How to buy a social network, with Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenweg

We want to create a space which is much more creatively charged. We want Tumblr to be like going to a music show or a museum. You’re going to see some stuff that you haven’t seen before, you’re going to discover new stuff, and you’re also going to leave creatively charged. That’s not a mindset which is as conducive to advertising, but I do think th

Again, Tumblr’s biggest benefit right now is that it has no golden handcuffs. As we’re creating an advertising system, we can start a little bit from zero, so everything new is good. I can’t imagine the struggle of having billions of dollars of revenue and trying to shift your advertiser base or your policies.

What we’re trying to do is create a model where half or more than half of Tumblr’s revenue is from subscribers. I think that gives us the ability to not be unduly influenced by advertisers. There’s not as much of an incentive to tune the algorithms in ways that create the engagements, enrangements, and loops that will influence and emotionally char

I think that there’s no free speech absolutists who run social networks, because you start to realize the nuance of that public square and the responsibilities to the users and society, and the fact that it’s a lot messier.

I think sometimes the slowness of government can be an advantage, because hopefully that deliberation helps forge a better outcome. It’s not a good example for that right now, with the polarization and the way the parties fight, but ideally, they reach a middle. Companies don’t do that. If you look at content moderation boards and everything compan

Finally, I felt like we need a space on the internet for creativity, art, and artists. The other social spaces on the internet have gone different directions. Twitter became a lot more about arguing, Instagram became about showing off, and Facebook became about weird people you went to school with saying weird things. Tumblr always had this frisson

I believe open-source is a fundamental human right. As technology takes up more and more of our lives, it’s just as important as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or any other freedom. It’s important to have the freedom to see how our software works and to modify it.