Tumblr, a once-popular social network that has since died due to its ban on adult content, announced today that it is shutting down its business and that the platform will cancel the PostPlus feature, which allows creators to charge users a subscription fee to access their content.Starting December 1st, creators will no longer be able to enable PostPlus on their blogs. The discontinuation of PostPlus comes weeks after a leaked memo revealed the platform's plans to scale back as it struggled to meet usage and revenue targets.
At the time, Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Tumblr parent company Automattic, said the company planned to focus on Tumblr's "core functionality" going forward.
Tumblr downsizes after failed 'turnaround' attempt
PostPlus, launching in 2021, appears to be the first feature Automattic has cut. In a post on Tumblr, staff at the platform said they "originally launched Post+ to inspire and support a vast community of incredible creators." However, the company said the feature "didn't work as we hoped" and decided to discontinue it after considering feedback and usage.
Tumblr said existing PostPlus content will remain available until the end of the year, but will be marked as private starting in January 2024. Creators are currently unable to create new PostPlus content, and users no longer need to pay.
The question now is: what’s next? Tumblr says tipping will remain the same, but Mullenweg said Blaze, the site's sponsored posts feature, "can't support even a fraction of the ~1,000 servers Tumblr needs to run."