Tumblr introduces group spaces with Communities

Tumblr is taking a page from Reddit and Facebook with its new “Communities” feature, which are digital spaces like subreddits and Facebook groups.

“Communities are a new and easy way to connect with the people on Tumblr who get it,” Tumblr said in a post announcing the feature. “You can invite mutuals who share your obsessions to a private Community or start a public Community for the things you love and watch all the new friends pile in. Like a clown car, Communities can fit (almost) as many people in ‘em as you want.”

Communities — which allows users to create a space for anything from a D&D campaign to cat photos — has been available to some users in beta but officially launched across the platform on web, iOS, and Android on Thursday, Dec. 12.

You can get started by browsing though Communities that already exist, like aesthetic, writing, and TV shows, or you can create your own Community.

It’s not a huge surprise that Tumblr would copy its more successful social media sisters. The platform has been struggling to maintain relevancy after it banned porn in 2018, and it’s kind of the Thing Platforms Do — copy whatever else is successful and see if you can’t make it slightly better. Look at Instagram Reels copying TikTok, or Facebook Stories copying Snapchat. So…TikTok Communities when?