The Labs division has launched the “Communities” feature in open beta on the twice-bought blogging site Tumblr. The feature provides a designated area for users to engage with others on various subjects, apart from Tumblr’s main dashboard. We are releasing the open beta six months after Communities’ closed beta release. The social network’s focus has changed as a result of Automattic, the company that founded WordPress.com, now owning it.
Tumblr’s communities are designated as “semi-private” areas with their own administrators, regulations, and privacy configurations. The functionality bears resemblance to subreddits on Reddit and communities on X (previously Twitter), both of which now serve as platforms for AI training.
Tumblr users test
Users now have the option to submit a community creation request, placing it on a waitlist. According to their labs, there are now more than 5,800 communities in queue. They assure you that they will prioritise efficiently processing the list to provide access to more people.
The inclusion of the test function adds a social networking element to Tumblr, expanding its original blogging and publishing philosophy and enabling it to compete with sites like X and Reddit.
Tumblr initiated the testing of communities in response to user feedback expressing a need for improved means of connecting with those who have similar interests. This new feature eliminates the need for users to seek out blogs that specialize in a certain area in order to obtain information that they are interested in. Instead, they can just join a community.
Tumblr acknowledges that communities have a wide range of applications. Communities may serve as a gathering place for admirers of a certain TV programme, artist, or book series. Communities may also serve as a platform to establish a specialised area for your educational institution, literary circle, social circle, and other similar groups.