By Jordan Valinsky 5/22 10:32am

Hipster Rage

Hipstblr (Photo: wikipedia.org)

Vespa-Riding, Williamsburg-Residing Tumblr CEO Does Not Appreciate Being Called a Hipster

Call David Karp anything you want–high school dropout, sidecar sideshow–but the one label he won’t stand for is “hipster.” Unknowingly emulating the first rule of hipstersdom by automatically lashing back at the title, the 26-year-old Ludlow suit-wearing, Vespa-riding, Williamsburg-dwelling, brunch-loving chillwave Tumblr CEO was annoyed when ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos dared to call him that yesterday. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/21 11:30am

I'll Tumbl For You

Couldn't miss it.

With Tumblr in the Bag, a Triumphant Marissa Mayer Takes a Victory Lap

Chief Yahoo Marissa Mayer looked pretty damn chipper as she took the stage in a small room overlooking Times Square, late yesterday afternoon.

Technically, the press had gathered for the announcement of a revamped Flickr. (It’s biggr! It’s spectaculr!) An entire lounge had been papered over with giant images pulled from the service, and in the square below a mob of T-shirt-wearing fans/paid actors were jumping up and down and hollering and waving Flickr signs in celebration.

But with David Karp slouched in the front row, it was clear this was about more than the addition of full-bleed photos to a decade-old service.  Read More

By Jordan Valinsky 5/21 10:45am

press tour

Good Morning Mayer. (Photo: Mediaite)

‘Hipster High School Drop Out’ David Karp Hits the Morning Show Circuit With Marissa Mayer

You could wrap yourself in a grey hoodie, but there’s no way to avoid the David Karp-Marissa Mayer PR charm offensive. Taking a breaking from reading US Weekly to moms, ABC News’ Good Morning America had the pair on earlier today to discuss their “match made in digital heaven.” Anchor George Stephanopoulos breathlessly proclaimed the $1.1 billion deal “could change” the way we use the Internet and labeled Mr. Karp as a “hipster high school dropout” before introducing them for an in-studio interview. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/21 8:36am

Linkages

Mr. Karp (via livestream.com)

Booting Up: Everybody’s Got an Opinion About the Tumblr-Yahoo Deal

Marco’s confident Tumblr made the right call: “This is clearly what David believes is best for his product. On such big decisions, he hasn’t been wrong yet. This time, though, I don’t have any doubts.” [Marco.org]

Dave Winer, on the other hand: “When you sell your company, no matter what promises were made, you sold it. It’s theirs now. They will do what they want to with it. Promises don’t matter.” [Scripting News]

Sounds like former Tumblr president John Maloney is just irked he’s being left out of the story. [Twitter]

Fab is reportedly raising a round somewhere in the ballpark of $250 million to $300 million, pushing the company’s valuation north of a billion dollars. [Wall Street Journal]

The Senate, meanwhile, says Apple dodged, oh, about $44 billion in taxes. [Politico]

By Jessica Roy 5/20 5:32pm

Office Space

(Photo: Tumblr)

Yahoo! Opening New Office in Times Square, Wants to Expand NYC Presence by 60 Percent

Yahoo! is taking over New York, whether you like it or not. After the long-awaited announcement that the old school web giant had purchased Alley darling Tumblr for a cool $1.1 billion, the company held a press event in Times Square to make another big declaration: Yahoo! will be consolidating its local offices into a giant hub in the old New York Times building. It’s no Googleplex, but it’ll do. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/20 4:15pm

I'll Tumbl For You

Probably not the key to a new castle on the moon. (via)

Let’s Not Pop All the Bottles at Once: This Tumblr Deal Isn’t a Total Cinderella Story

In Pride and Prejudice, before achieving her happy ending with Mr. Darcy, Lizzie Bennett receives a marriage proposal from Mr. Collins, a toadying little man who offers a lifetime of a) stability and b) teeth-grinding annoyance. She turns him down, and her friend Charlotte promptly snaps him up. A 27-year-old woman of limited means in 18th century England, she’s realistic about her options and grabs her best bet with both hands.

Let’s not kid ourselves that Yahoo! is anything other than a Mr. Collins. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/20 8:16am

I'll Tumbl For You

tumblr_m4chebQCUX1qggwnvo1_500

It’s Done: Yahoo Just Announced the Acquisition of Tumblr

The official announcement just hit the newswires. Yahoo has acquired Tumblr for $1.1 billion, “substantially all of which is payable in cash.” Because really, who wants to bet on the stability of Yahoo’s stock price?

In the press release, CEO Marissa Mayer tries desperately to explain the acquisition in any way she can besides admitting Yahoo wants to drink the blood of the young: ”Yahoo is the Internet’s original media network. Tumblr is the Internet’s fastest-growing media frenzy. Both companies are homes for brands – established and emerging.” Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 5/20 8:06am

Linkages

She's laughing at you, fandom. LAUGHING AT YOU.

Booting Up: Tumblr Users Are Freaking Out So Hard Right Now, You Guys

“The inevitable next step is for Kim Kardashian to sit on the board of a tech start-up, host a global-poverty-awareness event and write a book on behavioral neuroscience.” [New York Times]

The tax man’s hanging round Apple’s door, and now Tim Cook is due to appear before Congress on the matter. [Telegraph]

For her science fair project, this teenaged girl invented a supercapacitor that could maybe, with further development, charge your electronics lightening fast. Everyone’s now feeling pretty bad about their baking soda volcano, huh? [Jezebel]

Matt Mullenweg says that talk of Yahoo buying Tumblr sent WordPress imports from Tumblr skyrocketing, from 400-600 posts per hour to 72,000 on Sunday. Of course, that could’ve just been one really dedicated porn reblogger. [AllThingsD]

Tumblr users are having a collective meltdown to rival The China Syndrome (only onetime Yahoo users are old enough to get that joke). [Buzzfeed]

By Kelly Faircloth 5/17 9:45am

I'll Tumbl For You

He's staring at a large pile of money, shimmering in the distance like an oasis.

Yahoo’s Futile Search for the Fountain of Youth Continues, With Talk of Acquiring Tumblr

Looks like there might be a suitor waiting in the wings for Tumblr, that scatterbrained belle of the ball. He’s a real gray-hair, though. According to AllThingsD, the blogging site is talking to Yahoo about the possibilities for an alliance, an investment or even a lock-stock-and-barrel purchase. Ad Week says the highly hypothetical price tag could be as much as a billion dollars.

At this point, it might be easier to keep a list of the startups Yahoo hasn’t considered acquiring. Read More