5 Comments

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.

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

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.

Expand full comment

Streaming Bij is a delightful Bij

Expand full comment

I fell in love with the title. Am pleased with the rest so far. But the title is king. Like a museum example of passive-aggressive marketing with a baseball bat.

Expand full comment