Difference between revisions of "BuzzFeed"
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BuzzFeed generates revenue from advertisement through their site. Advertisers create their own posts related to their product or company, and BuzzFeed makes money from these advertisers. This is called native advertising because the posts look similar to BuzzFeed's typical content<sup>4</sup>. | BuzzFeed generates revenue from advertisement through their site. Advertisers create their own posts related to their product or company, and BuzzFeed makes money from these advertisers. This is called native advertising because the posts look similar to BuzzFeed's typical content<sup>4</sup>. | ||
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| + | ==Ethical Concerns== | ||
| + | In January of 2015 Buzzfeed posted an article titled [http://www.buzzfeed.com/shani/the-buzzfeed-editorial-standards-and-ethics-guide#.vtNg2Q8Ezr ''The Buzzfeed Editorial Standards and Ethics Guide,''] written by the executive editor of Buzzfeed. Its aim is to keep writers, editors and reporters accountable to their readers. This in depth article was divided into four sections: 1) Sourcing, 2) Corrections, Updates, Deletions and Errors, 3) Legal and Ethics, 4) The Editorial and Business Relationship. This article is to serve as a guide not an FAQ section of the website. It is a place for contributors to reference what they are doing prior to publishing something on the site. Buzzfeed has created a large and loyal following through contributors adhering to these standards. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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4. http://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-native-advertising-is-paying-off-2015-8 | 4. http://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-native-advertising-is-paying-off-2015-8 | ||
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| + | 5. http://www.buzzfeed.com/shani/the-buzzfeed-editorial-standards-and-ethics-guide#.vtNg2Q8Ezr | ||
Revision as of 15:23, 14 March 2016
BuzzFeed is an American media company that specializes in producing news on social buzz and entertainment on their website. Known for being short and sweet, or at the very least, entertaining, BuzzFeed has created a large presence among college students and people in their early 20s. The site generates about 200 million views each month3.
History and Funding
BuzzFeed was founded in November of 2006 by Jonah Peretti. 8 years later, they were able to raise $50 million from venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz2. Since then, multiple big investors have made equity investments into BuzzFeed, such as NBCUniversal and General Atlantic. As of July 30, 2015, BuzzFeed is worth $1.5 billion1.
Content
BuzzFeed produces articles and news daily and focuses on a variety of topics. The main headings (or main topics) include
- News
- Buzz (entertainment news)
- Life
- Quizzes
- Video
Within the "More" section are 27 other headings which include Animals, Audio (information about podcasts, soundtracks, etc.), Big Stories, Books, Business, Celebrities, DIY, Entertainment, Food, Geeky (online fandoms and alike), Health, Ideas (thoughtful, lengthy, and argumentative articles), LGBT, Music, Parents, Podcast, Politics, Puzzles, Rewind (articles to remember the past), Science, Sports, Style, Tech, Travel, Weddings, Weekend (ideas for what to eat, make, or do over the weekend), and World3.
Community
BuzzFeed has their own staff of over 700 employees, but they still encourage the community to write articles, and so BuzzFeed Community was created. This means that anybody who creates a BuzzFeed account can create their own content and quizzes to publish to the site and share with their friends3. BuzzFeed uses a ranking system ("Cat Power") to determine how popular a user is among the Community, with Cat Power increases as a contributor becomes more popular3.
Video
BuzzFeed creates multiple different video channels on both YouTube and Facebook. There is a general BuzzFeedVideo YouTube channel, but there are also multiple other channels categorized by color and their content divided by mood (i.e. "BuzzFeedYellow" for more fun content, "BuzzFeedViolet" for "the good kind of awkward" videos, etc.)2. The full list of these accounts is2:
- BuzzFeedYellow
- BuzzFeedViolet
- BuzzFeedBlue ("bite size knowledge for a big world")
- BuzzFeedCentral (features, news, documentation)
- BuzzFeedPop
- After Party (a fun, miscellaneous account)
BuzzFeed also has several Facebook accounts, including BuzzFeed Food, BuzzFeed Video, BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed Quiz, BuzzFeed DIY, BuzzFeed Health, BuzzFeed Books, as well as pages for the rest of the topics covered in BuzzFeed's main headings on their site and pages for the various colors in the YouTube pages. They also have several spinoff accounts, such as Tasty or Proper Tasty (both recipe accounts). Most of these accounts are mainly quick, 15 second videos to show an interesting procedure or recipe for users.
Newsletters
BuzzFeed offers to send newsletters to readers for the various subjects they are interested in. The newsletters are offered for the subjects of BuzzFeed Today (users receive this daily), Animals (3x a week), DIY (3x a week), Dude A Day (5x a week), Health & Beauty (2x a week), Sunday Features (once a week), BuzzFeed News (5x a week), Books (2x a week), Dog A Day (daily), Food (2x a week), Parents (2x a week), and This Week In Cats (once a week)3. These newsletters are helpful for those who do not have time to browse their favorite subjects, so BuzzFeed will send them a concise newsletter with the top articles of those subjects.
Advertisement
BuzzFeed generates revenue from advertisement through their site. Advertisers create their own posts related to their product or company, and BuzzFeed makes money from these advertisers. This is called native advertising because the posts look similar to BuzzFeed's typical content4.
Ethical Concerns
In January of 2015 Buzzfeed posted an article titled The Buzzfeed Editorial Standards and Ethics Guide, written by the executive editor of Buzzfeed. Its aim is to keep writers, editors and reporters accountable to their readers. This in depth article was divided into four sections: 1) Sourcing, 2) Corrections, Updates, Deletions and Errors, 3) Legal and Ethics, 4) The Editorial and Business Relationship. This article is to serve as a guide not an FAQ section of the website. It is a place for contributors to reference what they are doing prior to publishing something on the site. Buzzfeed has created a large and loyal following through contributors adhering to these standards.
References
1. http://www.businessinsider.com/report-nbc-is-investing-in-buzzfeed-at-a-15-billion-valuation-2015-7
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BuzzFeed
4. http://www.businessinsider.com/buzzfeed-native-advertising-is-paying-off-2015-8
5. http://www.buzzfeed.com/shani/the-buzzfeed-editorial-standards-and-ethics-guide#.vtNg2Q8Ezr
