Tumblr is discontinuing Post Plus, a feature that enables creators to charge their followers a subscription fee to access their content. From December 1, creators will no longer be able to activate Post Plus on their blogs.
The announcement to end Post Plus comes after a leaked memo revealed that the platform has been struggling to achieve its usage and revenue targets.Thus, Tumblr’s parent companyAutomattic, also the owner of WordPress, is planning to downsize and focus on the “core functionality” of Tumblr. Post Plus, launched in 2021, is the first feature to be discontinued by the company.
According to a Tumblr post, the company introduced Post Plus to support creators but the feature “didn’t land” as they would have thought of. The platform notes that the discontinuation comes after collecting feedback and reviewing usage.
Starting December 1, creators cannot create new Post Plus content, and subscribers will no longer be charged. Existing Post Plus content will remain available until the end of this year, but it will be marked as private starting January 2024.
Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, acquired Tumblr in 2019 for $3 billion. The word around the town is that Tumblr is being operated by a “skeleton crew,” with only 139 employees left, and most of them are said to be moved to other Automattic projects.
Tumblr had planned to introduce TikTok-style algorithmic feed next year, but that seems to be off the cards as of now, as the company’s previous approach was not sustainable, according to CEO Matt Mullenweg. The CEO had revealed that the social media company had been losing $30 million a year.
In the memo, leaked earlier this month, Mullenweg notes that a new structure will be implemented next year. Smaller, more focused teams will improve core aspects based on user feedback, and unsuccessful changes will be reversed. The Post Plus subscription seems to be the first step in that direction.
The announcement to end Post Plus comes after a leaked memo revealed that the platform has been struggling to achieve its usage and revenue targets.Thus, Tumblr’s parent companyAutomattic, also the owner of WordPress, is planning to downsize and focus on the “core functionality” of Tumblr. Post Plus, launched in 2021, is the first feature to be discontinued by the company.
According to a Tumblr post, the company introduced Post Plus to support creators but the feature “didn’t land” as they would have thought of. The platform notes that the discontinuation comes after collecting feedback and reviewing usage.
Starting December 1, creators cannot create new Post Plus content, and subscribers will no longer be charged. Existing Post Plus content will remain available until the end of this year, but it will be marked as private starting January 2024.
Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, acquired Tumblr in 2019 for $3 billion. The word around the town is that Tumblr is being operated by a “skeleton crew,” with only 139 employees left, and most of them are said to be moved to other Automattic projects.
Tumblr had planned to introduce TikTok-style algorithmic feed next year, but that seems to be off the cards as of now, as the company’s previous approach was not sustainable, according to CEO Matt Mullenweg. The CEO had revealed that the social media company had been losing $30 million a year.
In the memo, leaked earlier this month, Mullenweg notes that a new structure will be implemented next year. Smaller, more focused teams will improve core aspects based on user feedback, and unsuccessful changes will be reversed. The Post Plus subscription seems to be the first step in that direction.