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BuzzFeed is a crummy organization. I don’t need to tell you that. Even though they have evolved slightly, and at least try to offer substantive reporting now from time to time, they’re still pretty much shit. They’ve also helped lead the charge against GamerGate and other anit-SJW movements over the past couple years. Even when Michael Koretzky, from the Society of Professional Journalists, tried to go on their platform and talk about AirPlay (the first one, not the scam one), BuzzFeed still had to turn it into a hit piece. Why couldn’t they do just one unbiased report on GG?

It’s because they know their audience and it’s not people who think rationally. The only thing is, that audience is turning out to not be as profitable as the suits in charge of BuzzFeed predicted.

 

BuzzFeed missed its revenue target by 32 percent in 2015, and has slashed its revenue projections for 2016 from $500 million to $250 million, the Financial Times reports. Initially known for its listicles and relatable GIFs, the youth-oriented media start-up has made a name for itself by dramatically scaling its audience (BuzzFeed had 181 million global unique visitors in the past month), investing in in-depth reporting, and expanding into video production. Just last week, BuzzFeed captivated 800,000 people simultaneously on a Friday afternoon as two of its employees, dressed in goggles and protective gear, wrapped a watermelon with rubber bands until it exploded, in a live-streamed Facebook video.

But sources say that BuzzFeed’s business model—which includes BuzzFeed making customized content campaigns for brands—is hard to do at scale. “It takes too long to do each campaign, and you can only do so many,” one source told the Times. In 2015, Buzzfeed had projected $250 million in revenues overall, but made less than $170 million. (BuzzFeed disputed the numbers and told the Times: “We are very pleased with where BuzzFeed is today and where it will be tomorrow. We are very comfortable with where the digital content world is going and think we are well-positioned.”) More promising is television, where advertisers pay much more than they do for online content. Comcast’s NBCUniversal invested $200 million in BuzzFeed last summer at a $1.5 billion valuation, and at the time the two groups said they’d consider strategic partnerships.

If BuzzFeed’s internal-revenue projections are as gloomy as they appear to be, we could be looking at the beginning of the end of what has been a boom in millennial media.

By the way, perhaps I’m giving BuzzFeed too much credit, because they’re currently being eaten alive by the little monsters they themselves helped create over a video called 27 Questions Black People Have For Black People.

Despite it having been directed by a black woman, angry Twitter warriors have been beating on BuzzFeed for hours over this clip.

https://twitter.com/chrislaawrence/status/720085529585401856

https://twitter.com/LadyOnTheMuna/status/720094516812775424

Well, you let the thousands of black-on-black murders slide, so yes, they most likely assumed that you would.

https://twitter.com/chrislaawrence/status/720080297539162112

https://twitter.com/chrislaawrence/status/720079042561642496

They’re just flat-out making shit up now.

https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/720129184715182080

I don’t know, April, but it was pretty easy for me to find a bunch of goofy Twitter goons who have no concept of debate and dialogue.

The video seemed to go over a lot better on YouTube, with one user pretty much summing up my thoughts on the matter…

2016-04-13_3-06-33

Even though the vid was a rare good move from BuzzFeed, from my perspective, it was a mistake for their bottom line. I’m not sure pissing off one of their core constituencies is good for business. Still, it’s nice to see them get roasted by the SJW culture they have helped empower. It truly couldn’t have happened to a more worthy candidate.