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What is BuzzFeed, really?

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Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#21

Post by minimaxir »

sparkzilla wrote: post #12
minimaxir wrote: post #2

This article doesn't incorporate yesterday's news that BuzzFeed has missed revenue targets this year, and is forecasted to miss revenue targets next year: http://nymag.com/following/2016/04/buzzfeed-halves-revenue-t... This is even after a pivot to video-content like all the major players in the industry are doing, which was done because BuzzFeed's current model, the one praised in this post, is not sustainable . The…

People are bored with it, and other clickbait-style sites.

People aren't bored, but the economics have changed in terms of ad revenue, and the notion of linkbait has been tragedy-of-the-commonsed since everyone is doing it.

Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#22

Post by monknomo »

balls187 wrote: post #15
etr71115 wrote: post #13

Everyone always complains about the cat gifs and listicles. No one ever praises the Zenefits exposé or leaking John McCain's running mate.

Build a thousands bridges...

In Buzzfeeds case it's more like "fuck a thousand goats, but do they remember the one bridge?"

Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#23

Post by shade23 »

I fancy BuzzFeed quite a bit.Yes the sheer volume and omnipresence can be discerning and irritating.But while they use this model I enjoy the fact that they give serious readers good long form writing too[1]. So keeping apart all of the reasons for why buzzfeed might/will/will-not grow/crash/stalemate in the market.I enjoy serious journalism which they sometimes do add. I hope they someday manage to incorporate that into their business model too.

[1]:https://www.buzzfeed.com/news

Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#24

Post by steveklabnik »

kough wrote: post #3

Omits one of the most interesting facts about BuzzFeed: it was started by a member of MIT's Media Lab [0]. It all made sense once I started viewing it as the result of research into content virality. Internally I think of it more like a "profitable social/cultural experiment" than "media company". [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/business/media/at-buzzfeed...

See also http://www.datawranglers.com/negations/issues/96w/96w_perett... , note the author. Negations was a humanities journal.

Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#25

Post by actionwords »

vonmoltke wrote: post #19
sparkzilla wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are bored with it, and other clickbait-style sites.

Based on the number of links she sends me,my wife isn't bored with it yet.

women are the top market for clickbait articles... wonder why they're more susceptible. Might be similar to why they're more obsessed on average with celebrity than their male counterparts.

Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#27

Post by chipgap98 »

kough wrote: post #3

Omits one of the most interesting facts about BuzzFeed: it was started by a member of MIT's Media Lab [0]. It all made sense once I started viewing it as the result of research into content virality. Internally I think of it more like a "profitable social/cultural experiment" than "media company". [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/business/media/at-buzzfeed...

Yeah I always kinda wrote off BuzzFeed as listicles for people who can't take the time to actually read news (which it definitely still is in some sense) but then I saw Jonah Peretti speak [0] and I've been a lot more interested in it since then

[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V82JTa3iJfk

Re: What is BuzzFeed, really?

#30

Post by felix_thursday »

shade23 wrote: post #23

I fancy BuzzFeed quite a bit.Yes the sheer volume and omnipresence can be discerning and irritating.But while they use this model I enjoy the fact that they give serious readers good long form writing too[1]. So keeping apart all of the reasons for why buzzfeed might/will/will-not grow/crash/stalemate in the market.I enjoy serious journalism which they sometimes do add. I hope they someday manage to incorporate that…

^ Agree. Not so into the meme factory, but I think their actual news is solid, and built for the under 40 crowd. I subscribe to their daily newsletter of actual news, and it is by far and away the best explainer on what's happening in the world.
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