BuzzFeed Challenges AI-Driven Social Media with New 'Joyful' Platform

BuzzFeed wants to fight AI-driven social media with a platform of its own

Emma Roth is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO. BuzzFeed plans on launching a new social platform "built specifically to spread joy and enable playful creative expression." In a blog post published on Tuesday, BuzzFeed co-founder and CEO Jonah Peretti highlights the "growing discontent" with platforms using AI-driven algorithms to keep users glued to their screens, adding that BuzzFeed's social network would use AI to "give users agency" rather than take it away. BuzzFeed says the platform is "designed as an oasis from algorithm-driven doomscrolling" and will "introduce quirky, weird, and joyful experiences to make the internet fun again." Peretti's blog post goes into more detail about why BuzzFeed is creating a social media platform. He outlines how companies like Meta and TikTok prioritize the judgment of AI algorithms rather than the thoughts of their employees, leading to the proliferation of content that "elicits the most compulsive and predictable response from the human brain." Peretti describes this kind of content as something he calls "SNARF," which stands for Stakes, Novelty, Anger, Retention, and Fear (emphasis Peretti's): Content creators exaggerate stakes to make their content urgent and existential. They manufacture novelty and spin their content as unprecedented and unique. They manipulate anger to drive engagement via outrage. They hack retention by withholding information and promising a payoff at the end of a video. And they provoke fear to make people focus with urgency on their content. BuzzFeed, which also owns HuffPost and Tasty, plans to tackle the addictive social media environment by making "content that gives you a little buzz, helps you relax, have a good time, and connect with your friends," while also launching this new social media platform of its own. "We're building an alternative," Peretti said. "The future of social media should be designed for creativity and connection, not addiction. This isn't about making BuzzFeed better, it's about reimagining what the internet can be. It's time to bring back the internet we love, where everyone can find their people and unleash their creativity."

BuzzFeed is taking on Instagram, TikTok, X with a new social platform designed to spread 'joy' | TechCrunch

BuzzFeed, the media site known for its celebrity news and quizzes, announced on Tuesday that it's developing its own social media platform, in a move to counter the current negativity on the internet. Semafor first reported BuzzFeed's plan for the platform this past week. Details on the new platform are not yet public. However, the company explains it will focus on interactive storytelling and new content formats. When asked, BuzzFeed declined to clarify if the "platform" would work across web, mobile web, native apps, or all of the above. AI tools will play a part, however, aimed at encouraging "self-expression" and "connection," the company said. Though the platform will be human-curated, it's built on existing LLMs used for specific "creative" purposes. BuzzFeed itself already infuses OpenAI's technology into its quizzes and games. A launch date or official name has yet to be announced. (We'll speculate that the name could be "Island," based on the logo and new landing page.) Users can now join the waitlist. BuzzFeed will test with selected users to focus on developing a finished product based on their feedback. Amid rampant misinformation and users' doom-scrolling addiction on mainstream social media platforms, BuzzFeed's new platform intends to serve as a refuge from the current algorithm-driven gloom. "I'm fed up with giving the platform companies advice about how to fix the internet, if we want this done right, we have to do it ourselves," founder and CEO Jonah Peretti writes in a new manifesto, which was published on Tuesday as part of the announcement. In the manifesto, Peretti criticizes big tech like TikTok and Meta for neglecting their users' well-being by prioritizing an "addictive," AI-driven algorithm over human curation. He argues that these apps manipulate consumer behavior for their own profit rather than for the benefit of users. However, Peretti says BuzzFeed's new social media platform will use AI "to give users agency instead of stealing their agency." (It's unclear what that means.) "We do the doomscrolling for you so you can follow the biggest trends, find the hidden gems, and be in the loop without wasting your time and risking your mental health. We will also counter the anger and fear with a sense of humor, laughing at the buffoonery and ridiculousness of the most powerful people," Peretti writes. "We will counter the increase of gaslighting and misinformation by speaking to our diverse audience in ways that other institutions, media, and platforms clearly won't." Since its inception, BuzzFeed built an audience by delivering lighthearted content, such as celebrity stories, entertaining quizzes, and viral videos that resonate with many users. The company's attempts at leveraging that content to sustain other endeavors, like BuzzFeed News, haven't panned out. The latter shut down in 2023 at a time when the media group had lost the majority of its value. BuzzFeed isn't the first to attempt to address the darker aspects of social media. Many apps- Communia, Daylyy, Weare8, and more-continue to emerge, each asserting a commitment to restoring a positive atmosphere within the digital zeitgeist. The reality is that social media fuels negativity. It would require a collective effort across all social media platforms to achieve such a transformation, if one were even to be had.

BuzzFeed to launch social media platform

Why it matters: If the experiment works, it will put BuzzFeed "in a totally different kind of business, where it's primarily a tech company and a new kind of social media company," Peretti says. Driving the news: Similar to apps like Midjourney, BF Island will allow users to use AI to create and share content around their interests. Zoom out: Peretti says most major social platforms use AI algorithms to maximize usage over a quality experience, which has led to the proliferation of what he calls "SNARF" content, which stands for stakes, novelty, anger, retention, and fear. In a nearly 3,000-word memo, Peretti wrote that BF Island will be "built specifically to spread joy and enable playful creative expression," an antidote to today's social media experience. Reality check: Peretti has repeatedly shared his vision for the future of digital publishing and taken big swings at the expense of consistency within BuzzFeed's business model as he experiments. The big picture: Today, BuzzFeed is a fraction of its size compared to when it went public in 2021, but it's leaner and more profitable. By the numbers: Following its IPO, which included the simultaneous acquisition of Complex, BuzzFeed had more than 1,500 employees, per regulatory filings. Its latest public headcount is 642, as of April 29, 2024. That's now likely even smaller given the company recently laid off 30 HuffPost staffers. What's next: BuzzFeed is expected to release fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 results on March 13.