BuzzFeed's single key insight into the on-line world and how it is disrupting journalism
This month we all suddenly realised that the the internet had been disrupting infidelity right under our noses. The Ashley Madison hack brought that site into the public glare for all the wrong reasons (although it's hard to imagine a right reason to bring that site to the fore).
So, if the models underpinning traditional infidelity can be disrupted by the internet, is there any business model that's safe?
Cue NBC and BuzzFeed
As I've said before, disruption is a big issue facing a lot of my clients. So, in the month when NBC announced a $200m investment in BuzzFeed, it seems like a good idea to look at BuzzFeed in detail. In particular, I want to riff on an interview done with Mark di Stefano, BuzzFeed's Australian Politics editor, from last week's "Download this show".
BuzzFeed is disrupting Australian political journalism because of a single key insight
As you listen to di Stefano on the podcast, it's clear that BuzzFeed has landed on a single key insight to guide all their actions.
BuzzFeed have asked the right question. They've clearly asked themselves: What can journalism look like in an on-line world?
And their single answer is as depressing as it is effective. For BuzzFeed sharing is everything. In an on-line world, a story is nothing if it isn't shared on social media.
Di Stefano is unabashedly clear about this:
"We just constantly think, what are the stories in politics that are going to make people put it on their facebook wall?"
I suspect that everything BuzzFeed is doing to disrupt journalism follows from this single insight. For BuzzFeed, it isn't journalism unless it's compulsively shareable.
So, what are the implications of that single insight? How does BuzzFeed do political journalism in light of the rule that sharing is everything? Let me answer that in typical BuzzFeed style. BuzzFeed follows four rules of disruption: