BuzzFeed is gaining traction as a news site. In fact, it had 130 million unique visitors last November. It is projected to make $120 million this year, and referrals from Facebook increased by 855 percent in 2013.
The sudden rise of BuzzFeed is a signal that we are entering a new era in journalism, in which social media is used to diffuse easily-digestible news. Although BuzzFeed is largely known for its trivial memes and lists, it has recently expanded into news coverage and investigative reporting. BuzzFeed has realized that this diverse and varied model is necessary to remain viable in the 21st century, where even a nanosecond is too much to spare catching up on news.
Not Just LOLCats and Top Ten Lists
Provocative, sensationalist, and even cryptic headlines have helped sites like BuzzFeed maximize web traffic and revenue. To create virality, these sites optimize content to be easily shared on social networks. Owen Youngman, professor of digital media strategy at Northwestern University, told the HPR that “BuzzFeed does a remarkable job of paying attention to its users’ interests and leverages that to create additional content that is in sync with those demonstrated interests.” This content comes in the form of the top 10 lists, gossip, trivia, and memes that have now become ubiquitous on Facebook and Twitter.
However, BuzzFeed is not limited to these seemingly trivial posts. In an interview with the HPR, New York Times contributor and Columbia University professor Thomas Edsall said, “I am sure what BuzzFeed wants to do is start with a good base of readership and then expand into real news coverage. They want to develop a commercially viable website first and then use the revenue to invest in more substantive news coverage.” In the past year, BuzzFeed has expanded internationally into cities such as Istanbul, Cairo, Nairobi, and Moscow by hiring correspondents in those key regions. Today, BuzzFeed boasts an extensive news section that includes everything from breaking American and world news to long-form pieces. According to Edsall, “BuzzFeed has advanced the notion of journalism. Insofar as they are expanding into covering national and international affairs, I think they will be doing a great service for journalism.”
What distinguishes BuzzFeed from more traditional news outlets, however, is its unique approach to journalism. Sheera Frenkel, BuzzFeed’s Middle East Correspondent, told the HPR, “when it comes to journalism, we take conversations forward in a new way. We not only put out timely news; we also think, ‘how can we make it more interesting and more relevant?’” For example, BuzzFeed extensively covered the issue of LGBTQ rights in Russia in advance of the Sochi Olympics. In tune with its unique style, BuzzFeed recently compiled a “listicle” with quotes of Olympians speaking out against Putin’s anti-LGBTQ legislation
Indeed, BuzzFeed news stories are famous for incorporating visuals and condensing heavy news topics into articles or lists that are easily accessible and digestible. However, Frenkel argues that this does not necessarily detract from the actual analysis. She constructed one of her first lists on the top seven reasons dismantling Syrian weapons will be difficult. The list had exactly the same content she would have included in a traditional news article, except that the content was divided into seven points. This allowed people who had never read about the crisis in Syria—let alone the chemical weapons issue—to click on the list, read it, and understand it. Frenkel concludes, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I think finding a new way of writing should be what journalism is about.”
The Parisian Café: Where Breaking News Meets Cute Puppies
Although BuzzFeed’s critics may balk at having investigative long-form articles on a website famous for memes and listicles, this unease is unwarranted. As Youngman observed, “This model is not a startling change. People have different thresholds of interest. BuzzFeed has recognized that and has varied the diet of information that is presented.”
In fact, different forms of content have lived side by side in a variety of news formats throughout the years. For example, a TV channel might feature, in succession, a news broadcast, a sitcom, and a cooking competition. Even in newspapers, one can find comics and an arts section next to news and op-eds. In particular, such juxtapositions are not unusual to younger people, who are used to seeing unrelated items next to each other in their multifaceted social media news feeds.
At a South by Southwest talk in 2012, Jonah Peretti, founder and CEO of BuzzFeed, compared this experience to sitting at a street café in Paris where “you have a copy of Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, a copy of Le Monde, the newspaper, and next to you, as is often the case in Paris, is a cute dog. You read philosophy; you read the news; you pet the dog. You don’t become stupid when you are petting the dog. You are just being human! “Similarly, a reader of BuzzFeed can click on an article about the cutest couples at the Golden Globes and then stumble across an article about the police state in Egypt. As Edsall observes, “looking at something cute and smiling does not preclude also being interested in world events, domestic policy, and everything else BuzzFeed covers.” This model may not be unique as a concept, but it is a testament to BuzzFeed’s mission to expose readers to both the trivial and serious aspects of life.
Expansion and Viability
BuzzFeed’s social media savvy has undoubtedly helped fuel its expansion. However, contrary to common criticisms, BuzzFeed does not solely care about clicks, likes, and shares. Often, catchy, “clickbait” headlines promise more than they can deliver, leading readers to grow disappointed and frustrated. Frenkel notes that during her time at BuzzFeed, no one has ever asked her how many clicks she has gotten. Instead, they ask her whether she reached the right audience: “It’s not about getting 15,000 seeing your story. It’s [getting] the right 15,000. As Miriam Elder, BuzzFeed’s foreign editor, described to the HPR, “we have really tapped into speaking to a new generation … BuzzFeed is all about living on the social web so that everybody is really connected to the conversations that are happening online. Rather than treating social media as something parallel to real life, we understand that it is a part of real life.” According to Edsall, BuzzFeed’s use of social media to connect with its readers exemplifies how the media “has been democratized in many ways. That may have its pluses and minuses, but overall it’s a benefit.” Today, more traditional news outlets are also tapping into the potential of the social web as a place to get inspiration and information for stories. Social media also provides an ideal forum to share stories and increase readership.
With an exponential expansion in readership and traffic, it is no surprise that BuzzFeed has been extremely profitable. One reason for this is BuzzFeed’s unique way of advertising. Traditionally, online advertising consisted of banners and squares acting as annoying interruptions. However, BuzzFeed uses “native advertising,” which presents the ads as though they are part of the site’s editorial content. For example, the article “10 Airplane Seat-to-Seat Chat Pickup Lines” blends in perfectly with all of BuzzFeed’s other listicles. The only difference is that this one is sponsored by Virgin America. These ads are just as creative and shareable as the original content, making them even more effective. This viable advertising strategy has allowed BuzzFeed to hire more investigative journalists, to position correspondents all over the world, and to produce more in-depth original content with minimal financial constraint.
Critics point out that native advertising and sponsored content can be misleading. However, Heidi Tworek, a Harvard lecturer who teaches the course “The History of News,” argued in an interview with the HPR that every advertisement is essentially a form of sponsored content. Some just happen to be clearly separated from the original content, while others, like the advertisements on BuzzFeed, are integrated with it. In a way, native advertising can also be a boon for readers. According to Tworek, news organizations in the past often packaged press releases and official statements and presented them as investigative journalism or original reporting. However, native advertising actually acknowledges its original sources. This transparency is consistent with the “Parisian café” paradigm of consuming a varied selection of content, including advertisements that are just as entertaining and informative as everything else presented.
Tworek believes that “BuzzFeed is in many ways the litmus test of the future of journalism.” There is no doubt that BuzzFeed’s model for journalism allows it to present news in a way that attracts a diverse selection of readers while also making money. In addition, it satisfies both our intellectual and trivial needs. BuzzFeed may be just starting to shape how we obtain news and entertain ourselves, but it will undoubtedly continue to have a far-reaching influence on how journalism and the Internet coexist in the future.
Image credits: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid, Mayors Office of New York City Flickr