beloved blogging service could lose its hip edge under Yahoo’s control.
The blogging website was filled with rants after Yahoo announced on Monday it was acquiring Tumblr for $1.1 billion.
An online petition to stop Yahoo from buying Tumblr had already been signed by nearly 169,000 people as of late Monday afternoon.
“Yahoo is gonna ruin tumblr and Tumblr is the only reason why the world isn’t in chaos rite now tumblr keeps people sane what if it shuts down. I CAN’T. YAHOO ...,” user brees-dreams wrote.
Though Yahoo said Tumblr would operate independently, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company said it could eventually pursue a more aggressive strategy to make money by selling advertising space on Tumblr. Many users said in posts on Monday that an increase in advertising, and potential for censorship, would hurt Tumblr’s sense of being an open frontier for content, from pornography to poetry.
At a press conference announcing the deal, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said she would not “screw up” Tumblr. Her ability to calm the service’s angry users will be key to capitalizing on the company’s biggest acquisition in a decade.
“I’ll drag my butt over your face, Yahoo ceo if you ruin this place,” user unicornbuttdrag posted on Tumblr.
Tumblr CEO David Karp, 26, will continue to run the network. He will receive more than $200 million from the deal. While some users congratulated the high-school dropout on his achievement, other users called Karp a sell-out.
“KARP HOW COULD YOU,” user cerbear wrote. “EVERYTHING YAHOO! TOUCHES TURNS TO POOP.”
User strawberry-tsundere suggested that Tumblr fans return to social networks such as LiveJournal or Myspace.
“Those places died out because of tumblr, so if tumblr dies out couldnt we go back there..?,” strawberry-tsundere wrote.
One common complaint from users on Monday was what they said was Yahoo’s inability to produce successful products.
Tumblr user Testedspirit searched for his blog on Yahoo’s search engine and didn’t like what he saw.
“All I got was a bunch of bovine scatology about how to test spirits,” he wrote. “At least Google pretends to know who I am. You are already a failure Yahoo.”
For some, Yahoo’s second announcement on Monday tempered their fears.
Yahoo announced it would offer 1 terabyte of storage for photos and videos on Flickr, a service it bought in 2005. Tumblr user Tony Stocco said he wasn’t happy with the Tumblr purchase, but that the “insanely awesome” upgrade to Flickr would “rekindle his love.”
There also was a bit of optimism.
“I just realised that I’ve had Yahoo and Tumblr next to each other on my favourites for ages. Maybe they were meant to be together <3,” user sarah-hargreaves posted.
For more, check out a new Tumblr account dedicated to reblogging posts from mad Tumblr users.
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Yahoo’s Flickr to offer massive 1 terabyte of storage for free
Yahoo, Tumblr take to social network to confirm $1.1-billion deal [video chat]
Yahoo seeks turnaround with $1.1-billion deal to buy Tumblr
