Since it became clear that Yahoo was going to buy Tumblr, WordPress saw the number of blog imports from Tumblr rise from about 400 an hour to more than 72,000. That’s a ridiculous jump — and also a stupid one. Here’s why you shouldn’t leave Tumblr just because it’s under new management.
- There’s nothing better out there that offers a similar service. Not WordPress, not Blogspot, not any of those other crappy blogs. Fact.
- Tumblr is just as much a social network as anything else. It works better with more users; if anything, Yahoo will bring in fresh (OK, maybe old) blood.
- Yahoo promises to let it carry on alone. Just like Facebook did with Instagram. At least give them a chance to stick to their word.
- Yahoo could actually make it better. You can expect it to inject its experience where it can be certain it will help — like adding some search powers for better discoverability, for instance.
- You won’t be inundated with ads. Yahoo wants to bring ads to Tumblr, sure — but they’ll be opt-in, so they won’t be foisted on you if you hate them.
- Your porn’s safe. Yahoo has been stressing that it’s going to go out of its way to let people do whatever they damn well want on Tumblr.
- And your porn’s definitely ad-free. Yahoo is — cautiously and sensibly — going to keep ads at arms length from controversial content. That means any risky (risqué?) content won’t even be able to feature ads.
- The deal might not even happen. Just because Yahoo’s board approved the acquisition doesn’t mean Yahoo’s shareholders will. Sure, it’s likely to pass muster. But why freak out before there’s actually something to freak out about?
- For the love of God, it’s Tumblr. Where else on the web can you find Kim Jong Il looking at things and or texts from superheroes? Exactly.