[BitwiseFool]

In the long run, I wonder how clickbait can be a viable business model for an organization such as BuzzFeed. If you think about it, clickbait is designed to be disappointing.

The goal is to make the subject seem much more interesting than it really is - otherwise you wouldn't need clickbait for people to be interested in it. Faced with the fact that all your content is a letdown in some way, how does that not condition your userbase to be dissatisfied with your brand and it's content?

I know BuzzFeedNews is supposed to be legitimate, but I just can't see it as anything other than an arm of a business that produces chum.

[jboog]

Buzzfeed has some legit straight-news reporting though that have had some good scoops the past few years.

But yes most of it is clickbait

[twoodfin]

As I recall, BuzzFeed has been upfront that this is their model: Unabashed clickbait for reach, serious investigative reporting leveraging the dollars and attention coming from that reach.

[junon]

Ah yes, the serious investigation surrounding which type of mushroom I am, or a list of ten reasons why Ryan Reynolds is just so darn cute.

[zck]

In two consecutive years (2017, 2018), Buzzfeed was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting: https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/staff-buzzfeed-news and https://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/chris-hamby-buzzfeed-news.