Is Tumblr Still a Relevant Social Network?
This is a single insight from This Week in Apps - Remember Tumblr?. Check out the full article for more insights.
I read that when X got banned in Brazil, some turned to Tumblr, causing its usage to go up by 350%, and that made me think - do people still use Tumblr?
In case you're not familiar with Tumblr, it's a microblogging platform that launched in 2007 and was very hot for a few years, but lost most of its popularity (and valuation) after getting sold to Yahoo! in 2013.
Automattic, the company that makes WordPress, bought it in 2019 and kept it alive, aaaaaaand is earning revenue from the app - a great proxy for engagement and demand.
So, is Tumblr making any money on the App Store and Google Play?
Yes. It is! But not enough to compete with any real social media platform.
According to our estimates, the now niche platform earned just $97K in August from the App Store and Google Play. And that's net revenue which means what's left after Apple and Google take their cut.
X earns that much in about seven hours. Snapchat earns the same in about two.
Looking at the trend, it seems that revenue isn't growing but rather slowing down. Our estimates show Tumblr was earning more per month, as much as 152K in November of 2023 - its peak.
I looked at what Tumblr is selling, which includes a combination of premium features, a way to boost visibility, and badges - a great collection that should be earning much more, leading me to believe Tumblr doesn't have as many engaged users. Answering my own question, it's pretty obvious that people still use Tumblr, just not many.
Looking at the micro blogs Tumblr generates, it's pretty obvious why. The platform simply hasn't evolved since its good days. It's now fairly antiquated and not competitive with other modern solutions, and badges won't help fix that.
If Tumblr wants to make a comeback it has to reinvent itself, or at least, redesign itself. Engagement and revenue will follow. But I don't expect that will happen. We've seen a trend where once beloved but somewhat abandoned apps get bought and squeezed for in-app purchases in the last few years, and the results are rarely positive. I hope Tumblr beats the odds.
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
