Could Pornhub be about to buy Tumblr?

Sorry mum, we’re writing about Pornhub again. You might remember that a few weeks ago now, the internet’s biggest smut-peddler decided to do its bit for the humble bee, roping in French creative agency BETC Paris to produce a series of awareness-raising videos that (likely, possibly, maybe) got pollen-mad porn-buffs all hot and bothered.

Before that, at the very tail end of last year’s seemingly endless summer, we brought you news that designer Claire Barrow had paired up with American rapper Brooke Candy for a feature length film released exclusively on the streaming service.

Today we’re easing into post-bank holiday reality with the kind of announcement that has us rubbing our eyes in mild disbelief: Pornhub is going to buy Tumblr. Maybe.

The news comes in the wake of the social media platform’s decision to take a stance on NSFW content back in December 2018. Esteemed financial organ The Wall Street Journal reports that Tumblr’s owners Verizon are looking to offload the site, following the loss of around 150 million visits since all those saucy gifs found themselves plunged into the black hole of the internet’s great beyond.

Pornhub first flagged its interest in investing in the platform shortly after the ban on sexually explicit material was passed, but this weekend just gone, things ramped up. While you were slaving away over some slow-roasted pork belly, or traipsing around a stately home with your grandparents, Pornhub vice president Corey Price was talking to Buzzfeed about his interest in purchasing Tumblr.

Discussing the ban on sensitive material, Buzzfeed quotes Price as saying, “We’ve long been dismayed that such measures were taken to eradicate erotic communities on the platform, leaving many individuals without an asylum through which they could comfortably peruse adult content.”

Price goes on to note, “There are obvious synergies between the two brands and value Pornhub could derive from Tumblr. We’re extremely interested in acquiring the platform and are very much looking forward to one day restoring it to its former glory with NSFW content.”

Of course, Tumblr isn’t all hardcore content for over-18s, and many of the creatives we cover on a daily basis at It’s Nice That were once young whippersnappers with broadband, a Tumblr account and a head full of dreams.

Who knows – with Porhub money behind it, we may see another generation of artists, designers and visionaries embracing a social media site that got us through long, lonely nights in our student days.