The Best Reactions to Yahoo Buying Tumblr

May 20, 2013— -- As you might have heard/read in all caps, Yahoo (which The New York Times describes as a "faded Web pioneer") has bought Tumblr for $1.1 billion. And Tumblr users are freaking out. And/or being generally hilarious. And/or being wildly inappropriate.

In a blog post titled "Tumblr. + Yahoo! = !!," Yahoo's chief executive, Marissa Mayer, writes that "We promise not to screw it up," adding that Yahoo stands to help Tumblr function better and more smoothly, particularly where personalization and search capabilities are concerned. For his part, Tumblr founder David Karp appears equally excited by the acquisition, assuring users that "We're not turning purple," and ending his note with a hearty "[Expletive] yeah." (Also, fun fact, Karp tweeted about a possible acquisition by Yahoo back in February of 2009. Cute!)

But many Tumblr users don't seem so sure.

While some remain hesitant-yet-open-minded....

...Others have aptly pointed out that Tumblr has a lot of, well. Adult-oriented material. What's going to happen to that once Yahoo takes over?

...Other users felt unsure about what Yahoo's involvement will mean in terms of advertisements and Tumblr's "relative obscurity."

...And then there's the worry that Yahoo will wipe out or heavily censor and moderate the site's many fandom communities (and rampant fake and Photoshopped announcements aren't exactly helping to ease those fans' minds):

News of the acquisition also put the spotlight on a whole mess of Tumblr posts tagged "Daddy Karp." The newer posts are essentially begging David Karp to keep Yahoo away from Tumblr while portraying him as a father figure to the blogging site's users -- a phenomenon that's been going on for some time among members of the tight-knit communities on Tumblr.

We'll make it through this difficult, confusing time together, you guys. Just please, please stop referring to Karp as "Daddy." He's so clearly more of a "Big Papi."