4 ms·

Buzzfeed has really improved its content lately. If not for the tacky social media badges, I wouldn't have guessed it was BF.

pbw 11y ago
I was stunned this is BF. Great long form profile. I was wondering if maybe the content is shared / re-run under some other brand as well or if BF can afford to do this in depth stuff itself.
bigtones 11y ago
Agreed, BuzzFeed has produced some great articles of late.
- itsrajju 11y ago
  It's written by Mat Honan, who earlier used to write for Wired.
oldmanjay 11y ago
Over the next five years, they'll use this sense of surprising quality to slide native or embedded or whatever they call it advertising right past your radar.
- r00fus 11y ago
  Just like they do at all the "respectable" news agencies?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- voltagex_ 11y ago
  Okay? Then what? Do I read nothing? Pay $300+/year per site that I want to read? I'm not sure what the "call to action" of your comment is - if the adver-article is interesting, more power to them.
  - GuiA 11y ago
    > Pay $300+/year per site that I want to read? If it's a site you really really like and you want to support them in a tangible way, then yes that's not necessarily a bad use for your money.
gkoberger 11y ago
The Boston Post started as a joke of a newspaper that did publicity stunts to get viewers. They took the money they made from it, hired a bunch of good investigative journalists, and eventually exposed Charles Ponzi. They went on to be a respected newspaper. Seems like Buzzfeed is doing the same thing.
cbgb 11y ago
I can't remember where I heard this, but I think the whole listicle thing generating a profit so that they could produce actually good journalism was always the plan. I mean, I sometimes hear from their foreign correspondents on NPR or podcasts I'm interested in. They do have some great journalists on staff.
- yoz-y 11y ago
  Ben Thompson from Stratechery was pushing this thesis for quite a while now.
pdeuchler 11y ago
As long as the "good" journalism doesn't offend any of their listicle sponsors, of course
rpgmaker 11y ago
Actually, they have a Serious news section which it's pretty good (all things considered). It's been a while since they've added it.
shas3 11y ago
IMHO, it would be fair to criticize this piece for poor editing. The writing feels a bit rough in places. There are sentences and paragraphs which can be considerably abbreviated to be more readable. Further, the article's flow is a bit off. Overall great narrative, though.

pbw 11y ago

I was stunned this is BF. Great long form profile. I was wondering if maybe the content is shared / re-run under some other brand as well or if BF can afford to do this in depth stuff itself.

bigtones 11y ago

Agreed, BuzzFeed has produced some great articles of late.

itsrajju 11y ago
It's written by Mat Honan, who earlier used to write for Wired.

oldmanjay 11y ago

Over the next five years, they'll use this sense of surprising quality to slide native or embedded or whatever they call it advertising right past your radar.

r00fus 11y ago
Just like they do at all the "respectable" news agencies?
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
voltagex_ 11y ago
Okay? Then what? Do I read nothing? Pay $300+/year per site that I want to read? I'm not sure what the "call to action" of your comment is - if the adver-article is interesting, more power to them.
- GuiA 11y ago
  > Pay $300+/year per site that I want to read? If it's a site you really really like and you want to support them in a tangible way, then yes that's not necessarily a bad use for your money.

gkoberger 11y ago

The Boston Post started as a joke of a newspaper that did publicity stunts to get viewers. They took the money they made from it, hired a bunch of good investigative journalists, and eventually exposed Charles Ponzi. They went on to be a respected newspaper. Seems like Buzzfeed is doing the same thing.

cbgb 11y ago

I can't remember where I heard this, but I think the whole listicle thing generating a profit so that they could produce actually good journalism was always the plan. I mean, I sometimes hear from their foreign correspondents on NPR or podcasts I'm interested in. They do have some great journalists on staff.

yoz-y 11y ago
Ben Thompson from Stratechery was pushing this thesis for quite a while now.

pdeuchler 11y ago

As long as the "good" journalism doesn't offend any of their listicle sponsors, of course

rpgmaker 11y ago

Actually, they have a Serious news section which it's pretty good (all things considered). It's been a while since they've added it.

shas3 11y ago

IMHO, it would be fair to criticize this piece for poor editing. The writing feels a bit rough in places. There are sentences and paragraphs which can be considerably abbreviated to be more readable. Further, the article's flow is a bit off. Overall great narrative, though.