On the radio, on every television station, and all across the web this weekend, one social story was bigger than all the rest: the rumoured Yahoo acquisition of Tumblr. If this acquisition happens, it will be the biggest one for Yahoo yet. What does it all mean, and why are people so up in arms about it? I break it all down below.
The Acquisition Details
Rumor has it that Yahoo is purchasing Tumblr for a cool $1.1 billion. Neither company has confirmed this purchase yet, but Tumblr fans are already unhappy about the proposed purchase. Many feel that Yahoo tears apart companies and ruins networks like Tumblr and (formerly) Flickr. Tumblr users are worried that the blogging platform will suddenly change for the worse, and that this is inevitable.
Yahoo has scheduled an official announcement for today to clear up the rumours. But, before that happens, let's put this all into perspective. First, there's no real guarantee that Yahoo will be ripping apart Tumblr if the two merge.
Yahoo may keep Tumblr intact and allow the platform to run as it always has. This tactic has worked for the like of other networks like Facebook, and it's a popular one these days. Secondly, the whole thing might be based on nothing short of a rumour, though this isn't likely to be true. Why the outrage?
It's All About Explicit Material
Tumblr allows people to post explicit material of pretty much any kind. There are lots of different Tumblr pages that some would consider lewd. The fear is that Yahoo will dismantle those pages and forbid users to post anything that's ethically or morally questionable. That mans that many popular Tumblr pages will be taken down.
Yahoo is purchasing Tumblr for a different reason, though. The company wants what Tumblr has been able to effectively tap into, and that's the teen and young adult market. Tumblr is a haven for the young crowd. This means advertising opportunities for Yahoo. So, it's not very likely that Yahoo would isolate that younger crowd by taking down popular pages. Then again, it's hard to guess at what Yahoo will do.
Press Conference Today
As mentioned, Yahoo is holding a press conference today to discuss the worries associated with the rumoured purchase. If Yahoo doesn't handle this acquisition correctly, all of those young adults that make Tumblr worth billions will likely leave the platform making the acquisition pointless.
Often, purchases of this kind aren't all about one company buying another. The public, in general, has to approve of each purchase. Otherwise, a site like Tumblr can lose its pull quickly, and this would make the whole deal completely useless. Will Yahoo get rid of Tumblr's popular pages?
Will Yahoo make Tumblr more PC? What will Yahoo do with Tumblr once purchased? Yahoo has a lot of questions to answer at today's press conference. The company has to play its cards right, though, or the money paid for Tumblr won't be worth it. What do you think about this pending deal?