Yahoo rolls back initial integration of Tumblr’s sales team with its company

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer

Yahoo might be giving back some of Tumblr’s autonomy as Yahoo yet again missed earning expectations and is trying to reorganize itself internally for a better future. Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer initially promised that Tumblr would be a standalone entity when it acquired the company back in 2013 for US$1.1 billion. But she seemed to take back the idea when they combined Yahoo and Tumblr sales staff. It supposedly caused a bit of an issue with Tumblr staff as both sales teams targeted different markets.

The sudden change in plans make us question how Yahoo will be able to work moving forward and if this means Yahoo might even consider selling Tumblr off in the future. From Tumblr’s end, the official statement is it “has introduced a number of innovative ad products to maximize value for our advertisers and best meet their needs. To further support these efforts moving forward, we have returned to a dedicated direct sales team.”

Source: Business Insider | Via: The Next Web

Tumblr introduces instant messaging

More than taking on the likes of Snapchat, Tumblr is bringing a much-requested feature into its web, Android, and iOS apps—instant messaging support. The app builds on the fan mail feature of the site (which will be phased out in the future) and introduces instant messaging. Tumblr isn’t rolling it out to everyone yet though. The company’s taking a “viral” approach by rolling it out to 1,500 users to start and then anyone these users message will get the ability to use the feature, too.

Tumblr claims all its users will get it sometime next month. What you can do on it now is text and one-on-one conversations. The support for GIFs, images, and group chat will be coming in the future. Also, private and group blogs don’t have access to it at the moment. Once you have it though, anyone can message you but you have the option to just have the people you follow message you. If you see the smiley balloon icon, it means you have the feature; those on mobile need to have the latest version of Tumblr.

Source: Tumblr | Via: The Verge

Get your ‘regular dose of space’ with NASA’s Tumblr account

NASA keeps extending its reach in the social media space. This time the space agency is coming to Tumblr with not one but four new accounts. The main account will have different images and videos of NASA’s work. The other three focus on specific areas. One is dedicated to updates on the Mar’s Curiosity rover. Another follows astronaut Peggy Wilson as she trains for a six-month mission on the International Space Station. And the last one follows NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter. If you want to keep track of what the space agency is doing, you can follow them here, too.

Source: NASA | Via: The Verge

TumblrTV will take away productivity

Just in case you didn’t think Tumblr was enough of a time-suck. Tumblr’s giving you one more reason to stay on its site. The blogging platform now has a Tumblr TV section. This just displays an endless stream of GIFs that loop a few times before it moves on to the next GIF. You can play GIFs based on hashtags or specific blogs. Or you can just let it loop whatever is popular on the platform at the moment. Of course, you can reblog or like any of the GIFs that turn up there. It’ll even show you which account shared the post.

Source: The Verge