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The little known history of the sites that inspired Tumblr

The little known history of the sites that inspired Tumblr

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tumblr logo stock 2040
tumblr logo stock 2040

Tumblr is the quintessential example of a tumblelog, the stripped-down style of blogging for which it is named. But as the Daily Dot explains, it wasn't the first to offer a short form blogging service. Tumblr — which Yahoo purchased last week for $1.1 billion in cash — is at least the third tumblelog to hit the Web, following two lesser known sites: Anarchaia and Projectionist. Those two predecessors served as inspiration for David Karp, who founded Tumblr about six years ago. "The people who plant the seed are often forgotten through history," Marcel Molina, the engineer who built Projectionist, tells The Daily Dot.