Tumblr founder David Karp has claimed there are too many “jerks” making derogatory comments on rival sites and his blogging website is taking the “drive-by nastiness” out of social networking.
“It is very hard when you have comments under videos from jerks — it really hurts,” said Karp, referring to other sites. “We’ve taken a lot of work making Tumblr a nice environment.” Tumblr allows users to “like” blog postings but there are fewer opportunities to post rude comments on a fellow user’s page. “When I am saying anything about you, I’m saying it on my page. If I’m being a jerk, I am being a jerk but your page can be pristine,” he told an audience of advertisers at the Cannes Lions festival of creativity.
The 26-year old sold his site to Yahoo for $1.1 billion (£710 million) last month. Though it carries little advertising at present, Karp said his site struck a chord with users because it wasn’t trying to operate a popularity contest.
