Don't blow off Buzzfeed, yet

It might just be me, but my Facebook and Twitter news feeds have been blowing up lately with Buzzfeed articles.

Buzzfeed is what print journalists hate about the digital age. It’s what undergraduates hate and love about the Internet.

It makes a short Facebook break turn into endless scrolling and clicking on meaningless articles and taking quizzes to find out which member of the Beatles you are — I’m Paul  McCartney circa ’1969, for the record.

Buzzfeed is designed for procrastination. Its specific formula to attract 20-somethings includes promoting everything that’s weird, funny or worth sharing through an easily accessible format, often through lists.

Of course, many of these posts are not meant to be taken seriously. They’re distractions from your studies, mostly, or something to look at while pretending to take notes in lectures.

And yet Buzzfeed may become one of the most significant pieces of media for our generation.

Today, Buzzfeed is one of the top 10 most-visited news and information sites in the
U.S.

They must be doing something right.

You could call Buzzfeed the lazy man’s media. The font is extra large, perfect for speedy viewing. Half of every page is dominated by a photograph or GIF, in case you want to look at pictures instead of words.

One way to look at Buzzfeed is as another mindless Internet tool — another facet of the Web that requires very little concentration. It’s perfect for the entitled and self-absorbed millennials.

Surprisingly, the editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed is Ben Smith, a former reporter for Politico, a well-respected political news site.

Maybe it’s because I initially imagined Buzzfeed’s editor-in-chief as a secluded Tumblr-enthusiast, but knowing this helps me see a broader picture of what Buzzfeed actually does, or at least what it can do.

The truth is, I can speak for most college students when I say we have high demands for society. Maybe we do want it all.

We want any media we consume to be fast, informative and entertaining all at once. We want our media to sing and dance and have snappy graphics. It’s just the way we are.

Buzzfeed does publish legitimate news stories, believe it or not. And that doesn’t necessarily have to be disputed just because Buzzfeed also has high traffic for its articles on puppies, for example, or the “Which member of One Direction are you?” quiz.

Honestly, the articles are addicting. Once you click one a friend shared on a Facebook post, you click another. Then another. And then another.

I’m not necessarily saying Buzzfeed is a serious news source — yet. But I think it can use its rising readership, click-bait headlines and distinctive article formula in a different context. Buzzfeed can still have its cutesy blog posts, but it can further emphasize its role as a news source, too.

If we’re procrastinating in class on Buzzfeed, we might as well be learning something about the world at the same time.

­cjellert@indiana.edu
@cjellert