Microblogging has become one of the most popular forms of online expression, as we try to compress our thoughts into 140 characters. Even the ex-president of the US used this method to communicate with his followers. So are many of TechJury‘s readers.
Most of us think of Twitter when microblogging is mentioned, but there is one other platform that is based on the same principle, and yet manages to stay completely different.
Tumblr is a social network that took the concept of microblogging and turned it on its head. The community of bloggers, including some A-list celebrities, spends its days writing and reading, as well as watching videos and GIFs, about numerous topics, ranging from driven discussions about model trains to pornography.
Below you’ll find an extensive list of Tumblr stats to help you grasp what the essence of this website is. Here is something to get you in the mood.
Eye-Opening Tumblr Statistics
- Tumblr has 472M blog accounts by July 2019
- The majority of Tumblr visitors are from the US
- Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo for $1.1B in 2013
- The “We are the 99%” Tumblr blog became the slogan for the Occupy Wall Street movement
- 69% of Tumblr users are millennials.
- The average visit duration of Tumblr.com is 10 mins and 25 secs
- Tumblr is available in 18 languages
Tumblr Stats and Facts
You may not know this, but a 90’s internet fad inspired the creation of Tumblr.
1. Tumblr was created by web developers David Karp and Marco Arment.
(Source: businessideaslab.com)
The idea for Tumblr originated from tumblelog, a phenomenon that hit the Internet during the 90’s. It was based on short posts consisting of text and the mixture of audio, video, images, links, quotes, and whatever else users could think of.
David Karp and Marco Arment took this concept and created the first-ever website based around it, launching it on 1st November 2007.
2. There were a total of 171.5 billion posts on Tumblr in 2019.
(Source: Statista, Finances Online)
The most recent statistics show there were a total of 171.5 billion posts on Tumblr in 2019.
No data has been published about what this value is in 2022. But considering that Tumblr blog stats show that the site publishes 12.8 million blog posts daily, we can only imagine how much this total value has gone up since then.
3. In February 2021, Tumblr had 518.6 million blog accounts.
(Source: Finances Online)
Tumblr statistics show an increase in blog accounts of nearly 30 million in just over a year. In October 2019, there were 480.1 million registered blogs, while in February 2021, that number climbed up to reach 518.6 million.
4. Tumblr Inc. has $15.1M in annual revenue.
(Source: Crunchbase)
Tumblr earns just over 15 million dollars per year, mostly from ads that run on the platform. The revenue seems to be dropping every year, with the company losing a few percents in popularity year after year. Yahoo’s investment of over 1 billion dollars will take a lot of time to repay itself if this trend continues.
5. 1,644 Tumblr posts in 1 second.
(Source: Internet Live Stats)
During a single second, 1,644 Tumblr posts are created. The same time frame is enough for 8,817 Tweets, 4,368 Skype calls, and 966 Instagram photos to be uploaded and shared.
6. Tumblr.com is the 103rd most visited website in the world.
(Source: SimilarWeb)
The number of global visits from June 2021 ranks Tumblr as the 103rd most visited website in the world. Amazing, right?
7. Tumblr.com rank in the US is 25.
(Source: SimilarWeb)
When it comes to the ranking by visits from US-based users, Tumblr is the 25th most popular website. Google, YouTube, Facebook, and, weirdly enough, Yahoo are taking the top spots in this category.
8. Users from the US are the majority of Tumblr visitors.
(Source: SimilarWeb)
The majority of visits that Tumblr receives originate from the US. That’s what a Tumblr traffic tracker will tell you. With 33.2% of US visits, this country is far ahead of others in this aspect. After the US, most traffic Tumblr receives comes from the UK (5.7%), Brazil (4.3%), Canada (4%), and Germany (3.8%).
9. In 2020, 27% of US Tumblr users had an annual household income of over $100,000.
(Source: Finances Online)
According to the latest Tumblr visitor statistics, 27% of US Tumblr users come from a high-income. For households to be sorted into this category, they need to earn over 100,000 dollars per year. By making this much money, they are among the top 20% globally for income.
10. Total funding amounts to $125.3M.
(Source: Crunchbase)
Tumblr had 5 funding rounds since its inception and gathered 125.3 million dollars in funding. The final funding round, or Series E, occurred on the 26th of September, 2011 and raised the bulk of this amount; over 85 million dollars. This series of funding had 10 total investors.
The Previous series were far less successful, with Series D bringing in 30 million dollars, Series C 5 million, Series B 4.5 million, and Series A raking up just 750 thousand dollars.
11. Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo for $1.1B in 2013.
(Source: Business Insider)
The microblogging platform was acquired by Yahoo in 2013, and the company decided to spend more than 1 billion dollars to buy the majority of Tumblr.
12. Tumblr Inc. is funded by 13 investors.
(Source: Crunchbase)
Only 4 investors were involved in the initial funding round of Tumblr. Those 4 were Sequoia Capital, Insight Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Union Square Ventures. The 4 lead investors are still the major part of Tumblr, and they are now joined by 9 other major companies that decided to join the venture.
13. Tumblr Inc. is using 66 technologies for its website.
(Source: Crunchbase)
Tumblr facts can also include some technical data. Tumblr involves more than 66 technologies to run efficiently. Products and services such as Google Analytics, G Suite, and WordPress are all a part of the website’s day-to-day operations.
14. Premium Tumblr themes are available from anywhere between $9 to $49.
(Source: CMSWire)
Tumblr offers a wide variety of free themes for its users, but those who want to spice up their page can pay between 9 and 49 dollars for premium themes. This feature is especially useful for business pages, as premium themes offer a greater degree of customization and administrative abilities. There’s also a Tumblr follower counter widget in there if you need it.
15. Tumblr was the first site to host the blog for President Barack Obama in 2011.
(Source: SlideShare)
In 2011, Tumblr became the first blogging site to host former President’s Obama blog. The president doesn’t appear to be active on the platform currently, as his last post on Tumblr was published 5 years ago. For his microblogging needs, he rather goes to Twitter, as the majority of politicians do nowadays.
16. The “We are the 99%” Tumblr blog became the slogan for the Occupy Wall Street movement.
(Source: Rortybomb)
Tumblr trends aren’t always about memes, sometimes they cause a call to action and rebellion on a smaller scale:
Not many people are aware that the 99% movement was started on Tumblr. What was just a simple blog was taken as an ideology to rebel and stand up against the corporate greed and general harm that the actions of the top 1% of the wealthiest are causing.
17. Tumblr was named as a finalist in Lead411’s New York City Hot 125 in Aug 2010.
(Source: Prezi)
Lead411 decided to recognize the hottest 125 tech companies from New York, back in 2010. Tumblr was just starting then, and it made it to the list, having satisfied every criterion given.
The criteria for making the hottest 125 lists were less than 100 million dollars in yearly revenue, located in New York City, 100% increase in revenue over the last 3 years, more than 5 million dollars received in funding in the last 2 years, and over 1 million unique monthly visits to the website of the company that wants to make the list.
18. The Tumblr office adopted Tommy, an 11-year-old Pomeranian.
(Source: The Daily Dot)
One of Tumblr’s engineers, Mackenzie Kosut, came upon a blind, old Pomeranian that was scheduled for euthanization. Having a companion of the same breed himself, he shared the post with his audience of more than 100,000 people.
His Tumblr followers agreed that the dog should be adopted, so Kosut took him in and started bringing him to work, unintentionally creating one of Tumblr’s most recognizable personalities, Tommy Pom.
19. Celebrities use Tumblr as well.
(Source: Popsugar)
Tumblr demographics also include multiple celebrities.
Numerous celebrities use Tumblr in order to keep in touch with their fan base, and there are some who use pseudonyms and use the platform just for fun.
Britney Spears’ Tumblr page is filled with her photos, GIFs, and there are a few videos thrown in for good measure.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aziz Ansari, Colton Haynes, and Taylor Swift also post regularly.
20. 70% of Tumblr users say the Dashboard is their favorite place to spend time online.
(Source: AppSally)
Considering how many people use Tumblr, that’s a big number. Tumblr users agree, by the majority of 70%, that the Dashboard is their favorite online hangout spot. This number is good enough to make Tumblr the top-ranked social network when it comes to brand sentiment.
21. Tumblr was attacked by a cross-site scripting worm deployed by the Internet troll group GNAA on Dec 3, 2012.
(Source: Know Your Meme)
December 3 of 2012 was a bad day for Tumblr. One of the most notorious online trolling groups, GNAA, launched an attack on the network using a cross-site scripting wоrm. According to Tumblr statistics released after the incident, 6,000 accounts were affected by the breach.
The name GNAA should not even be used as an acronym, as two parts of it are homophobic and racial slurs.
22. Hackers stole 65M passwords from Tumblr in 2013.
(Source: Wired)
The data for more than 65 million user accounts was stolen back in 2013 and offered for sale on the dark web. What is staggering about this hacker attack is the fact that the database, including email addresses and Tumblr passwords, was sold for just 150 dollars.
What made the sale harder and not worth hundreds of thousands of dollars was the fact that the info was encrypted and turned into digits instead of text.
23. BuzzFeed published a report claiming that Tumblr was utilized as a distribution channel for Russian agents to influence American voting habits during the 2016 presidential election in Feb 2018.
(Source: TC)
Tumblr was one of the first social media platforms accused of being used as a means for Russian agents to influence the US elections of 2016. Afterward, the accusations spread to Facebook, Twitter, and many other networks. The investigation is still undergoing, but it is a general belief that the Russians did meddle in the elections.
Tumblr Usage in the US
How is Tumblr doing in the biggest economy on Earth? Well, let’s have a look.
24. Tumblr has 16.74 million mobile monthly users in the US.
(Source: Statista, Finances Online, Pew Research)
The latest data shows that 16.74 million users in the US use the mobile app actively, accessing it multiple times during the month.
Unfortunately, this number doesn’t place Tumblr on the top 10 list of most popular mobile social networking apps in the US. YouTube and Facebook are the top 2.
25. Women make up for the other 50% of Tumblr’s audience.
(Source: Finances Online)
Tumblr gender statistics show that the website’s audience consists of 50% females, making an even split between genders.
This is a testament to the platform’s richness of content that appeals to both men and women.
26. Forty percent of Tumblr users are between the ages of 18 to 25.
(Finances Online)
That’s right! Tumblr is popular amongst the Gen Z audience. More than that, Tumblr user statistics also show that Millenials make up 30% of the blogging website’s audience.
27. 25% of US internet users with an annual income of $80-100K use Tumblr.
(Source: Statista)
Tumblr seems to be popular among upper-middle-class US citizens, as 25% of those who belong to this income class and use the internet and earn $80,000-100,000 per year use the social network.
28. In Q3 of 2020, 31% of US users access the Tumblr app daily.
(Source: Statista)
Tumblr statistics indicated that 31% of Tumblr users in the US use the app daily during the third quarter of 2020.
88% of respondents reported using the platform at least once per month.
29. Tumblr’s reach among the 26-to-35-year-olds in the US is 11%.
(Source: Statista)
This is based on a 2020 survey. The same study found that 10% of 15-to-25-year-old internet users in the US access Tumblr.
However, that value is only 5% for 46-to-55-year-olds.
30. In 2020, Tumblr had 29.4 million users in the US.
(Source: Statista, Finances Online)
Compared to only five years prior, where Tumblr has 21 million US users, it’s fair to say that the platform has made some considerable improvements in its numbers.
31. US Tumblr user growth rate is estimated to slow down to 4.1%.
(Source: Statista)
Tumblr user statistics show that the domestic user growth has taken a significant fall in the last few years, going from 32.8% in 2014 down to an estimated 4.1% in 2020.
The popularity of this website has been on a decline ever since 2015 when it took a dip in growth by more than double from the year before, with a growth rate of 15.4%.
32. Mobile US users spent an average of 115.8 minutes on Tumblr app monthly.
(Source: Statista)
Tumblr users spent 115.8 minutes on the platform during September of 2019. Yet another number is dropping for this social network, as data from April 2018 shows that the users spent 166.84 minutes per month using the Tumblr app.
For comparison, an average Facebook app user spent 819.6 minutes using the app in the same time period, while Instagram mobile users spent 214 minutes using its app.
33. Mobile Tumblr US users spend an average of 4.04 minutes per session on the app.
(Source: Statista)
An average session for an average Tumblr user from the US lasted 4.04 minutes in September of 2019. Once again, we can notice a decline in minutes spent on the app, as in May 2018, this number was 5.2 when Tumblr exceeded Facebook’s averages.
Facebook is now slightly ahead of Tumblr regarding mobile visit length, with an average of 4.82 minutes spent in the app per visit.
34. 12.7% of mobile users access Tumblr.
(Source: Statista)
The reach that Tumblr has among mobile users in the US is 12.7%. Even though this number seems high, it is nothing compared to its rivals, some of which have more than 50% reach in the same category. Facebook is, once again, at the top of the list, with a reach of 90.6% among the US mobile users.
35. 28.6 is the average number of monthly visits per US mobile user.
(Source: Statista)
An average mobile user from the US accesses the app 28.63 times per month, or just under once a day, Tumblr stats from September show. To keep the comparison with Facebook, one of the top players in the social media game, the average amount of visits this app received per user in the same period was 159.6.
36. Tumblr is used by 21% of adults online aged 18-29 years.
(Source: Statista)
Over a fifth, or 21% to be exact, of all adults from the US aged 18 to 29 are on Tumblr. Any social network could consider itself successful with this high of a reach among the younger population, but then there are the superstars that have those numbers more than tripled.
Youtube’s reach among the population is 71%, Instagram has 58% of young US adults using it, while the percentage of people between the ages of 18 and 29 from this region who use Facebook is 86.
37. Tumblr has a 66 index score for customer satisfaction in the US.
(Source: Finances Online)
The same survey carried out by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) in 2020 also found that Facebook, with over 2.8 billion monthly active users, scored a 64 on the ACSI scale, placing it below Tumblr.
Tumblr Usage Across the World
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the biggest Tumblr user of them all?
38. 69% of Tumblr users are millennials.
(Source: comScore)
Tumblr visitor stats tell us that nearly 70% of Tumblr users are aged between 18 and 35, meaning they can be sorted into the millennial age category.
39. The total number of visits Tumblr.com received during January 2021 is 327 million.
(Source: Statista)
Recent Tumblr visitor stats show that the platform received 327 million combined desktop and mobile visits in January 2021.
This indicates a fall from December 2020, where the value was recorded at 329 million visits.
40. Average visit duration of Tumblr.com is 10 mins and 25 secs.
(Source: SimilarWeb)
The average time nearly 568 million users spent on Tumblr during September is 10 minutes and 25 seconds. Tumblr blog statistics also show that an average user scrolled through 9.39 pages during their visit, with 41% of them leaving the website after viewing just one page.
41. Tumblr has a low social media market share in South America.
(Source: Finances Online)
Only 1.16%, to be exact, based on 2022 Tumblr stats.
It should come as no surprise that Facebook currently holds the largest market share with 77.1%, followed by Pinterest 9.05%.
42. In 2020, 44% of users from Denmark used Tumblr daily.
(Source: Statista)
A study carried out in 2020 showed that 44% of Tumblr users in Denmark visit the platform daily.
More impressive is that 65% of Denmark users visit the site weekly and 85% visit monthly.
43. Tumblr has been banned in Indonesia for providing people with access to pornographic content.
(Source: Independent)
On February 28 of 2018, the Indonesian government made a decision to ban Tumblr in this country due to pornographic content available on the website. The ban was not strictly the government’s decision, as they had received numerous complaints from citizens about hundreds of Tumblr accounts that provided this type of content.
44. China blocked Tumblr because of pornography and censorship problems in 2013.
(Source: Tech in Asia)
5 years before Indonesia, China decided to block access to Tumblr for the entire country for the same reason – widespread pornography. In addition to the availability of pornography on Tumblr, China found its citizens’ ability to exercise their right to free speech and critique the government in their Tumblr blogs a major issue.
45. Kazakhstan’s Minister of Communications and Informatics has blocked the Tumblr site because it contained 60 sites of terrorism, extremism, and pornography in 2015.
(Source: bne IntelliNews)
In 2015, Kazakhstan also decided to block access to Tumblr due to its content. What they found repulsing and an issue for the government stability is boards dedicated to terrorism and extremism, as well as those who show pornography.
46. Tumblr is available in 18 languages.
(Source: Tumblr)
Tumblr blog stats showed that, as soon as the platform got big, its global audience needed to be taken into consideration. Users are now able to access Tumblr in 18 different languages, even though most of them (42%) are using the English version of the website.
47. Tumblr has been providing a Korean-language service since 2013.
(Source: Branding in Asia)
South Korea is one of the major markets that Tumblr is present in, and it used to be the one causing the most issues for the company. The issues will be mentioned below, but Tumblr has been available in Korean language since 2013.
48. The KCSC sent more than 20K requests to delete posts related to prostitution and porn to Tumblr from January to June 2017.
(Source: Branding in Asia)
In 2017, Tumblr received over 20,000 requests to remove pornographic content from the Korean Communications Standards Commission (KCSC). Tumblr refused to accommodate the request, as it has no physical presence on Korean soil, so the commission had no jurisdiction over the website’s content.
In addition to filing an insane number of requests to Tumblr, KCSC also submitted 1,771 requests for content removal to Twitter, 12 requests to Instagram, and just 5 to Facebook.
49. Post activity is at the highest at 4:00 pm EDT; notes peak at 10:00 pm EDT.
(Source: Unionmetrics)
Tumblr users seem to be the most active between the hours of 4 and 10 pm Eastern Daylight Time, according to Tumblr post stats. Post activity is at its highest around 4 pm, while notes peak at 10 pm EDT. 42% of all activity on Tumblr occurs between the hours of 5 pm and 1 am, with Saturdays and Sundays being the most active days.
50. The most popular pages on Tumblr are about Minecraft, GIFs, and David J. Peterson.
(Source: Business Insider)
When it comes to what Tumblr users recommend the newcomers to follow, the answers are an eclectic mixture of games, humor, and movies. That’s what Tumblr page statistics tell us.
51. There are dozens of funny blogs to kill time on Tumblr.
(Source: Social Media Sun)
Apart from Fake Science, Tumblr hosts numerous other blogs that can entertain you during the day. Some of the most popular ones, according to Tumblr tag statistics, are:
Tastefully offensive, which focuses on bringing the users safe for work entertainment, with no nudity, swear word, or racist and sexist jokes. This blog offers a vast number of funny videos, images, comics, and much more.Pleated Jeans is a Tumblr blog filled with funny posts, all created by Jeff Wysaski who creates the content and maintains the blog as his full-time job.
Know your meme is a Tumblr blog, and now a famous website, that documents and explains memes.
52. Tumblr posted its first advertisements in May 2012 and subsequently earned $13M in revenue.
(Source: Mashable)
Tumblr managed to refuse to incorporate advertisements into its business model for 5 years, somehow staying afloat through the period. Then, in May of 2012, the company’s policy changed, and, like most other companies in the social media industry, it was decided that ads should become a part of the website.
The move paid out, and Tumblr made 13 million dollars in revenue that year. Adding the advertisement feature is also considered to be one of the main reasons behind Yahoo’s interest in Tumblr.
53. Tumblr has 4 main sources of revenue.
(Source: Investopedia)
Tumblr makes its revenue through 4 main sources:
Sponsored Posts are one of the newest Tumblr’s sources of income. They are not different in appearance from other posts, except they allow advertisers to target a specific age, income, or gender group.Sponsored Apps are designed for the mobile game and app advertisement on Tumblr and those who click on these ads are redirected to the Apple Store or Google Play.
Tumblr also has a marketplace where designers can sell, and users can buy different, unique themes. Tumblr, of course, takes a piece of every sale that occurs in the marketplace.
According to Tumblr ROI statistics, Stream advertising is the way to go for businesses, and it benefits both the advertisers and Tumblr. Stream Advertising is the main source of income for Tumblr, and it works just as on any other social network. Users are shown product or service ads, and every interaction with the ad is charged to the advertiser. However, Tumblr’s user base provides the website with far less info than Facebook or other social networks do, so the ads can’t be targeted as efficiently. This also reduced the price per click for advertisers.
54. The Tumblr app for Google Glass was released on May 16, 2013.
(Source: The Verge)
Back in the day, when everyone thought that Google Glass and virtual/augmented reality is the best thing since sliced bread, Tumblr released its own app for this medium. Unfortunately, the Google Glass project was a major flop, so Tumblr’s investment and effort involved with the app development were in vain.
55. If you dial 1-866-584-6757, you can leave an audio post for your followers.
(Source: TechCrunch)
Tumblr users who wish to post on the platform, but for some reason can’t get to a computer or a smartphone, can do so by dialing 1-866-584-6757. Bloggers with a verified number associated with their profile can leave a voice message that will then be posted to their Tumblr profile.
56. Tumblr has 411 employees.
(Source: Wikipedia)
David Karp took the two weeks he had off work and created Tumblr. The website has come a long way since, and the company now employs 411 people in its New York headquarters.
Facebook is slightly ahead in employee numbers, with 25,105 people working for them worldwide.
57. The average Tumblr user visits about 67 pages every month.
(Source: Web Marketing Pros)
Tumblr usage statistics show that the average Tumblr user visits 67 pages per month. This info leads us to believe that Tumblr users are fairly active in discovering new pages, which is one of the main reasons why more and more advertisers choose to join the platform.
58. After the announcement of the deal with Yahoo!, there were 170K signatures of unhappy Tumblr users petitioning to prevent the sale in 2013.
(Source: Wikipedia)
It’s fair to say that Tumblr users weren’t happy when the news of Yahoo’s acquisition of Tumblr went public. Over 170,000 of them signed a petition to prevent the sale, but to no avail, as both companies were determined to go through with the sale.
59. When “GIF” was named word of the year in 2012, Oxford Dictionaries U.S.A. credited Tumblr for pushing the word.
(Source: Forbes)
Tumblr is one of the first platforms that incorporated GIFs in its posts. Users went crazy about them, creating and posting millions in a short time frame. Once the Oxford Dictionary officially recognized the word, Tumblr was credited as the entity most responsible for its rise in popularity and use.
60. 130K people were victims of a chain letter scam that affected Tumblr in May 2011.
(Source: The A Register)
Tumblr stats released shortly after the incident occurred stated that over 130,000 responded to a chain letter that tried to scam Tumblr users in May 2011. The users received a message claiming that their profiles will be deleted unless they reblog the message, all in order to show that their profile is still active.
61. Tumblr’s website traffic is steadily declining.
(Source: Finances Online)
In December 2019, Tumblr traffic stats showed us that the website had 361 million visits. However, as of January 2021, it was 327 million. This accounts for a 5.9% decrease in a single year.
Sources
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By Raj Vardhman
Raj Vardhman is a tech expert and the Chief Tech Strategist at TechJury.net, where he leads the research-driven analysis and testing of various technology products and services. Raj has extensive tech industry experience and contributed to various software, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence publications. With his insights and expertise in emerging technologies, Raj aims to help businesses and individuals make informed decisions regarding utilizing technology. When he's not working, he enjoys reading about the latest tech advancements and spending time with his family.