5 ms·

That post leads in with: > The media is in crisis. Google and Facebook are taking the vast majority of ad revenue, and paying content creators far too little f

That post leads in with: > The media is in crisis. Google and Facebook are taking the vast majority of ad revenue, and paying content creators far too little for the value they deliver to users. Buzzfeed had & still has next to zero original content creators. They have content re-packagers. Take images & thoughts from other websites(reddit/twitter) and puts them in a list. Take ideas which smaller (& more original) content creators make and re-make it. Disgusting.

solarkraft 8y ago
They're also warning of quickly re-written stories with sensationalistic spin, shady off-shore content farms, algorithmically generated content, and pirated videos. Funnily enough that's exactly their business model.
eridius 8y ago
You should try actually reading BuzzFeed before making blanket statements like that. BuzzFeed certainly does do a lot of listicles, but that's only a portion of the content they put out. If you want to talk original content, just take a look at the large list of shows they have, such as Tasty, Try Guys, Unsolved, Worth It, etc. And that's not even considering BuzzFeed News, which seems to be putting out some of the best journalism of all the domestic outfits recently. Even the "content repackaging" is still work. What you're deriding here is a form of curation. Personally, I quite enjoy their roundups of the latest funny stuff from Twitter and Tumblr. And some of these listicles are in fact original content rather than merely "repackaged" content. If you don't like the fluff "repackaged content", that's perfectly fine. Don't read it. But don't mistake the existence of this for a lack of original content. BuzzFeed puts out that "repackaged content" because it's popular and drives eyeballs for advertising. If that's what they have to do to fund BuzzFeed News, I say more power to them.
- zapzupnz 8y ago
  > such as Tasty, Try Guys They, and others, have left BuzzFeed.
  - eridius 8y ago
    tasty.co's footer says "A BuzzFeed Brand". BuzzFeed Video's Shows list still lists Try Guys.
    - zapzupnz 8y ago
      Sorry, I just meant Try Guys. I should have put a [...] in place of Tasty. Here's the Try Guys' video "Why We Started Our Own Company": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyhAz4-l0Wg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyhAz4-l0Wg Videos about leaving BuzzFeed are a bit of a meme, mostly complaining about long work hours to churn out low-quality content.
      - eridius 8y ago
        Huh, I'm kind of sad that they left BuzzFeed, because it means I'm not going to run across any of their new videos while skimming through the BuzzFeed AppleTV app. In any case, the fact that Try Guys was popular enough that they felt they could leave BuzzFeed and make it on their own only strengthens the argument that BuzzFeed is putting out good original content.
- Sir_Vival 8y ago
  It's ironic you'd mention Tasty as a counterexample to them repackaging content. Kenji Lopez-Alt called them out for stealing recipes: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/buzzfeed-accused-of-idea-theft-by-known-food-writer-a7114671.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/worl...
- purple_ducks 8y ago
  > BuzzFeed certainly does do a lot of listicles Don't forget they diversified into psuedo-science quizzes as well. > What you're deriding here is a form of curation Repackaging content is not curation by any stretch of the word. > If that's what they have to do to fund BuzzFeed News, I say more power to them. I don't agree that this is a case where the ends justify the means.
  - eridius 8y ago
    I wasn't aware BuzzFeed portrayed their quizzes as scientific in any sense. > Repackaging content is not curation by any stretch of the word. It is literally the definition of curation. > I don't agree that this is a case where the ends justify the means. The means of... putting out content that you personally don't enjoy but other people do? Why does 100% of BuzzFeed's content have to be relevant to you in order to justify its existence?
    - a_tractor 8y ago
      >Repackaging content is not curation by any stretch of the word. >literally the definition of curation. Actual definition: >verb (used with object), cu·rat·ed, cu·rat·ing. >to take charge of (a museum) or organize (an art exhibit) >to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content "literally"

solarkraft 8y ago

They're also warning of quickly re-written stories with sensationalistic spin, shady off-shore content farms, algorithmically generated content, and pirated videos. Funnily enough that's exactly their business model.

eridius 8y ago

You should try actually reading BuzzFeed before making blanket statements like that. BuzzFeed certainly does do a lot of listicles, but that's only a portion of the content they put out. If you want to talk original content, just take a look at the large list of shows they have, such as Tasty, Try Guys, Unsolved, Worth It, etc. And that's not even considering BuzzFeed News, which seems to be putting out some of the best journalism of all the domestic outfits recently. Even the "content repackaging" is still work. What you're deriding here is a form of curation. Personally, I quite enjoy their roundups of the latest funny stuff from Twitter and Tumblr. And some of these listicles are in fact original content rather than merely "repackaged" content. If you don't like the fluff "repackaged content", that's perfectly fine. Don't read it. But don't mistake the existence of this for a lack of original content. BuzzFeed puts out that "repackaged content" because it's popular and drives eyeballs for advertising. If that's what they have to do to fund BuzzFeed News, I say more power to them.

zapzupnz 8y ago
> such as Tasty, Try Guys They, and others, have left BuzzFeed.
- eridius 8y ago
  tasty.co's footer says "A BuzzFeed Brand". BuzzFeed Video's Shows list still lists Try Guys.
  - zapzupnz 8y ago
    Sorry, I just meant Try Guys. I should have put a [...] in place of Tasty. Here's the Try Guys' video "Why We Started Our Own Company": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyhAz4-l0Wg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyhAz4-l0Wg Videos about leaving BuzzFeed are a bit of a meme, mostly complaining about long work hours to churn out low-quality content.
    - eridius 8y ago
      Huh, I'm kind of sad that they left BuzzFeed, because it means I'm not going to run across any of their new videos while skimming through the BuzzFeed AppleTV app. In any case, the fact that Try Guys was popular enough that they felt they could leave BuzzFeed and make it on their own only strengthens the argument that BuzzFeed is putting out good original content.
Sir_Vival 8y ago
It's ironic you'd mention Tasty as a counterexample to them repackaging content. Kenji Lopez-Alt called them out for stealing recipes: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/buzzfeed-accused-of-idea-theft-by-known-food-writer-a7114671.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/worl...
purple_ducks 8y ago
> BuzzFeed certainly does do a lot of listicles Don't forget they diversified into psuedo-science quizzes as well. > What you're deriding here is a form of curation Repackaging content is not curation by any stretch of the word. > If that's what they have to do to fund BuzzFeed News, I say more power to them. I don't agree that this is a case where the ends justify the means.
- eridius 8y ago
  I wasn't aware BuzzFeed portrayed their quizzes as scientific in any sense. > Repackaging content is not curation by any stretch of the word. It is literally the definition of curation. > I don't agree that this is a case where the ends justify the means. The means of... putting out content that you personally don't enjoy but other people do? Why does 100% of BuzzFeed's content have to be relevant to you in order to justify its existence?
  - a_tractor 8y ago
    >Repackaging content is not curation by any stretch of the word. >literally the definition of curation. Actual definition: >verb (used with object), cu·rat·ed, cu·rat·ing. >to take charge of (a museum) or organize (an art exhibit) >to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content "literally"