3 Buzzfeed Articles I Analyzed: Number 3 Will Shock You!
Since this is a blog about media, I basically have free reign to talk about whatever as long as it's technically media. And Buzzfeed is very TECHNICALLY media.
I should preface this with saying that I literally have only gone on Buzzfeed once prior to writing this article, and it was only to find a good clickbait author name for a certain media blog I did. I have heard stuff about quizzes, so I'll be analyzing language and the general millennial culture that Buzzfeed employs.
First a cheese quiz to determine my personality type. Off to a great start, especially given that the title of the quiz is "We know if you're an introvert or an extrovert based on you cheese preferences." That's just creepy phrasing paired with an incredibly dumb premise, but it does make you curious and want to click. Turns out I'm an ambivert, which is according to Websters: not a thing, but according to Buzzfeed means I'm somewhere in between. My best guess is that this is another nonsense slang term like "lit" made up to avoid categorizing people who don't want to be categorized.
But what about 31 cool Harry Potter products no fan will be familiar with? I used to love Harry Potter when I was younger, so this really appeals to my sense of nostalgia! It opens up saying that new products are as rare as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but you can call the author Luna Lovegood because they found some. Well actually, us real fans would know that it was actually Luna's father who acquired the horn, not even the real beast, and that the horn belonged to an entirely separate creature in the first place! Presumably it was meant to be a cool nerd reference to draw people in, but all it really did was make it clear the author doesn't really know what they're talking about. Given that the article mostly contained women's clothing and accessories I'd venture to say it was targeting them, but other than the constant uses of the word "nerd" or "geek" nothing really stood out as feminine in the wording. All you really need to know is that #15 was a fidget spinner snitch.
I took a few more quizzes for "research purposes" and like the first, most were clickbait. Obviously there is no correlation between liking breakfast and your Zodiac sign, and I am not a Taurus. Nor can desserts predict my age, as I'm not 23. Claiming its 100% accurate barely even counts as logos, as its clearly just a fake number meant to generate ad revenue. For the most part, these are just designed to be timewasters. They make people feel better, get them to take some quizzes that they know probably aren't accurate, and get clicks. With many of the posts having 4-5 question quizzes or one sentence descriptors for image lists, it seems like half the work going in to the article is just picking the title. Once you've clicked that they've already gotten what they want. That's why an article about a black man calmly responding to a slur doesn't mention his transphobia in the title, despite it being a sizable part of the article. People looking to see an uplifting story will be disappointed, while Buzzfeed continues to rake in all those sweet, sweet clicks.
I should preface this with saying that I literally have only gone on Buzzfeed once prior to writing this article, and it was only to find a good clickbait author name for a certain media blog I did. I have heard stuff about quizzes, so I'll be analyzing language and the general millennial culture that Buzzfeed employs.
First a cheese quiz to determine my personality type. Off to a great start, especially given that the title of the quiz is "We know if you're an introvert or an extrovert based on you cheese preferences." That's just creepy phrasing paired with an incredibly dumb premise, but it does make you curious and want to click. Turns out I'm an ambivert, which is according to Websters: not a thing, but according to Buzzfeed means I'm somewhere in between. My best guess is that this is another nonsense slang term like "lit" made up to avoid categorizing people who don't want to be categorized.
But what about 31 cool Harry Potter products no fan will be familiar with? I used to love Harry Potter when I was younger, so this really appeals to my sense of nostalgia! It opens up saying that new products are as rare as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack, but you can call the author Luna Lovegood because they found some. Well actually, us real fans would know that it was actually Luna's father who acquired the horn, not even the real beast, and that the horn belonged to an entirely separate creature in the first place! Presumably it was meant to be a cool nerd reference to draw people in, but all it really did was make it clear the author doesn't really know what they're talking about. Given that the article mostly contained women's clothing and accessories I'd venture to say it was targeting them, but other than the constant uses of the word "nerd" or "geek" nothing really stood out as feminine in the wording. All you really need to know is that #15 was a fidget spinner snitch.I took a few more quizzes for "research purposes" and like the first, most were clickbait. Obviously there is no correlation between liking breakfast and your Zodiac sign, and I am not a Taurus. Nor can desserts predict my age, as I'm not 23. Claiming its 100% accurate barely even counts as logos, as its clearly just a fake number meant to generate ad revenue. For the most part, these are just designed to be timewasters. They make people feel better, get them to take some quizzes that they know probably aren't accurate, and get clicks. With many of the posts having 4-5 question quizzes or one sentence descriptors for image lists, it seems like half the work going in to the article is just picking the title. Once you've clicked that they've already gotten what they want. That's why an article about a black man calmly responding to a slur doesn't mention his transphobia in the title, despite it being a sizable part of the article. People looking to see an uplifting story will be disappointed, while Buzzfeed continues to rake in all those sweet, sweet clicks.
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