The rise and fall of once-$1 billion Tumblr, the early 2010s blogging site that defined a generation before fizzling out via a measly $3 million sale

Artist Lana Del Rey became a Tumblr icon after releasing her 2012 album "Born To Die."Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

• Tumblr remains one of the most defining internet platforms of the new millennium.
• But it notoriously struggled to be profitable after it stood up in 2007 and was bought and sold twice.

If TikTok is Generation Z's favorite social media platform, Tumblr was arguably Millennials.'

It's hard to deny the blogging website's influence on the generation's adolescent years — the site allowed users to curate photos, posts, links, and other media into their own customized blog, birthing its own specific brand of internet culture that walked so today's online zeitgeist could run.

But, like Vine, the beloved platform has gradually transformed into a vestige of the early 2010s. It's been passed from corporation to corporation in the last decade after the free-spirited company struggled with profitability.

And while it may or may not see a Gen Z-led comeback soon, it's likely earned its spot on the list of most influential internet platforms to ever exist.

Here's the rise and fall of the website that bred the "Tumblr girl."