Great insightful article. I empathize with you as a former student of Buzzfeed many of my peers are going through similar circumstances.
I push back on the truly viral argument, utilizing the new rediscovery of suits as evidence. 3 billion minutes for a show almost a decade old is impressive and could be a great source of content. I think what big bad TikTok did to media wasn't ruin it but increase its efficacy. It's stripped out the bloated 10 person crew to make a 7 minute video that gained 300k views. The audience shifted to crave more authentic conversational media.
And as with all media there are exceptions. I think there are still gems, large audience can still be gained and the view is there. But instead of being paid ahead of time by an investor driven start up. You have to do it by yourself or with your friend. And in a weird way isn't that what it was always about? Would love to connect and continue the dialogue. I'm a nerd about stuff like this.
Wishing you lots of luck, Bijan; and I'm inspired by how you found some joy and optimism being let go, which typically is a pretty crappy situation. BTW, I wanted to say that it's been nice to see how your career has gone from strength to strength from your days as a Today In Tabs intern – it was always cheering to see your byline on something new and I particularly enjoyed your History of Hot Bevs, particularly the Coffee episode, because I've always loved the coffee webcam story (I first came across its history the year before, while researching a project about coffee – I love that a webcam that enabled laziness became such an international sensation!) and enjoyed hearing it from another angle.
I personally hate the push for video content. Especially since so much of “video essay” YouTube gains *nothing* from the visuals. Podcast me baby! But podcasts will be back again...they’ve come & gone in popularity multiple times now
Sucks that you got laid off, Bijan. Good luck out there! It'll definitely be interesting to see how media changes or calcifies around this weird corner we're inhabiting.
Great insightful article. I empathize with you as a former student of Buzzfeed many of my peers are going through similar circumstances.
I push back on the truly viral argument, utilizing the new rediscovery of suits as evidence. 3 billion minutes for a show almost a decade old is impressive and could be a great source of content. I think what big bad TikTok did to media wasn't ruin it but increase its efficacy. It's stripped out the bloated 10 person crew to make a 7 minute video that gained 300k views. The audience shifted to crave more authentic conversational media.
And as with all media there are exceptions. I think there are still gems, large audience can still be gained and the view is there. But instead of being paid ahead of time by an investor driven start up. You have to do it by yourself or with your friend. And in a weird way isn't that what it was always about? Would love to connect and continue the dialogue. I'm a nerd about stuff like this.
Wishing you lots of luck, Bijan; and I'm inspired by how you found some joy and optimism being let go, which typically is a pretty crappy situation. BTW, I wanted to say that it's been nice to see how your career has gone from strength to strength from your days as a Today In Tabs intern – it was always cheering to see your byline on something new and I particularly enjoyed your History of Hot Bevs, particularly the Coffee episode, because I've always loved the coffee webcam story (I first came across its history the year before, while researching a project about coffee – I love that a webcam that enabled laziness became such an international sensation!) and enjoyed hearing it from another angle.
I personally hate the push for video content. Especially since so much of “video essay” YouTube gains *nothing* from the visuals. Podcast me baby! But podcasts will be back again...they’ve come & gone in popularity multiple times now
Sucks that you got laid off, Bijan. Good luck out there! It'll definitely be interesting to see how media changes or calcifies around this weird corner we're inhabiting.
Streaming Bij is a delightful Bij