• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, November 11, 2015

What took you so long, Tumblr?!

Following the lead of Facebook and other social platforms, Tumblr is finally joining the mobile messaging party.

Yep, users can now engage in real threaded, instant messaging on the Web and Tumblr’s mobile app.

As part of a gradual rollout, a “smiley balloon” floating around a user’s screen signals that his/her account has been updated with the new messaging powers.

The move is a no-brainer -- yet it’s unlikely to change the mobile messaging landscape, which is fully occupied by the likes of Facebook and Snapchat. And that’s occupied with a capitol "O."

Indeed, Facebook’s Messenger app recently surpassed Google’s YouTube app in overall popularity (by comScore’s count), while Snapchat is reportedly racking up around 6 billion video views a day.

To be clear, Tumblr isn’t releasing a new messaging app -- just adding the feature to its existing service. In a similar move, LinkedIn recently replaced its email inbox with a messaging service. It’s a sign of the times.

Still, it’s unlikely to change Tumblr’s fortunes, or attract new audiences -- something parent company Yahoo would love to see.

Since dropping about $1 billion on Tumblr in 2013, Yahoo has made a number of efforts to expand the social network’s appeal among mainstream audiences.