Regarding its deal with Ditto Labs to help it scan all the images on its site for insight into a person’s affiliation with a brand, Tumblr Head of Business Development T.R. Newcomb said, “Right now, we’re not planning to do anything ad-related.”
And “right now” would be the key word in that phrase. But Ditto will be sharing the data with brands to help them determine how they are being represented on the service. Newcomb notes, “If Coke wants to understand the nature of the conversation Ditto can sift through and deliver it to Coke.”
One wonders what will become of all the people who post “I hate brand xxx” photos. Will the brand police swoop in and pummel the person with trollish commentary? And if someone has positive things to say about a brand will they incessantly be held up as a poster child for said brand on social media? And if anything remotely like this happens, will Tumblr users game the system for their own benefit? Or simply punk a brand by enlisting all their followers for a bit of viral shenanigans?
