When Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) chief Marissa Mayer announced a $1.1 billion deal to acquire microblog host Tumblr, she promised not to "screw it up." So far, so good. Geeks are taking to the platform in surprising numbers.
Fool analysts Tim Beyers and Nathan Alderman look at how creative geeks are publishing bankable work to big-name platforms such as Tumblr in the latest episode of Geekstock, The Motley Fool's new Web show, in which we talk about the big-money names behind your favorite movies, toys, video games, comics, and more.
Nathan isn't sure of the long-term financial benefit of the deal but says there's no doubting Tumblr's influence as an outlet for geek culture. Take the Walt Disney hit Frozen, which inspired tumblelogs featuring animated GIFs based on the very first trailer of the film.
Tim says Tumblr, too, has rabid fans numbering in the millions while noting that Google (GOOGL 0.55%) has proved at least as effective at catering to geeks via niche YouTube channels such as Nerdist and Geek & Sundry.
All told, Tumblr hosts 157.3 million blogs and more than 69.8 billion posts. For users, the company pitches its service as a way to "follow the world's creators." In exchange, Yahoo! gets to geometrically increase the volume of monetizable content it delivers to mobile devices.
Now it's your turn to weigh in the comments box below. What are your favorite geeky tumblelogs? Are you using Tumblr more or less since the Yahoo! deal?
Please watch the video as host Ellen Bowman shows off some sweet holiday schwag from ThinkGeek while putting Tim and Nathan on the spot, and be sure to check back here often for more Geekstock segments.
