Here at Tumblr, weâve been working hard on reorganizing how we work in a bid to gain more users. A larger user base means a more sustainable company, and means we get to stick around and do this thing with you all a bit longer. What follows is the strategy we're using to accomplish the goal of user growth. The @labs group has published a bit already, but this is bigger. Weâre publishing it publicly for the first time, in an effort to work more transparently with all of you in the Tumblr community. This strategy provides guidance amid limited resources, allowing our teams to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblrâs future.
The Diagnosis
In order for Tumblr to grow, we need to fix the core experience that makes Tumblr a useful place for users. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is not easy to use. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. But this expectation introduces friction to the user experience and only serves a small portion of our audience.Â
Tumblrâs competitive advantage lies in its unique content and vibrant communities. As the forerunner of internet culture, Tumblr encompasses a wide range of interests, such as entertainment, art, gaming, fandom, fashion, and music. People come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this culture, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless connection between people and content.Â
To guarantee Tumblrâs continued success, weâve got to prioritize fostering that seamless connection between people and content. This involves attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform.
Our Guiding Principles
To enhance Tumblrâs usability, we must address these core guiding principles.
Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.
Provide high-quality content with every app launch.
Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.
Retain and grow our creator base.
Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.
Improve the platformâs performance, stability, and quality.
Below is a deep dive into each of these principles.
Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.
Tumblr has a âtop of the funnelâ issue in converting non-users into engaged logged-in users. We also have not invested in industry standard SEO practices to ensure a robust top of the funnel. The referral traffic that we do get from external sources is dispersed across different pages with inconsistent user experiences, which results in a missed opportunity to convert these users into regular Tumblr users. For example, users from search engines often land on pages within the blog network and blog viewâwhere there isnât much of a reason to sign up.Â
We need to experiment with logged-out tumblr.com to ensure we are capturing the highest potential conversion rate for visitors into sign-ups and log-ins. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages. We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. Our current logged-out explore page does very little to help users understand âwhat is Tumblr.â which is a missed opportunity to get people excited about joining the site.
Actions & Next Steps
Improving Tumblrâs search engine optimization (SEO) practices to be in line with industry standards.
Experiment with logged out tumblr.com to achieve the highest conversion rate for sign-ups and log-ins, explore ways for visitors to âgetâ Tumblr and entice them to sign up.
Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.
We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to the userâs diverse interests during each session. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault lies with the product.
The default position should always be that the user does not know how to navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure that when people search for content related to their interests, it is easily accessible without any confusing limitations or unexpected roadblocks in their journey.
Being a 15-year-old brand is tough because the brand carries the baggage of a personâs preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts have to convey the value of Tumblr: it is a vibrant community with lots of untapped potential. We never want to leave the user believing that Tumblr is a place that is stale and not relevant.Â
Actions & Next Steps
Deliver great content each time the app is opened.
Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are.Â
Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds.Â
Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.
Part of Tumblrâs charm lies in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the clever remarks found within reblog chains and replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless.
Unfortunately, the current way that conversations work on Tumblr across replies and reblogs is confusing for new users. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the inability to easily follow threaded conversations make it difficult for users to join the conversation.
Actions & Next Steps
Address the confusion within replies and reblogs.
Improve the conversational posting features around replies and reblogs.Â
Allow engagements on individual replies and reblogs.
Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths within a reblog thread.Â
Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads.Â
Explore the feasibility of removing duplicate reblogs within a userâs Following feed.Â
Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.
Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we havenât always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing our creator base. Â
Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. We need to ensure that we have the expected creator tools and foster the rewarding feedback loops that keep creators around and enable them to thrive.
The lack of feedback stems from the outdated decision to only show content from followed blogs on the main dashboard feed (âFollowingâ), perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform.
It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should never feel like a punishing experience.
Actions & Next Steps
Get creatorsâ new content in front of people who are interested in it.Â
Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.
Build mechanisms to protect creators from being spammed by notifications when they go viral.
Expand ways to co-create content, such as by adding the capability to embed Tumblr links in posts.
Principle 5: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.
Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase user engagement, improve user retention, and facilitate content discovery. Our strategy of reaching out to you, the user, should be well-coordinated across product, commercial, and marketing teams.
Our messaging strategy needs to be personalized and adapt to a userâs shifting interests. Our messages should keep users in the know on the latest activity in their community, as well as keeping Tumblr top of mind as the place to go for witty takes and remixes of the latest shows and real-life events. Â
Most importantly, our messages should be thoughtful and should never come across as spammy. Â
Actions & Next Steps
Conduct an audit of our messaging strategy.
Address the issue of notifications getting too noisy; throttle, collapse or mute notifications where necessary. Â
Identify opportunities for personalization within our email messages.Â
Test what the right daily push notification limit is.Â
Send emails when a user has push notifications switched off.
Principle 6: Performance, stability and quality.
The stability and performance of our mobile apps have declined. There is a large backlog of production issues, with more bugs created than resolved over the last 300 days. If this continues, roughly one new unresolved production issue will be created every two days. Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Improving performance, stability, and quality will help us achieve sustainable operations for Tumblr.
Improve performance and stability: deliver crash-free, responsive, and fast-loading apps on Android, iOS, and web.
Improve quality: deliver the highest quality Tumblr experience to our users.Â
Move faster: provide APIs and services to unblock core product initiatives and launch new features coming out of Labs.
Conclusion
Our mission has always been to empower the worldâs creators. We are wholly committed to ensuring Tumblr evolves in a way that supports our current users while improving areas that attract new creators, artists, and users. You deserve a digital home that works for you. You deserve the best tools and features to connect with your communities on a platform that prioritizes the easy discoverability of high-quality content. This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldnât be more excited about our current strategy.
The reason I've stayed on Tumblr since first joining it in 2011 has been because there's a chronological feed. It's the main selling point in comparison to the major platforms, the reason why I keep coming back despite bugs and functionality issues. Seriously, you get rid of that and there's no reason for artists and creators to use Tumblr anymore. I've quit Instagram, I've quit Facebook, Twitter is imploding on itself faster than you can say 'cheese', and all of those junkyards have something in common: an algorithm that forcefeeds content you didn't sign up for in your home view, which is awful for small accounts. I was never able to grow a following on algorithm-based platforms because you don't get seen by your own followers at all unless your posts get big, which they can't, because no one sees them to begin with.
This move won't make Tumblr more "creator friendly", it'll make it downright hostile, and impossible for anyone but the already huge names to even be seen (if even them). This is no rocket science - followers should always be able to see the content posted by the accounts they follow, regardless of how popular, viral or 'relevant' their posts are according to online trends or whatever star chart your investors are reading to determine what's "high-quality content".
For when people say theyâre sick of seeing gay stuff everywhere. Suck it up. 4 years. 4 years. And thatâs just on the books, itâs legal. It doesnât stop shitty attitudes, actions, or straight up violence.
Considering the rest of the filmâs heavy anti-colonization messaging, the main antagonist being heavily modeled on & inspired by General Custer, the other main (human) protagonist being a Native man (& the fort is where Spirit meets Little Creek), yes, most likely
So while I was getting my haircut, the lady asked me if I had other plans for the day and I said:
âIâm just going to pick up the boy from daycare and then itâs date night.â
And the lady says âOh! How old is he?â
âHeâs three.â
âMine too! Where are you registering him for kindergarten itâs such a hassle-â
And thatâs when I realized I said âboyâ and not âdogâ because I always think of Charlie as âgood boyâ but this slip up has lead to a miscommunication.
The lady is now 6 minutes into a clearly needed rant about how unnecessarily complex shopping for schools is, esp when you have a neurodivergent child, so I canât just tell her that Charlie is a dog because then sheâll feel awkward for unloading on me and she clearly has enough going on.
So the rest of the haircut became a game of âhow much can I say about Charlie without revealing that he is not a human child?â And the answer is âenough to cover a half hour hair appointment, quite possibly several hours worth if Iâm specific enoughâ
âIt really depends on who heâs with. Heâs very quiet at he but wonât shut up if heâs at the park or has a friend over.â
âwas it hard to potty-train him?â
âheâs adopted, but I was genuinely amazed at how good he already was with hygene and potty stuff.â
âmineâs just obsessed with paw patrol and Frozen, drives me crazy!â
âI imagine. Charlie is colorblind so heâs not as into tv, but he always wants a toy if I take him anywhere with them.â
âoh gosh the toys! And the kids are so rough on them!â
âyeah Charlie can destroy a stuffed animal in about 2 minutes, so I only buy him the really cheap ones.â
âDoes he throw tantrums when they break?â
âNot really. Itâs meditative, really, taking them apart. He has hysterics if the cat takes his toys though. Runs downstairs and cries at me until I retrieve it because heâs not tall enough to get it out of the cat tree.â
(if you want to read more of my much weirder adventures, I have pre-orders for my book on Patreon right now: https://www.patreon.com/gallusrostromegalus )
So while I was getting my haircut, the lady asked me if I had other plans for the day and I said:
âIâm just going to pick up the boy from daycare and then itâs date night.â
And the lady says âOh! How old is he?â
âHeâs three.â
âMine too! Where are you registering him for kindergarten itâs such a hassle-â
And thatâs when I realized I said âboyâ and not âdogâ because I always think of Charlie as âgood boyâ but this slip up has lead to a miscommunication.
The lady is now 6 minutes into a clearly needed rant about how unnecessarily complex shopping for schools is, esp when you have a neurodivergent child, so I canât just tell her that Charlie is a dog because then sheâll feel awkward for unloading on me and she clearly has enough going on.
So the rest of the haircut became a game of âhow much can I say about Charlie without revealing that he is not a human child?â And the answer is âenough to cover a half hour hair appointment, quite possibly several hours worth if Iâm specific enoughâ
âIt really depends on who heâs with. Heâs very quiet at he but wonât shut up if heâs at the park or has a friend over.â
âwas it hard to potty-train him?â
âheâs adopted, but I was genuinely amazed at how good he already was with hygene and potty stuff.â
âmineâs just obsessed with paw patrol and Frozen, drives me crazy!â
âI imagine. Charlie is colorblind so heâs not as into tv, but he always wants a toy if I take him anywhere with them.â
âoh gosh the toys! And the kids are so rough on them!â
âyeah Charlie can destroy a stuffed animal in about 2 minutes, so I only buy him the really cheap ones.â
âDoes he throw tantrums when they break?â
âNot really. Itâs meditative, really, taking them apart. He has hysterics if the cat takes his toys though. Runs downstairs and cries at me until I retrieve it because heâs not tall enough to get it out of the cat tree.â
(if you want to read more of my much weirder adventures, I have pre-orders for my book on Patreon right now: https://www.patreon.com/gallusrostromegalus )
