When it comes to social networks and blogging services, Tumblr has always been referred to as “that weird part of the Internet”. While this has not always been entirely accurate, it’s abundantly clear that Tumblr is where the Internet gets a good portion of its weirder character from, regardless, the Yahoo-owned property has developed a sizeable following and users on Tumblr are passionate about what they like and what they’re interested in. A sort of micro-blogging service, Tumblr has become known for its abundance of GIFs with a little commentary here and there as well as offering users a way to express themselves and share things anonymously, much like Reddit does. Now however, the firm is looking to launch a Live Video service to combat the likes of Facebook and Twitter, but as is so often the case with Tumblr, they’re not doing it in the way you might have first thought.
The service is set to go live this evening, EST time, on June 21st, 2016. As of writing, the livevideo.tumblr.com URL is alive and well, listing all of the upcoming streams and things people can look forward to. A Tumblr Power Hour, with a hashtag of the same name, is planned for later today and right now the segments have cryptic taglines, such as one of the first streams at 16:10 EST that says “We will make things neatly organized”. Other teasers include the 16:45 EST stream of “A Harlem Globetrotter will teach you how to Basketball”. This appears to be the tip of the Iceberg however, as TechCrunch is hearing that the firm has a lot more in the works where video is concerned. Just what the live video side of things is going to end up being when launched this week is unclear, but there’s a strong chance it will allow Tumblr users to stream their own content and then viewers watch it back at a later date.
Tumblr is a big, big deal on the Internet right now and commands roughly 500 Million views each month, and is one of the stronger assets that struggling Yahoo has control over. Should Tumblr create and launch a compelling, fleshed-out video service with live streaming, both Facebook and Twitter could have a lot to worry about as live video contains to gain its feet.