By: Mikhael Boedhi-Tjahjono
In may 20th, 2013 Yahoo bought tumblr to serve different purposes. Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer promised tumblr users not to mess anything. Tumblr will remain the same with no alterations (as promised) and, yet better, the CEO will still remain the same, in which, David Karp. 
Tumblr users are really concerned about ads spamming that may bring tons of profits for Yahoo, but David Karp has kept his words until now for an ad-free website blogging. Even though Yahoo has bought Tumblr for $1.1 million dollars, they are still two different companies and will independently operate. Quoted Marissa Meyer said “there will be no Yahoo branding on Tumblr”. On David Karp side, tumblr will only receive better resources that resulted in a better and faster Tumblr; while on Yahoo, only to reach younger generation of users that will bring more traffic to Yahoo.
Tumblr has about 300 million users that are registered, 120,000 new members every day, and 900 posts a second. Without a doubt, this is the reason why Marissa Meyer decided to buy Tumblr to reach its audiences to draw more audiences for Yahoo by 50 percent more and growing Yahoo traffic by 20%. Quoted Marissa Meyer “Tumblr in terms of users and traffic is an immediate growth story for us,” “On many levels, tumblr and Yahoo! Couldn’t be more different, but at the same time, they couldn’t be more complimentary.”
This is a public relation example because Yahoo bought Tumblr to actually advertise Yahoo! even though without a direct relation to media such as magazine. The two combinations will definitely bring a great structure for Yahoo! as it brought in roughly one billion users that draw more advertisers to advertise in both site and to keep Yahoo! users in a longer period of time.
Agenda setting theory said that public opinions on certain things could be shaped by media coverage. Fortunately, this is true that the new Yahoo CEO Marissa Meyer bought Tumblr to let the audiences know that Yahoo is taking the next level and playing its game seriously to compete Ebay with Paypal and Google with Youtube. Yahoo, however, overpaying for a company that does not provide a transparency that may not compliment Yahoo profit significantly. Instead of getting positive insides from the audiences, most of them are giving Yahoo negative insides.
Many Tumblr users are being dilemma if either Yahoo! bought Tumblr was a smart choice or a bad choice. The media’s, however, changes the way we think and it is in the favor of Yahoo! that most of them reporting the good relationship between Tumblr and Yahoo! even though most Tumblr users think is a bad idea. With a proven number of increasing in the stock price, Marissa Meyer believed that the decision was, after all, a good move and proving to the media that Yahoo! is playing serious and ready to compete with its competitors (google, facebook, instagram, and etc.)
Would Yahoo Buying Tumblr for $1B Make It Cool?
Source Cited
- “The Truth About Tumblr: Its Numbers Are Significantly Worse Than You Think.” The Truth About Tumblr: Its Numbers Are Significantly Worse Than You Think. Business Insider, 21 May 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
- Deal, The. “Yahoo Buys Tumblr in $1.1 Billion Deal.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 20 May 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.
- Oreskovic, Alexei, and Jennifer Saba. “Yahoo Buying Tumblr for $1.1 Billion, Vows Not to Screw It up.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 20 May 2013. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.