The news is behind the times.

Look at the bottom graph of the top picture. Relative to Twitter, there’s been virtually no news pickup of Tumblr. It’s a flat blue line. On the other hand, search volume shows that Tumblr’s been a “thing,” relative to Twitter, for almost two years. The news is two years behind.

The second picture is Tumblr v. Instagram. Outside of the sale, Tumblr’s been crushing Instagram on search volume – steeper slope and everything. And yet, until the sale, both “news” graphs were relatively flat. Instagram spiked – but only after the sale.

The third one show something different: Tumblr v. Pinterest. Similar slopes, with Pinterest perhaps a bit steeper but with less staying power, it seems. The news noticed it… which underscores how invisible Tumblr is to them. But why’d they notice Pinterest? I have a few theories, none of which are flattering to the news industry.

Fascinating. And amazing.