![shananaomi:
think-progress:
The real reason Yahoo bought Tumblr: It’s about young women.
More detail from Think Progress’ very smart analysis:
[W]hen Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer talks, as she did this morning on the call that announced the deal, about the fact that “Tumblr views itself as a home for brands,” like movies, or suggests that Tumblr and Yahoo could work together the way Google and Blogger did, with Yahoo serving ads on Tumblrs whose users would like to have ad placement, she’s talking about getting ads in front of young users, and monetizing content by young people. And whether it’s true or not, the perception will be that Mayer specifically means getting ads in front of monetizing content created by female and non-straight young people.
Whether that means that the oft-mocked confessionals and .GIFs of Tumblr will come to be seen as respectable because they’re something Yahoo is going to try to make money off of is a different question entirely. Yahoo’s perception that young people will help it shore up its aging brand, and that they’ll be valuable to advertisers isn’t actually much different that the insight that young women be shopping. Sometimes, the very fact that young people, particularly young women, have money to spend is the thing that makes them seem ridiculous to the very people who would like to extract that money from them. Trendhopping that necessitates regular consumption and deep engagement on things that other people have deemed frivolous are traits that make consumers or users valuable to advertisers. But the assignment of financial value to those behaviors has never meant that we pass along any more deference to young people’s tastes as part of a larger bargain.
That sentence I put in bold is basically the exact point of the panel that Rae led at SXSW (where, by the way, we were the only all-female panel during the tech conference, and where Tumblr was very well-repped by Danielle Strle).
Start taking it seriously.
This actually makes me feel really good about the acquisition. I’ve complained plenty here over the years about how Tumblr has systematically plowed under the naturally occurring (and largely young/female) culture in favor of bolstering the site’s appeal to people who look a whole lot like David Karp (and, to be fair, me), and they way they’ve made it a priority to push/promote “theme” Tumblrs (i.e. stuff that can be turned into books) and corporate-sponsored Tumblrs at the expense of real-(often young)-people-blogging Tumblrs. I think that plan was probably a smart one, as much as I hated it — it built the business to the point that the Tech world had to take notice. But I’m glad the tech world seems to recognize that the true value in Tumblr is in its core.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/111c8fa19b269a3fc83b27ca464fc467/tumblr_mn4167Wdq81ql6jblo1_500.jpg)
The real reason Yahoo bought Tumblr: It’s about young women.
More detail from Think Progress’ very smart analysis:
[W]hen Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer talks, as she did this morning on the call that announced the deal, about the fact that “Tumblr views itself as a home for brands,” like movies, or suggests that Tumblr and Yahoo could work together the way Google and Blogger did, with Yahoo serving ads on Tumblrs whose users would like to have ad placement, she’s talking about getting ads in front of young users, and monetizing content by young people. And whether it’s true or not, the perception will be that Mayer specifically means getting ads in front of monetizing content created by female and non-straight young people.
Whether that means that the oft-mocked confessionals and .GIFs of Tumblr will come to be seen as respectable because they’re something Yahoo is going to try to make money off of is a different question entirely. Yahoo’s perception that young people will help it shore up its aging brand, and that they’ll be valuable to advertisers isn’t actually much different that the insight that young women be shopping. Sometimes, the very fact that young people, particularly young women, have money to spend is the thing that makes them seem ridiculous to the very people who would like to extract that money from them. Trendhopping that necessitates regular consumption and deep engagement on things that other people have deemed frivolous are traits that make consumers or users valuable to advertisers. But the assignment of financial value to those behaviors has never meant that we pass along any more deference to young people’s tastes as part of a larger bargain.
That sentence I put in bold is basically the exact point of the panel that Rae led at SXSW (where, by the way, we were the only all-female panel during the tech conference, and where Tumblr was very well-repped by Danielle Strle).
Start taking it seriously.
This actually makes me feel really good about the acquisition. I’ve complained plenty here over the years about how Tumblr has systematically plowed under the naturally occurring (and largely young/female) culture in favor of bolstering the site’s appeal to people who look a whole lot like David Karp (and, to be fair, me), and they way they’ve made it a priority to push/promote “theme” Tumblrs (i.e. stuff that can be turned into books) and corporate-sponsored Tumblrs at the expense of real-(often young)-people-blogging Tumblrs. I think that plan was probably a smart one, as much as I hated it — it built the business to the point that the Tech world had to take notice. But I’m glad the tech world seems to recognize that the true value in Tumblr is in its core.
Eisley Come Up $40,000 Short In Kickstarter To Fund Touring
Eisley’s $100,000 Kickstarter goal is closed, and the band has come up $40,000 short in funding. The Kickstarter was started to raise money for the band’s touring problems due to having children on the road. It is now unclear of whether or not Eisley will be able to tour extensively in the future. Check out the Kickstarter facts below after the jump.
Related Stories:
Eisley Launch $100,000 Kickstarter
Max Bemis Defends Eisley $100,000 Kickstarter
Sad that they’ll now be forced to eat their children for food, but this is the unfortunate reality of the world we live in.
I’ve been on Tumblr long enough to see some folks graduate both high school and college
that is goddamn terrifying
I really hope Yahoo doesn’t fuck up Tumblr like it’s fucked up … well, every single thing it’s ever touched in the history of the universe.
See here’s the thing though. The only way to prevent something like this would have been to make Tumblr an unwelcoming space, and that’s where we run into the Usenet Paradox. If you try to keep a cool thing to yourself, you get called cliquish, elitist, a snob. But if you don’t work to police its borders — which you probably shouldn’t do, because the people calling you cliquish probably have something of a point, and being an actual border-policing snob saps the fun right out of the thing you’re ostensibly trying to protect — then the people with the money are coming for it. Every single time. Forever. And they will do what they do, because it’s what they do. I can’t speak on behalf of my friends, but I’d hazard a guess that my old buddies Alternative Rock, Rap, Jazz, Independent Film, Things That Are About Vampires and/or Zombies, and The Neighborhoods of Several Large American Cities will co-sign me on this.
*I just invented this paradox. If you wanna option it for a film please do holler, I see immense prospects for development
Saves The Day at Skate & Surf ‘13. Easily one of the best moments of my life.
I love that you can see how sopping wet the uncovered stage is. Perfectly captures this clusterfuck of a weekend
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2013-5-19)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Friday Discussion: The First CD I Bought
The odds are that the first CD you bought is not indicative of the music that you listen to today. Or maybe it is, who knows. Regardless, we thought it would be fun, amusing, and interesting to do a new PropertyOfZack Friday Discussion on The First CD I Bought. Check out our Discussion below and feel free to reblog with your first CD purchase!
Curious what the first tape I ever bought was? Read on…
Issues Release Justin Timberlake “Mirrors” Cover
Issues have posted a re-imaged cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors.” Listen to it below after the jump.
Wowsers, this is fantastic! Tyler Carter has got one hell of a voice, looking forward to catching him or Issues or both this weekend
The Music Writer’s Code
If, when casually speaking with someone, you state an idea about a new record that your conversation partner might also be reviewing, you realize that this person might steal your idea for his/her review. If you are worried about your idea being stolen, you don’t share it in private conversation but rather write it down somewhere in public view first, so the fact that it is “your idea” is documented. In other words, you only share in conversation what you don’t mind being stolen. Am I right about this?
There are perks to writing about bands that nobody else cares to write about in an idea-driven way!
(there are also downsides, like the fact that nobody really cares to read those articles, much less actively engage in discussion on them)
