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When I see the stuff posted on Facebook from Buzzfeed, Business Insider, Mashable, etc., I'm reminded of an interview with Steve Jobs from the mid-90's, pulled

by dkrich 11y ago

When I see the stuff posted on Facebook from Buzzfeed, Business Insider, Mashable, etc., I'm reminded of an interview with Steve Jobs from the mid-90's, pulled from another HN thread: A lot of times we think “Why is the television programming so bad? Why are television shows so demeaning, so poor?” The first thought that occurs to you is “Well, there is a conspiracy: the networks are feeding us this slop because its cheap to produce. [...] but the truth of the matter, if you study it in any depth, is that networks absolutely want to give people what they want so that they will watch the shows. If people wanted something different, they would get it. And the truth of the matter is that the shows that are on television, are on television because that’s what people want. [...] And that’s far more depressing than a conspiracy. Conspiracies are much more fun than the truth of the matter, which is that the vast majority of the public are pretty mindless most of the time. I want to hate these publications, but the truth of the matter is that if I could run a financially successful blog catering to the crap that people will get somewhere else if not from me, I'd be happy to do it.

jegutman 11y ago
So you're right there's a lot of low quality stuffy on Buzzfeed, but also some amazing pieces of journalism. Business Insider is at NY Post levels most of the time. I can't even think of something I read on Business Insider that was both accurate (and I don't mean technically accurate, I mean addressed the main issue of the story) and more than 500 words long. That being said it's been so bad that I actively avoid BI links, it's possible that the ones I don't click are better. Buzzfeed, for all the flack they take, makes it quite obvious that that the article is going to be of a certain quality from the title. "7 tricks..." is actually great because I know I don't need to click.
- wahsd 11y ago
  You should understand that Axel Springer AG is the parent company of Bild, a German conservative populist type sensationalist newspaper and publication that fits almost perfectly with Business Insider. If anything, I think AS may be looking to learn from BI's social media chops and elevate Bild's niveau. In case you are wondering, Bild is very much the same as you described Buzzfeed and BI. It's often dismissed and scoffed at but their sales and views are what every newspaper publisher dreams wet dreams of. The undeniable reality though is that beyond the sensationalism and the NSFA(merican)W nature, they also have broken open many political and economic scandal.
romaniv 11y ago
Yes, but there are a lot of people who are fed up with the kinds of online media you described. While clickbait works, it's not the only thing that does. It's just the cheapest.
hugh4 11y ago
When I get upset about low-quality media, I just remember it's not intended for me. In Brave New World, did the alphas and betas spend their time complaining about the terrible dumb entertainment produced for the deltas and epsilons? No, they understood that it wasn't intended for them, it would be silly to complain about it.
bsimpson 11y ago
One year ago, they did this expose on Tesla: http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-the-origin-story-2014-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-the-origin-story-2014-1... I remember being shocked that anything worth reading would have been written by BI.

by dkrich 11y ago

jegutman 11y ago

So you're right there's a lot of low quality stuffy on Buzzfeed, but also some amazing pieces of journalism. Business Insider is at NY Post levels most of the time. I can't even think of something I read on Business Insider that was both accurate (and I don't mean technically accurate, I mean addressed the main issue of the story) and more than 500 words long. That being said it's been so bad that I actively avoid BI links, it's possible that the ones I don't click are better. Buzzfeed, for all the flack they take, makes it quite obvious that that the article is going to be of a certain quality from the title. "7 tricks..." is actually great because I know I don't need to click.

wahsd 11y ago
You should understand that Axel Springer AG is the parent company of Bild, a German conservative populist type sensationalist newspaper and publication that fits almost perfectly with Business Insider. If anything, I think AS may be looking to learn from BI's social media chops and elevate Bild's niveau. In case you are wondering, Bild is very much the same as you described Buzzfeed and BI. It's often dismissed and scoffed at but their sales and views are what every newspaper publisher dreams wet dreams of. The undeniable reality though is that beyond the sensationalism and the NSFA(merican)W nature, they also have broken open many political and economic scandal.

romaniv 11y ago

Yes, but there are a lot of people who are fed up with the kinds of online media you described. While clickbait works, it's not the only thing that does. It's just the cheapest.

hugh4 11y ago

When I get upset about low-quality media, I just remember it's not intended for me. In Brave New World, did the alphas and betas spend their time complaining about the terrible dumb entertainment produced for the deltas and epsilons? No, they understood that it wasn't intended for them, it would be silly to complain about it.

bsimpson 11y ago

One year ago, they did this expose on Tesla: http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-the-origin-story-2014-10 http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-the-origin-story-2014-1... I remember being shocked that anything worth reading would have been written by BI.