BuzzFeed: The Future of Media?
BuzzFeed has very quickly become one of the top sources of breaking news and entertainment. It was first launched in 2006 as an experimental lab focused on tracking viral content. In doing so the founders were able to further analyze and dissect how information spreads throughout the web. The site now has over 28 categories of content ranging from celebrity, LGBT and politics. It has also adopted an active Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter presence with a strong emphasis on popular culture and videos. There are many people who view this site as offering immature, overly sensationalized clickbait content. However, I think it is very important and helpful to understand what attracts users to this site and what that says about the future of media.
What the company was able to successfully do was appeal to an unprecedented market — the Millennials. This demographic was the first to grow up with technology at their fingertips. We have now arrived at the digital age and have access to boundless information within seconds. That being said, patience is dwindling. Long gone are the days of picking up a newspaper and taking the time to read through endless pages of text. We are now a visual culture of symbolic meaning and connectivity, and I believe BuzzFeed has truly tapped into this.
On BuzzFeed’s site content is organized into bite-sized segments incorporating sensational headlines, bold headings, colorful imagery and social media content. Users are able to navigate articles quickly while taking away only the most important information. Youth are no longer willing to engage with traditional news platforms because it takes time, effort and is quite frankly seen as boring. To get around this BuzzFeed incorporates slang and popular culture references into even their most serious news pieces to engage this demographic while enlightening them on breaking news. The site posts very frequently keeping up with competitors while condensing the information into easy-to-read articles.
I think one of the major reasons BuzzFeed is such a success is the principle of co-creation. By allowing users to publish their own content they are becoming active participants in the value creation process. This gives youth a collective sense of ownership therefore taking pride in themselves and the site. Users are also able to comment on posts again reiterating this open conversation between creator and user. Rebellion has always been a marketable product in the entertainment industry and I believe BuzzFeed is truly revolutionizing the traditional news format. The key interaction is not necessarily the relationship between customer and product, but rather the customers themselves and I think this very well could be the future of media.
Technology has completely altered the way we interact with one another and consume information. Newspapers and magazines are close to extinction with online-based content becoming our primary source of news. BuzzFeed has altered the traditional format by incorporating imagery, videos, condensed content, popular culture references and co-creation. I certainly hope the future of media is slightly more sophisticated than the content proposed by BuzzFeed, but I strongly believe the fundamental principles that make up the site will be incorporated for years to come.
