Tumblr's 'fediverse' integration is still being worked on, says owner and Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Despite delays, the plan to connect Tumblr’s blogging site to the wider world of decentralized social media, also known as the “fediverse,” is still on, it seems.

Over a year ago, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg — whose company acquired Tumblr from Verizon in 2019 — posted on Twitter that the site would “soon” add support for ActivityPub, the protocol powering Twitter/X rival Mastodon and other decentralized social apps.

But it also led many fediverse advocates to wonder if Tumblr’s plans to join the world of decentralized social media had also been scrapped.

Reading between the lines, it seems the company isn’t ready to place a full bet on ActivityPub — though Mullenweg generally supports a more open internet.

Though Mastodon today only has around 1.5 million monthly active users, ActivityPub is seeing more momentum as of late — especially now that Instagram Threads, another Twitter/X competitor, is pledging integration with the fediverse.

In another AMA response, Mullunweg also noted that a larger effort to migrate Tumblr’s half a billion blogs to WordPress on the backend is something he’s also contemplating in the new year.

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14 comments

Matt Millenweg seems to be a genuinely great guy, and usually seems to be a supporter of the open web. Let's hope he comes through
I didn't even realize that was a thing. Cool, though.
deleted
- forget about wut, Tumblr joining fedi?
  
  Bluesky joining the fediverse. It's built on the fediverse but doesn't seem to have any plans to open up to it
- Having tried it, I’m hoping I can forget Bluesky.
- Was bluesky ever intended to have activitypub support?
  
  deleted
Huh, I remember reading that it was canceled. Good news I guess
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Despite delays, the plan to connect Tumblr’s blogging site to the wider world of decentralized social media, also known as the “fediverse,” is still on, it seems.
Over a year ago, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg — whose company acquired Tumblr from Verizon in 2019 — posted on Twitter that the site would “soon” add support for ActivityPub, the protocol powering Twitter/X rival Mastodon and other decentralized social apps.
But it also led many fediverse advocates to wonder if Tumblr’s plans to join the world of decentralized social media had also been scrapped.
Reading between the lines, it seems the company isn’t ready to place a full bet on ActivityPub — though Mullenweg generally supports a more open internet.
Though Mastodon today only has around 1.5 million monthly active users, ActivityPub is seeing more momentum as of late — especially now that Instagram Threads, another Twitter/X competitor, is pledging integration with the fediverse.
In another AMA response, Mullunweg also noted that a larger effort to migrate Tumblr’s half a billion blogs to WordPress on the backend is something he’s also contemplating in the new year.
The original article contains 667 words, the summary contains 184 words. Saved 72%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!