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Following Yahoo's $1.1 billion acquisition of Tumlbr in May, founder David Karp is in the spotlight even more than normal. Last week he spoke to Charlie Rose about Tumblr's origin story and why he thinks it's the platform of choice for "the most creative people in the world." And yes, he wore a hoodie.
Here's Karp on the origins of the platform:
"There was a tool that I wanted to use that didn't exist. And I found myself increasingly frustrated with the direction that the technology was going, which was less and less creative. It was more about these restrictive tools, where you put your photos in this directory, you put your articles over here. And I wanted something where I could be free, where I could do anything."
Fashion blogs represent about 17% of Tumblr's top content, a representative from the platform told us, which makes sense. Fashion thrives on beautiful, inspiring imagery, and Tumblr make sharing those beautiful images extremely easy.
But Karp emphasizes that Tumblr is more than just reblogs and notes and clicking that little heart icon: It's a platform for the most creative people in the world to share their original work.
"Hopefully it's an increasingly large, flexible, creative canvas for some of the most creative people in the world," says Karp. "That's our mission, is to everyday find new ways to stretch that canvas. To give those most aspiring creators, the most talented creators room to make their best work."
Head to Charlie Rose to see the whole thing, and skip to minute 8:45 if you'd like to see the hand gesture Karp uses when he describes Yahoo's "big honking sales force."
· David Karp [Charlie Rose]
· How Hugs Are Helping Tumblr Innovate Fashion Blogging [Racked]