Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg announced that the company’s previously planned migration of Tumblr’s platform to WordPress has been placed indefinitely on hold. Addressing the decision publicly, Mullenweg described the migration project as predominantly infrastructure-oriented, likening it to a significant re-architecture effort. Although he personally supports the migration, emphasizing the technical cleanliness it would bring, he said Automattic intends to prioritize more immediate and user-facing enhancements sought by the Tumblr community instead.
This shift in plans casts uncertainty on how Tumblr will interface with the broader fediverse, the decentralized web initiative built around open social protocols. Had the migration proceeded, Tumblr would have become inherently federated by adopting WordPress’ underlying technology. While Mullenweg acknowledged this integration potential had once been motivation for the migration, he clarified that it is not currently a company priority. Instead, he suggested any major fediverse integration, if prioritized in the future, would likely happen within Tumblr’s existing code base.
Additionally, Mullenweg reaffirmed that Tumblr remains unprofitable, necessitating support from Automattic’s other more profitable ventures. Nevertheless, he expressed confidence in Tumblr’s long-term prospects and emphasized Automattic’s commitment to providing the platform with sufficient resources and time to achieve financial stability and growth.
