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I believe the fundamental problem with BuzzFeed is that it is built on a foundation of clickbait. Does clickbait work? Absolutely, but only for a while before p

I believe the fundamental problem with BuzzFeed is that it is built on a foundation of clickbait. Does clickbait work? Absolutely, but only for a while before people adapt to it. The reason is that clickbait is inherently disappointing. Truly interesting content does not need to be fluffed up, while most content on BuzzFeed is made to look more intriguing than it actually is. I believe they are conditioning their users to be interested and then let-down after each article, listicle, video, piece of content, etc. They seem to be doing well in the short term, but I do not think their business model / hotness will last into the future.

errcorrectcode 5y ago
Their business model should just shift to a 100% chumboxes model of clickbait. It would be more honest.
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  If they merged with Taboola and Outbrain, they could become a titan of worthless online muck!
  - rvnx 5y ago
    I would invest into it, as I guess their profitability will increase further as they won't even need to hire writers in the future, thanks to GPT-3.
donbrae 5y ago
Is BuzzFeed actually clickbait, though? If you mean that the headline makes you want to click to read the article, then I guess it is. But that’s no different to any website. Looking at the home page just now, BuzzFeed doesn’t seem to make outlandish claims or promises in the headline or accompanying image that aren’t then delivered in the article. It’s all pretty silly, of course, but the content seems to match the headline in the items I clicked on. This makes sense if the goal is to get folk sharing BuzzFeed content on social media: if the content was a letdown, it wouldn’t be shared. I seem to remember Ben Thompson talking about this common misconception on his podcast years ago.
selfhoster11 5y ago
HN is basically a perpetual ner-snipe to me, yet I keep coming back year after year. Let-downs aren't sufficient to break the habit of coming somewhere.
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  I would say the difference is that as an aggregator, HN isn't crafting the content it displays here. I think the key is that making viral content is not something that scales and the content creators at BuzzFeed resort to using patterns, e.g. "North Koreans try American BBQ", "Mainland Chinese people try Panda Express", and dozens of other things. It doesn't help that they use clickbait thumbnails and article title tricks. Sure, content here on HN can be it or miss but I think the diversity of the content is what saves it from the "Intrigue/Disappointment" loop that I suggested for BuzzFeed. As a personal anecdote, my Gen-Z sister used to be glued to the screen with almost all of her tabs on BuzzFeed or BuzzFeed Video. She eventually grew bored of it and now spends her time on TikTok. She told me she felt like BuzzFeed started feeling too formulaic and familiar while TikTok is vastly more engaging / authentic. My personal hunch is that TikTok offers much more variety.

errcorrectcode 5y ago

Their business model should just shift to a 100% chumboxes model of clickbait. It would be more honest.

BitwiseFool 5y ago
If they merged with Taboola and Outbrain, they could become a titan of worthless online muck!
- rvnx 5y ago
  I would invest into it, as I guess their profitability will increase further as they won't even need to hire writers in the future, thanks to GPT-3.

donbrae 5y ago

Is BuzzFeed actually clickbait, though? If you mean that the headline makes you want to click to read the article, then I guess it is. But that’s no different to any website. Looking at the home page just now, BuzzFeed doesn’t seem to make outlandish claims or promises in the headline or accompanying image that aren’t then delivered in the article. It’s all pretty silly, of course, but the content seems to match the headline in the items I clicked on. This makes sense if the goal is to get folk sharing BuzzFeed content on social media: if the content was a letdown, it wouldn’t be shared. I seem to remember Ben Thompson talking about this common misconception on his podcast years ago.

selfhoster11 5y ago

HN is basically a perpetual ner-snipe to me, yet I keep coming back year after year. Let-downs aren't sufficient to break the habit of coming somewhere.

BitwiseFool 5y ago
I would say the difference is that as an aggregator, HN isn't crafting the content it displays here. I think the key is that making viral content is not something that scales and the content creators at BuzzFeed resort to using patterns, e.g. "North Koreans try American BBQ", "Mainland Chinese people try Panda Express", and dozens of other things. It doesn't help that they use clickbait thumbnails and article title tricks. Sure, content here on HN can be it or miss but I think the diversity of the content is what saves it from the "Intrigue/Disappointment" loop that I suggested for BuzzFeed. As a personal anecdote, my Gen-Z sister used to be glued to the screen with almost all of her tabs on BuzzFeed or BuzzFeed Video. She eventually grew bored of it and now spends her time on TikTok. She told me she felt like BuzzFeed started feeling too formulaic and familiar while TikTok is vastly more engaging / authentic. My personal hunch is that TikTok offers much more variety.