Verizon could soon find a buyer for its troubled social network Tumblr. A few hours ago PornHub’s vice president Corey Price wrote an email to BuzzFeed stating that he is interested in buying the social network, and restore it to its former glory.
The last few months were quite rough for Tumblr. Verizon’s platform lost many users and visitors, mostly because of the ban on adult content. The telecommunications giant – as the Wall Street Journal reported – is looking for a potential buyer, and it might have found just the perfect one in the red light giant PornHub.
Tumblr’s has turbulent ownership history. Purchased in 2013 by Yahoo for $1.1 billion, by 2016 its value dropped down by $230 million. It then became part of Oath – the former name for Verizon, after the multinational acquired Yahoo in 2017.
In December, Tumblr started to ban pornographic content using imprecise image-detecting algorithms and very tight criteria. This led to a mass user exodus: until then the social network had been regarded as one of the best places to share independently created pornographic content.
“Tumblr was a safe haven for those who wanted to explore and express their sexuality, adult entertainment aficionados included,” Price wrote to BuzzFeed. “We’ve long been dismayed that such measures were taken to eradicate erotic communities on the platform, leaving many individuals without an asylum through which they could comfortably peruse adult content.”
Tumblr was stripped out of its most vibrant side, leaving behind many users that were using the platform to express their sexuality without censorship and prejudice. This is why PornHub is interested in buying the app.
As Price said, “there are obvious synergies between the two brands and value PornHub could derive from Tumblr. We’re extremely interested in acquiring the platform and are very much looking forward to one day restoring it to its former glory with NSFW content”.
