When I was a teen I used to be enamoured by how much fun it looked like to work for buzzfeed. I’m in my mid 20s now and the same things that drew me to buzzfeed as a company look like a nightmare now. The open plan offices, the lack of boundaries between colleagues, the blurring of the lines between personal and public lives, the exploitation of the workers, *everything*
Do yourself a favor and never apply to Zappos then. That’s another company that has a looser work environment and encourages closer team collaboration. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad, some companies thrive better under different conditions and there are types of people that work better in those conditions. Just not my cup of tea either.
@@MWBlueNoodles cus I want to talk to people online and the connecting thread is companies with outside the norm work culture. And I specifically didn’t recommend Zappos for that reason. Why are you such a negative Nancy.
i think one of the ways in which buzzfeed lost credibility at least on tumblr was finding out a lot of the quizzes were made by a 16 year old girl who never got paid for any of it
@@darafeth honestly if you are surprised about the extent which well off people will exploit anything and everything to inflate their imaginary number accounts in 2023, you've been purposefully ignoring everything happening in the world because it didnt effect you directly
Usually when an office like that has a ton of amenities and fun stuff, the more hours you're expected to work and ultimately stay there as opposed to your own home. That's an unwritten rule working in corporate, especially in tech.
Agreed. Especially as someone who isn't a people person. Don't get me wrong typical US work culture has a lot of issues, but I'll gladly take a traditional office over a "fun" one.
i still think it's a little crazy that there's a whole generation of content creators that would not exist had they not worked at buzzfeed. like safiya and tyler, try guys, shane & ryan, worth it, quinta, etc. like what? especially seeing quinta go beyond buzzfeed & youtube, and even direct her own show on national television.
as a former unsolved producer, making videos for an audience that only wanted ryan and shane content was tough on our entire team : / wish things were done differently. loved this and your channel!
I think the two most successful series being unsolved with Ryan and Shane and Try guys really showed that buzzfeed needed more consistency in the series and people that wer in them. I didn't like that there was a constant changing of faces for videos. RUclips and creators rely on not quite parasocail but an understanding of the creator on screen to some extent. A relatablity . Slowly the faces we as an audience would get used to, would leave . The two series that popped off wer the only series that had the same faces doing the episodes.
You can’t really build a positive collective response off of the back of two creators who essentially carried the show. I respect your work but, not everyone can have that charisma. It’s what it is.
Do you think that's part of the reason why Ryan and Shane's new venture involves their crew a lot? So that what you experienced would happen less and that the people would also want the content because of the people behind the scenes
Ryan and Shane really were the last Buzzfeeders I followed, and I was always so worried that they would never be able to leave because of how expensive all of that ghost hunting equipment, night vision cameras, etc must be. I cheered when they + Steven announced Watcher
@@whatwhatwhatttttt it was a really dumb idea of BuzzFeed to move worth it to let's eat while expecting the same amount of views and not telling the OG's who only watched/subscribed on their channel about it. Wish it didn't get cancelled, it deserved to go out like unsolved did. I hope Andrew finds something better, he's clearly passionate about cooking.
I remember buzzfeed always felt surface level to me, some of their videos seemed to encapsulate 'girlboss feminism' and when I found youtube channels that were also left leaning while going more in depth in the ideas they expressed i essentially abandoned buzzfeed and I havent watched them since
"girlboss feminism". You know that the "Try guys" is their popular show right? And you're angry at "girl boss feminism" bit. You're just exposing yourself dude.
The best thing that has come out of Buzzfeed is Quinta Brunson. She was woefully under appreciated while she was there. Thankfully the larger entertainment industry is valuing her talents.
BF was sitting on top of gold mines and decided they weren't worth paying more too. It was their own fault they could have been another media studio they could still be moving like Netflix, but they got greedy.
I think it’s also very telling looking at the type of content the creators who left now make. Like Safiya is making content that is COMPLETELY her own, also interesting that she seemed to leave before the performative Ladylike era started. Also telling (as someone who loved Ladylike) that the content that had the most positivity was the Kristen and Jen stuff and they still make extremely wholesome and enjoyable content. It’s just interesting to see how these creators have been able to make their own content once the left buzzfeed. Even for the Try Guys, who I’m also a fan of, their content has changed drastically in my opinion, it’s less “trying stuff” and more actually doing things if that makes sense (their podcast also got wayyyyy more candid after Ned left which is telling as well)
Kristen and Jen and their friendship were my favorite when I watched LadyLike so it's great to know they're still going strong with their own content. I had watched their channel but over the lockdown period, my taste in videos changed so drastically that I rarely if ever watch anything I used to.
That anecdote about Keith complaining behind the chew dude's back was interesting, especially when you also consider the anecdote that involved Ned basically being a drunken pig to a couple of fans and Keith pretty much shrugging it off. I think the story ended with Keith saying something like, "Yeah, Ned does that."
IDK have you been around someone doing dip? Lots of spitting and they often have like a spit can/bottle that they then have to carry around with them; they also tend to make a lot of mouth noises due to having to manage all the extra saliva...none of that is good for video/sound production. Should Keith have just said something to that guy instead of complaining to a higher up? Yeah probably.
@@Digit2517 chew is definitely nasty, but Keith should've just told the dude something like "they kinda frown on that, fyi." Unless there's more to the story---and there could very well be---that's just looking out for your coworker. It sounds like Keith knew how to do that when it came to Ned, until that situation exploded. It makes me wonder if Keith sucks at confrontation, was intimidated by Buzzfeed office politics, was being strategic and underhanded, or the chew thing came out when Keith was just talking shit and Buzzfeed management ran with it.
I think those really have no correlation to each other. I do think Keith is a bit of a sell out, but anecdotes are only anecdotes, and to basically act that Keith's a shithole bootlicker over this situation because HE(cameraman) found it rude is vaguely whiny. Not only is it not the problem of the talent to have that conversation with crew, plenty of people will ignore things but mention it to a higher up to ask you to not do it again, because to certain people that IS what's polite. He just seems offended that someone didn't like his gross habit-like he has the right to do it, but that doesn't make it not gross
Jubilee is already going down cliff cuz ppl calling them out for their bs. Their content is not necessarily as deep and meaningful as they claim, rather, they often engage in unnecessary confrontations and controversies to bring in views. Same w Cut and the button series
@iliketoads6924 I agree. I started watching jubilee when it wasn't very popular. They had great content that reached a deeper level. But now it's just drama and very tone deaf stuff.
Will’s story had my jaw on the floor. I wish that whoever tried to screw him out of Buzzfeed got the karma they deserved. Its crazy to think that the person was probably close enough to him…
@@user-og7qq5zy8p just my thoughts. Cause who else know what project he is doing. Obviously she felt threaten cause remember she never got the chance to do major projects (she wasnt in ladylike, unsolved, worth it or tryguys) its obvious someone who stole his hardrive knew what project he was doing. Why else would they stole his drive. And when he got let go. Who immediately got the better end of the stick? Kelsey. He never said her name but kelsey is the only girl who worked with him alot. I dont think she acts alone tho. But its just my take. So not confirmed as well
@@HeyITs0B0r3Dnever thought about that, but yeah, it could have been kelsey, I guess. If it was indeed her, than she definitely got the karma. I think she stayed on buzzfeed for a while longer until everybody started jumping ship once it was clear buzzfeed was sinking. And she tried to become a content creator but never managed to achieve the same numbers as other ex buzzfeed employees who left earlier, like the try guys, the guys from the watcher, safiya, etc… dont know what she is doing now but last time I checked she had a podcast that gets an average of 2k views. She also looks older, idk why. I believe she is in her 30’s but she looks like she is in her 40’s, no joke. Maybe she went overboard with the fillers, as most influencers/people who live in LA do
@@lalailm initially she was alright but as i watched more of her. She is those kind of girls where she thinks she is funny just by saying things louder acting quirky with sexual jokes. Its not
39:00 also, nobody at buzzfeed “pushed” this dude to right-leaning politics. He is fully responsible for his own actions and choices. Not a soul “made” him right-leaning, and to assert the opposite is to resolve him of responsibility and autonomy.
yeah, also like if someone calmly saying to ya 'hey, can you use a slightly different word' is gonna turn you into an trump insurrectionist, then you were probably gonna go down that path regardless
Sure, no is forcing anyone to be anything. Being alienated by people you spend all your time around when you know they only superficially care and just want to win over on you, and then seeing anti-sjws act comparatively more open, more rational (for the time), and not willing to kill your career over innocuous statements or positions certainly doesn't help one stay with their personal status quo.
Hi, I’m someone who was a leftist most of my life until the left PUSHED ME THE FUCK AWAY like it’s nobody’s business. Y’all and your extremism did that. Nobody else. But taking accountability was never a leftist’s strong suit.
“Someone informed me that ‘spirit animal’ is an insensitive term so I became a white supremacist” If that’s all it took, he was already a white supremacist.
@@martinajohnson You mean black and queer co-workers feel uncomfortable, and therefore distance themselves from an extremist coworker who promotes a platform that targets them as second class citizens on the sole basis of their identity? Gee, what a difficult revelation to come to on ones own. 😆
Omg this is the problem 😂 why if someone has a different political stance or supports trump they automatically are a white supremacist !? 🤦🏻♀️ you people don’t even know what that term means , Jesus Christ read a book babe
Honestly, even if those meanie libs at Buzzfeed *did* push him down the far-right pipeline, I don’t particularly care. The fact that he did it at all still speaks volumes of his character.
I feel like buzzfeeds shallow takes and liberal aesthetics was fun/entertaining when I was a young college kid who also had shallow understandings of politics simply from age/lack of knowledge/experience. However, inevitably I grew up and the content was no longer enjoyable. I feel like many of their millennial audience just grew up as well.
my favorite fun fact about the rejection hotline is that chelsea peretti, jonah peretti's sister, wrote a bunch of the voicemails as an early way to start her comedy writing
Right?? We've all been corrected or called out before but this guy went to to get Trump TATTOOED on himself, joined a mob, went alt-right. That's not buzzfeed's fault.
I agree, but I think it was because she wanted to share as many stories of former Buzzfeed employees as she could, even the controversial/problematic ones.
I mean she was narrating that literally while rolling footage from the Riot. Doubt it's meant to be 100% sympathetic. Seeing a lot of overreaction and missing the point of it.
Wow... I was a middle schooler in 2012 and idolized Buzzfeed's work culture. Sooo glad that this was made, I was always curious as to why so many people made 'why I left Buzzfeed' videos when they could never say much about the situation. This was so interesting to learn more about after so many years and rocketed me back to gathering around the family computer with my friends so that we could take Buzzfeed quizzes haha.
Hahaha I was working for Maker Studios. I felt for kids that were taken in by the facade it was awful on so many levels working at these influencer start ups. Never will I work for a company that caters to that crowd again.
Comment about the 40:00ish mark - I know us lefties can be very preachy and self righteous half the time but I'm sorry "liberals were kind of annoying so I directly acted as a right wing contrarian and they didn't like that so I became a Nazi. Look what they did made me do :(" is not a compelling argument?
I totally agree, that, and the tabacco chewing guy complaining, was so strange. People made him feel ostracized because he had a Trump tattoo, and he blames Buzzfeed? Very odd. Especially because this wasn't needed, there was enough in this video to show how bad buzzfeed is without adding that.
Yeah, BakedAlaska 100% had a case of the Contrarian Stupid, dug in his heels to an absurdly ridiculous degree - a Trump tattoo? Seriously? - and then whined when the bed he'd made for himself wasn't as comfy or cozy as he felt it should be. He tried to turn himself into a far-right social martyr over a couple somewhat annoying but ultimately unimpactful experiences. The use of the term "coming out" in this context is also pretty tone deaf. One doesn't don't "come out" as a billionaire-stanning idiot.
@@meggy0and not only that, he was chewing tobacco in a tiny boat. I assume it was one or two of the guys and the chewer filming. You gotta spit that shit out and it’s gross. So he either spat in the lake (most likely) or into a cup he brought with himself (equally gross). I wouldn’t want to be trapped near that. This dude couldn’t wait til he was alone? A 15 min “smoke” break? I’d have been just as annoyed if he was smoking. It’s not appropriate
@@Zelda00Gamer I've lived on the rural-ish south and yeah generally country folk do use dip, and they know its gross, we know its gross, literally everyone knows its gross, but they just do it. Regardless of Keith's reaction to it, it would be as unprofessional as pulling out a cigarette and smoking it in the middle of a shoot, at the very least. Yes Buzzfeed is a shitty company with plenty of valid complaints and criticism, but "my boss had me written up for dippin while on the job" seems like a normal situation with employer
@@FezUsocrazy yes! That’s what I was trying to say. It’s not like eating a snack or something. Tobacco products in general smell and are kinda gross to be around if you aren’t partaking and to do that in a professional setting on a small boat is just beyond not okay. Sorry if that didn’t come across!
I find it funny that she keeps referring to Buzzfeed as being authentic but my experience was that Buzzfeed was always seen as formulaic trash, completely devoid of authenticity, and synonymous with the concept of clickbait. I mean this as being my experience from around 2012/13. And I feel like that was the general consensus on the internet the entire time. I don't think I've ever heard Buzzfeed described as authentic before in my life.
I keep seeing people talk about "talent" and all I remember is clickbait since its inception. Then again suppose I can't expect people who like clickbait to recognize clickait...
i kind of did? only the videos though, because i really liked the personalities of specific creators but the buzzfeed website always did seem really stale (?) to me
@@stackflow343 I mean being clickbait/looking clickbait-y has long become an internet necessity to promote content. Still clickbait mostly means that the content is shallow except for its package, buzzfeed had a lot of bullshit content but also some actual content.
I can’t believe this on RUclips for free…amazing work on the doc🎉 the detail you go into buzz feed problems is something they shoulda done years ago Buzz feeds story is def a learning lesson for these massive RUclips channel conglomerates on how to operate
I contend with the framing of the baked Alaska guy in any sympathetic light. I know you said that is not why you included his segment but there is not nearly enough of a denunciation of his outright bigotry. His reaction to being informed that using the term spirit animal can be appropriative was his own responsibility, and he ostracized himself by choosing to be overt with his bigotry and his support of bigots. It is not the responsibility of the people around a n*zi to make them feel comfortable, wherever they are.
Baked Alaska was and still is a clown show. Same as the people that cry about cultural appropriation. He's a bigot just like all those anti fascist supporting bigots. So it makes sense that buzzfeed catered to bigots.
@@PadreMortalisCultural appropriation is real and harmful. A pillar of being anti fascist is to be against bigotry. It sounds like you need to educate yourself before using terms you don't understand.
@@pjihae I don't need to educate myself in the way you think. Appropriation is real, but cultural appropriation is as real as the white dudes that assaulted Jussie Smollett that one fateful night in a subfreezing industrial area of chicago.
Blaming Buzzfeed that Baked Alaska fell into the alt-right pipeline is a weird fucking take considering he's a grown ass man and probably already had those views before he was even hired into the company. He only got more vocal once he didn't have to keep it quiet after he quit. He went and got himself a Trump tattoo and participated in the Jan 6th riots, thats ALL on him.
It's funny how anyone who doesn't align with the left is "alt right" and riots? You mean when the police lead people in to the capitol and into various area inside? Oof. I'm so glad I'm no longer a democrat. I guess that would make me "Alt right" in your eyes 😂
@@Bufekana"no u" lmao, childish af. Jan 6th was a sore loser kicking up a deadly riot over a vote he lost in every way possible, BLM 2020 was a bunch of folk getting upset over a man being unjustly murdered and expressing their frustration Civil Rights style (the real way, not the fake way you read about in 6th grade). Grow up.
“I was corrected about certain micro aggressions that were super easy to address and that led me to being part of the Jan 6 insurrection and it’s partially because of Buzzfeed” wild On another note, this documentary was great!
Literally. "I was told not to use a sentence that was REALLY easy to avoid using, because it may be harmful to real people - so I rioted against democracy, and that's their fault". Like wtf?
@@nathanbruce1992 To be fair, "bullies hiding behind a superior moral complex" applies to both the dude getting the tattoo and the white people being overly protective of minority issues that they don't fully understand.
I love this doc, and am not trying to say the intern was wrong, but packing a lip in the middle of a job? I don't know, I get it's 12 hours, a long day, but you're entitled to lunch or breaks at some point....at any civilian-esque job, you can't just pack a lip. That's the same as smoking in the middle of serving a customer. The way the guy comments about it just seems unfair. But I can totally see why it would put a bad taste in his mouth towards Keith. Not defending that Keith went to his boss, he should have said something directly to the intern 100%. But you have to be professional and packing a lip in the middle of work just isn't it.....
As someone who has been an intern in a corporate setting, his story isn’t unique. Someone reporting you to your manager is a common occurrence. Since it was “nice guy Keith” from the Try Guys, it makes people feel a certain way.
It's unprofessional and the habit is ick imo, but it sounds like they were out in a public space and not talking to other people. Kinda gives the impression that if he would go snitching to management about something fairly innocuous, who knows what else he would be bringing to their attention behind people's backs. But this was a lifetime ago in an obviously gross competitive environment so who knows what his personality is like now that he has his own company..
@@anaerobic but how do we know Keith didn’t just make a casual comment about it and the supervisor decided to act? I mean what if this is a common occurrence and the supervisor felt it was the last straw? Idk I just feel like there’s more to the story.
Imo why should it be the talents job to have that conversation with a random camera guy? A single day out of probably hundreds of shoots in a year, not his problem to deal with
@@alexiswhite1511 Especially because many people with tobacco habits are super defensive about it. Like if it seemed like Keith was purposely getting him in trouble over nothing that would be different, but he just sounds butthurt he got tattled on
I’m always wary of criticisms of Buzzfeed which boil down “grrr the SJWs ruined everything!” because they had a couple of cringe feminist videos. But I love that this is far more thorough and well-researched! Well-done and good to have you back!
i remember straight out of college majoring in media production, everyone still wanted to work at Buzzfeed, a few people from my department ended up there. I'm so glad I dodged that bullet tbh. great work as always Donna
Buzzfeed really thought they could run with just their name but in reality, it wasn't the name "buzzfeed" that fans were attached to, it was the people behind that name, the ones who made it known. I remember there was a time where I'd binge watch so much buzzfeed videos that I didn't even realize hours had passed. The "cast" were the ones that made it entertaining and interesting to watch. It was the days of Try Guys, Ladylike, Unsolved, Ashley, Andrew, Gabbie, Quinta, Kelsey, Jen, Michelle, and so many more during that era that made Buzzfeed big. As soon as they started leaving, the videos just weren't the same and became less and less watchable. It wasn't that the newer people weren't good, its just wasn't the Buzzfeed we grew attached to.
I was Buzzfeed’s target audience back when they did life hacks and (poorly researched) fact videos. Working Night Shift at a hotel meant many hours of downtime, and I spent a lot of my time watching Buzzfeed evolve. As the channel became more political, I brushed it off as long as I could. Then it became disgusting. Racist and sexist, all in the name of… equality? I binged the “why I left Buzzfeed” videos because I had watched all of these creators grow. Eventually there was nobody left who I cared about, and I unsubscribed from all of the affiliated Buzzfeed channels. It felt like breaking up with a long term relationship that became toxic. You know your ex isn’t the same person who attracted you in the first place, but it didn’t make the transition any easier. It was my comfort channel, and it kept me entertained through the hardest time of my life. I still watch Try Guys and Safiya Nygaard when a video catches my eye, but the feeling isn’t the same. I’m glad they got out when they did, but the antics are a lot more tame and small-scale than they used to be. I wonder what will blow up next on RUclips, but I’m loving the longer-form content like this!
That's not what she said at all. He basically learned with buzzfeed how to make viral content with radical views. And he used it to do it with his own radical views.
I don't understand why america is so obsessed with race like everyone here n SEasia has varying melatonin skin tones and nobody really gives a fck about that. America is hella weird with races.
@@tintincruz8660America was quite literally built on racism like it’s sewn into everything so ofc they’re are going to be “obsessed” w race bc it’s everywhere and it’ll never leave, also SEasia may not hv racism the same way the US does but they def have colorism and they do give a fck abt it😭
Right. That person's complaint that they went to work after a car crash is lame. You could call out of work and explain you can't come in. If they reschedule or hold your absence against you then _that's_ when it shows the company is bad. But honestly, the whole complaint is lame bc no company is perfect. 😂
@@katelynbrown98Lol. Watch Will Neff's explanation for the whole thing. You just sound like an arrogant, privileged scumbag. I agree about Baked Alaska thing.
@@katelynbrown98he couldn’t do that because it was an interview for an insanely competitive company. he knew they wouldn’t wait for him, they’d just hire the next guy on the list. it’s easy to say you’d turn it down because they weren’t kind enough to reschedule, but as far as this guy could tell this interview was to make his entire career. it does say a lot though that he didn’t trust them to be understanding even in the case of a literal car crash (and they proved immediately that they weren’t by making him do that stupid video! he was entirely correct in that assumption)
I think you misunderstand the meaning of radicalized. That means they had to have had those views already, but were pushed to a further extreme, or to be more outward about it, or to be encouraged to get more into that side of things. You can have a belief or value, and not have it in the forefront of your mind, or have it more as a preference, but not go to big events like rallies and protests because of it, or make your whole brand that thing until something big happens and you get pushed into it further. Experiences at work or feeling unwelcome can be that push for some.
I think this rise and fall also showcases the overall impact of trying to have exponential growth in an environment with finite attention. It’s a lot like businesses that try to work well in the capitalism model and inevitably go under
The business died because they didn't evolve, constantly abused their workers, and had a workplace culture so toxic that all of their stars left. Literally none of that is capitalism, that's shitty leads. Sure they're in a capitalist system while doing that, but that's like blaming the boston bombing on the entirety of America.
coming out as the guy who liked trump bc you were scolded for appropriating a native term that has several easy replacements is the wildest leap in the world.
What was the term? I honestly don't know what you're talking about. "Native term" lol so Indian? American Indians themselves prefer that, is that what you're talking about? Yet I bet you don't gave the same energy for women who don't want to be called "CIS".
I’m gonna continue to “appropriate” terms just like most people do because that’s how the world has always worked, you leftists may not realise it but yes, acting this sensitive about crap like this does push people away, especially when you ignore the countless pieces of European culture that has been appropriated.
i doubt that's the whole story. from what I gathered, it's more that he thought the performative lib stuff was stupid and in a move that's pretty on brand for a lot of people who consider themselves "different" (which conveniently aligns with the creative types that might work for buzzfeed), they pushed against their environment and went performative the opposite way. Basically like a teen lashing out at their conservative parents. It's just unfortunate that he probably also got a lot of positive attention and validation from other people that pushed him towards radicalization and becoming a spokesperson. what gives this away for me is that the "anti-rad left" to MAGA pipeline is pretty well-established and most of them don't take a pit stop to actually internalize and champion conservative ideologies. they're just anti-left. edit: to be clear, his actions are his own. I'm 100% just talking about the road that led him there and how being engrossed in the performative leftist environment as opposed to seeking it out via youtube videos could've played a big role in the degree of his actions. this stuff happened over the course of years so it's probably more complicated than "how dare you say I'm culturally appropriating".
Cultural appropriation is a useless term many of you westerners use. I suppose we in Nigeria are guilty of it because we speak English as our national language? Or because we use the metric system? Or practice Christianity or Islam?
I will say the ramble about Keith being a “corporate weasel” for not confronting him directly about a personal issue sort of reads as someone who maybe hasn’t had to adhere to the expectations of a corporate environment before. Like I’ve had to work in a few different office environments at this point and have been trained to never engage in confrontation with coworkers and to instead go to a manager or HR. Does it suck if you’re the one receiving a complaint? Yes. I’ve been there. But it seems weird to treat that (pretty typical) aspect of having an office job as a character flaw.
yeah when I was an intern I never had someone come directly to me with a comment about my performance/behaviour it always came through my manager because I answered to her and not the other person
I'm glad someone else thought this too. Especially with the power imbalance between a big star and an intern, it's inappropriate for the higher up to give disciplinary comments Especially in the middle of a project
What made it lose credibility for me was when they started doing the layoff and the first to go were the marginalized creators and people without the same media connections as some of the more rich creators. While that wasn't their biggest money maker and from a business perspective yeah that's who you would lay off. Buzzfeed brand was intertwined with this idea of a progressive media company that wanted to lift the voices of those whtraditionallyly didn't have one. It was clear that it was just a fake. Even before then as a leftist, I felt like it was too preformitive in its messaging. Look up the beauty standards for women video and it's like the opening of Harmony Korine's spring breaker. Its like a textbook male gaze pretending to be empowerment.
I hope to God you grow out of this foolish mindset called progressivism one day😢 Why does this surprise you that a virtue signaling company was not honest? The "marginalized" people they let go were largely hired for quota reasons and yet you wonder why they were fired first? I'm black and even I am not surprised they were fired. Also, you seriously think a video about beauty standards with conventionally attractive people is bad?
@orboakin8074 you can't build a business around people and their personalities yet disregard them like they're objects once your business model starts failing. Rn the try guys are going thru something similar. They built a successful brand for a couple of years and they became irrelevant and didn't produce as much money. Like buzzfeed, they created their brand around their employees beyond the 4 guys they started with and now that their income is not the same anymore, they opted to completely change their business model instead of laying ppl off. You can't claim that you're a good guy because of your work environment then do exactly the opposite lmao
Yeah no, I don’t subscribe to the notion that this baked Alaska dude was “pushed more and more to the right” bc of buzzfeed. When a guy is that far off his views must have been cemented beforehand. And given how toxic trump and his supporters are I get why no one wanted to work with him at the end. Especially when u know how he is.
if people being annoying turns you into a neonazi maybe you didn't actually care about the causes you pretended to? like if a black person being rude makes you anti-blm you did not gaf in the first place.
@@coatimundi69most people are anti BLM, that’s not something to be ashamed of. These comments are all telling of you guys being in a massive echo chamber lmao
You think saying “spirit animal” is RACIST? You American lefties may feel justified in your insanely over the top beliefs, but your delusional sounding to any normal person, the idea of cultural appropriation will never exist, it’s something you made up to attack white people as usual, all while appropriating European culture for hundreds of years. You just blame him for turning right wing and then wonder why most countries in the west are shifting right? It’s because of people like YOU, you guys get fooled into thinking most people agree with you by these internet echo chambers
My take from minute one before watching the video: they had some of the best talent out there. Then the company fucked those people over, barely paying them while making millions off their image and personality. Those people deserved better from the beginning and many of them are still my favourite creators out there.
BuzzFeed felt very performative and they could be considered as the first content farm on RUclips. I followed them diligently in my younger years but the authenticity started to fade and the corporate element began to show. But I'm glad that Shane, Ryan, the Try Guys and countless others strayed from BuzzFeed.
TBH I’m not really buying the whole “he was radicalized because of Buzzfeed” thing. I’m sorry his coworker at Buzzfeed were wokescolds and a-holes, but this is a grown man perfectly capable of making his own choices. Nobody made you participate in that incident in January 2021, buddy- you did that on your own accord.
Yeah, I literally am stopping the video now and not finishing it because that's such a RIDICULOUS claim for the video to try to argue. Like, all credibility gone for me.
@@nathanbruce1992 Thats 40 years ago, things have changed, far left definitely runs the show now and yes you can be fired for "incorrect think". I work for big pharma and we are forced to hold meetings once a week where we explain why we are privileged because we are Yte, then we are also forced to read DEl books and if anyone dares to speak against it (like one time a woman complained one of the books was offensive to her faith)...she was ostracized to the point where she had to quit. It is indeed a hostile work environment based on fear and social manipulation. i live in San francisco btw, and yes getting canceled and fired for not having the same moral values of the left is very common.
Why is it that no video nowadays seems to normalize the volume? I'm listening to the video at a good volume and suddenly IT'S INCREDIBLY LOUD and then next I can't hear a thing. Please can we bring back normalizing audio?
24:18 this is SUPER cultural. A lot of ppl are taught that confronting an individual like that is inappropriate and unprofessional, esp if you’re senior but not their direct report. Not saying it’s right or better, just giving context.
Culture BS. It’s being a two faced little weasel. If you can’t handle simple confrontation in the world or workplace than stay the hell at home and away from interacting with people. If that’s a part of ones culture I will disrespect it all day
@kayjayhay I generally like Keith so I hope that reaction was a product of his environment and position at the time, or that it was an offhand comment that was blown out of proportion. My hope is that after having left buzzfeed that his stance on that has changed given that he and the other try guys are constantly taking drugs at work. Not holding my breath since anyone on RUclips can portray themselves in any way, but I know I am a very different person than I was when I was in a different setting holding different hypercapitalistic values.
You did an exceptional job at sources throughout this whole video! Exclusive interviews, BTS videos from then employees, tell-all type videos from ex-employees, content from Buzzfeed’s site and RUclips channels, you dug through it all. It was so well-done and I felt like I traveled through time; there really was a time we lived through when Buzzfeed videos were everywhere and when the company was cool. Slight problem about the video editing: the VHS/CRT stylized effect had a lot of flicker and blinking. They were pretty aggressive and hurt my eyes. Idk if there’s a way to make the effect less active or have it less of it in B-roll.
"Aaaw I was racist, so people ostracized me, no one wanted to talk to me because I had a trump tattoo :(" BOO HOOO, I can't get behind this portrayal that the liberals at BuzzFeed are responsible for BakedAlaska's racism
Idk who the guy is, but I can believe it. I'm very sure he was already a bit of a dick and probably right leaning, but I can believe they helped radicalize him
You think saying “spirit animal” is RACIST? You American lefties may feel justified in your insanely over the top beliefs, but your delusional sounding to any normal person, the idea of cultural appropriation will never exist, it’s something you made up to attack white people as usual, all while appropriating European culture for hundreds of years. You just blame him for turning right wing and then wonder why most countries in the west are shifting right? It’s because of people like YOU, you guys get fooled into thinking most people agree with you by these internet echo chambers
@@stephanysanchez3264 You think saying “spirit animal” is RACIST? You American lefties may feel justified in your insanely over the top beliefs, but your delusional sounding to any normal person, the idea of cultural appropriation will never exist, it’s something you made up to attack white people as usual, all while appropriating European culture for hundreds of years. You just blame him for turning right wing and then wonder why most countries in the west are shifting right? It’s because of people like YOU, you guys get fooled into thinking most people agree with you by these internet echo chambers
You lost me when you blamed Buzzfeed for radicalizing Baked Alaska who went to prison for the Jan. 6 riots. This person has a screw loose. You don't start off as a healthy, well rounded human being but gets a presidential candidate tattooed on your body only later to take part of a violent insurrection because your workplace is too liberal. Normal people would quit. Or compartmentalize the fact that anything to do with media is probably batshit and therefore not a good representation of the real world. And lets not forget the reason why they rioted: They believed a the presidential election was stolen despite the many investigations done that show there is no evidence for this. I have very little sympathy for this man and I can't believe anyone would try to excuse or mitigate his behavior.
yeah its so irresponsible to attribute his radicalization to buzzfeed, her argument could have been made without making him come off as a victim of “wokeness”, its the same defense ppl like andrew tate give when called out, their beliefs and actions are just reactions to women being mean to them when in reality they dont see women as humans but simply objects for their consumption
She's not excusing at all, but trying to explain why something can happen. I think it's 100% possible Buzzffeed led him down a radical path he would have never originally gone. Buzzfeed in nature created and encourages harmful/ radical content. And IS like a cult the way many employees were manipulated. Baked Alaska got ostracized form the Buzzfeed cult and they treated him less than human. So he found a new Radical right-wing cult that accepted him.
I kinda get why Keith told the management tbh it's kinda like having a cigarette in the office/not on your actual break sure it's a different vibe to a normal office job filming outside but yeah idk. I haven't watched a buzzfeed video in ages but I'm subbed to a few of the people who worked there. Great video Donna! 💜
Yeah, maybe it's because I hate confrontation but I'm with Keith on this one. Not only that, but in most job & other professional settings you don't talk to the individual themselves, you talk to HR or whatever equivalent there is. That's quite literally what they're there for. Chances are this wasn't the first instance of the cameraman chewing tobacco and it was just one too many times for management. I doubt Keith asked for him to be fired.
@@spaghetti_circle If you talk to hr before the person 15ft in front of your face, you're what's wrong with the corporate world. Everyone always talks about how bad capitalism is but when they see the abject horror that is toxic corporate culture, now they want to turn pragmatic and defend it? Making a better world in only the easy ways huh?
What a knockout documentary. Well done! I worked there in 2017 and it was a wild environment. Parties, free stuff, and celebrities everywhere! Then I went back in 2021 and you can see how much it changed. They completely eradicated their in-house creators and creativity was completely gone. They're now pumping out videos created by netizens (paid opps) and slapping their logo on them. It's sad to see how much they've changed. 😩
Thanks! I remember I wasn't chronically online until 2015. Everything was starting to get divided right at this time. Thank you for capturing this and making a proper video on this Donna. And you have changed your channel name again. No matter, I'll still watch
any main stream politics being pushed out my way yeah, I would not be associated, especially with a conservative liberals suck too, but they are another ballpark
Someone educating you on the usage of the term "spirit animal" causes you to not only support Trump but to get a Trump tattoo? That seemed like a bit of a reach compared to the other stories...
It's a common excuse for people who only pretended to believe anything else for friendship, clout, work, etc. That guy was already alt-right before any of that shit happened, but working at BF just made it harder to hold it in for the optics. That part of the video felt so out of place.
@@kennedy3682 Of course not. But if someone is already a conservative it would reinforce all the negative stereotypes about the left. Now, don't get me wrong: this can only be an explanation, not an excuse. All of his wrong life choices are his own fault.
I agree that Buzzfeed is toxic workplace, but if you lose your hard drive that contain company data that you were responsible of, no matter how, you are still responsible of that shit. I work in creative industry and i know damn well about this situation, You still take accountability even tho is not your fault that the gadget is missing.
@@RogerKlots yes but you were still responsible for it. Because you are person in charge of that data. I don't know how it is in the states, but it's common sense here.
If you don't know how things are in a different place/culture, why are you speculating and condemning? It was clearly stated that the employees were instructed to pack their equipment, and then leave it for other people move. For all we know he could have been REQUIRED to leave all company equipment in his office so it could be accounted for prior to the move. We don't know what happened so we shouldn't speculate and judge.
@@bijikedelai This was mid 2010s, before hybrid working was properly a thing. It's possible he wouldn't have been allowed him to take the hard drives home or anything like that considering they were Buzzfeed's property.
I think the more interesting point about the trumpy alaskan guy isn’t whatever point made about buzzfeed pushing him to extreme, but actually that buzzfeed taught him the use of virality and surface-level virtue signaling… he just took it to a different side of politics.
I feel like anyone who got Donald Trump tattooed on themselves would probably be the target of workplace ridicule... it's possible Baked Alaska is just a really irritating dude.
I've worked at a bunch of jobs that were nothing like Buzzfeed's corporate culture, from retail to construction to tech, and I'm pretty sure that guy would have been ridiculed no matter what workplace I think of
Especially since Baked Alaska's own statements made it clear he decided to be combative on purpose. If the dude was feeling out of place and intentionally became further right-wing to oppose his co-workers, of course they wouldn't welcome that with open arms.
@@The_king567 That's irrelevant. You get a stupid tattoo and people are gonna make fun of you. It has nothing to do with rights, don't try to make it about that.
I remember i was in 5th grade when buzzfeed was still popular. I think what appealed to me the most was also their video style- sleek, clean and simple
I feel like the chewing tobacco guy kind of soured this video for me. I would’ve complained too, confronting him would’ve caused more problems especially since tobacco guy had an excuse in his pocket. Just that part and the crash felt unnecessary, I liked everything else though
I agree, I likely would have done the same as Keith, you never know how confronting someone will go, and this video didn't need that example to get the point across. Really odd to add that in.
I'm from the same sort of area as that guy, very rural. Most men I know dip. But the only ones that do it while working are like mechanics and stuff. I can't imagine any of them would do it in like a professional setting like that.
36:35 As a woman, that was one of the most deranged and insufferable videos I've ever seen. Imagine conflating a VERY NATURAL human aversion to bodily fluids/waste with women being shamed for something we can't control. There is a major difference between women/girls being shamed or mocked for having periods and people saying "ew, I don't want to hear the details about your period, that's gross."
I feel you skipped or glossed over a few things, like the many changes in ownership, the actual website, the accusations of them stealing from Cracked, & them nixing their video game section after Gamergate, but I guess that could have turned this into a 1.5 or 2 hour video.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about something like this about Keith, Ned(yes pre scandal), and even Zach. Eugene seems to be the only one that still seems somewhat like their on camera self irl.
For example : remember being recommended a you can sit with us podcast episode where Keith’s wife Becky describes how they met and got together, and it made Keith seem pretty sus and Becky was trying play it off like he didn’t seem so bad😬
Seeing Baked Alaska in any mainstream RUclipsr's video feels like a yeti sighting. Lol I think he was radicalized by the money political RUclipsr's were making. He was witnessing it first hand at Buzzfeed.
I remember finding your channel from your "Applying at Buzzfeed" video and loved your content ever since, and now this banger of a documentary? Great moves Donna, keep it up.
I still remember seeing guy tries fruit for the first time on cody ko's channel and that being the last time I ever took buzzfeed seriously. From them on I avoided buzzfeed like the plague because I knew they were liars, trolls and were just pandering to millenials. And it was clear that by that point, they had run out of good, creative ideas
Bruh, I been subbed since u were a tiny little channel. I remember my husband and I thinking she is so creative, witty and smart. Im so happy to see how this channel has grown. Good work!
I still watch Kelsey's original 100 Baby Challenge all the time, she's really what got me into Sims, and that's literally one of the only Buzzfeed videos I watch anymore. I do watch the original people's new channels though.
I remember the days when all Buzzfeed did was 1)Ripoff topics from Cracked, when Cracked was at it's peak. 2)Make shopping lists. 3)Make animated gif spam articles that would tank your CPU. 4)Re-re-recycle the same topics every year. 5)Make quizes where none of the options were applicable to your tastes. Face it, this site was a mediocre bag of dollar store chips you didn't really like but kept eating anyway.
This is what it was like for me to work for Disney. Cut throat, cult, and you put your health on the line to "make" it. I did it for 9 years and it almost made me lose it. Still recovering and I left in 2014.
Now that you mentioned it, I haven't had to dodge Buzzfeed's crap in a while now. Kinda funny how their existence was annoying, but their disappearance unnoticed. Like a headache or a stuffy nose.
i think something that is incredibly notable - especially as far as your last point is concerned - is that buzzfeed didn't just refuse to help the people that gave them an audience grow, but for a long time refused to let those people competently grow an audience at all. this was a huge reason, at least as far as my consumption was concerned, that i followed people that left buzzfeed to their own channels and left the corporation behind. i have always watched youtube videos for the creator's personality, the same way i watch tv shows and movies for the personalities of the characters. i never watched buzzfeed unsolved because i was enamored by ghost stories or true crime, i watched buzzfeed unsolved because i knew shane and ryan were going to make me laugh. zach and keith talk about it when they were interviewed by colin and samir: for a long time, buzzfeed didn't want the same cast across multiple videos, because that builds a connection between the audience and the company's employees, not the company's content. buzzfeed set out to prove that there was a formula to virality, and they did that. but they also proved that - arguably - the most effective part of that formula is to give the audience people to care about, and that's something they never counted on.
i really appreciate incorporating subtitles directly into the video!! i use picture in picture a lot and the captions don't transfer into the picture so it can be really annoying sometimes
amazing video donna!!! i respect the amount of time that went into interviewing former employees and covering the history of buzzfeed because i personally never knew any of this until now.
don’t take this as buzzfeed endorsement, they fucking suck too, i just couldn’t help it. dude lives in a diverse work place, the hell did he expect? to get promoted for openly praising a racist misogynistic predator? too funny!
@@justinluc2572Yeah some people idolize him but most people just think he’s a better choice for helping the country’s economy than dementia boy. Hopefully we get candidates in the future that are less polarizing. The US needs to stop hating each other
Full Interviews from Caleb and Alastair on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PsychIRL
Ha😅
*psychirl I meant lol
lol, did you use the one Try Guy who isn't actually a pedophile as your example in your thumbnail?
Way to be a complete hypocrite!
... I think they used the one that had the most widespread drama at the time. it's not that deep
You are as phony as Buzzfeed. You are part of the same cult.
I think any media company that just pumps out as much content as fast as possible is always doomed to fail
This! Especially when they're not fact checking and just trying to follow trends to stay on top. Quality over quantity.
Honestly! It gives me The Onion vibes
Disney at the moment.
@@psn64sat63cuz at least they report on things that have value
It's pretty started when they were making fun of white guys for Some reason XD
When I was a teen I used to be enamoured by how much fun it looked like to work for buzzfeed. I’m in my mid 20s now and the same things that drew me to buzzfeed as a company look like a nightmare now. The open plan offices, the lack of boundaries between colleagues, the blurring of the lines between personal and public lives, the exploitation of the workers, *everything*
Good luck finding an office employing that many people that are willing to give EVERYONE an individual office of seclusion...
Do yourself a favor and never apply to Zappos then. That’s another company that has a looser work environment and encourages closer team collaboration. I don’t think it’s necessarily bad, some companies thrive better under different conditions and there are types of people that work better in those conditions. Just not my cup of tea either.
@@Bridget466I never understand comments like these. You have no idea what industry this person works in, why recommend a company at all?
@@MWBlueNoodles cus I want to talk to people online and the connecting thread is companies with outside the norm work culture. And I specifically didn’t recommend Zappos for that reason. Why are you such a negative Nancy.
Open plan offices are fine. The rest though, yep, not good
i think one of the ways in which buzzfeed lost credibility at least on tumblr was finding out a lot of the quizzes were made by a 16 year old girl who never got paid for any of it
W h a t
Oh my god I just googled this and she was cited as either the 2nd or 5th highest contributor to buzzfeed and never saw a penny that's fucking crazy
WHOA WHAT??
My gosh that poor kid.
@@darafeth honestly if you are surprised about the extent which well off people will exploit anything and everything to inflate their imaginary number accounts in 2023, you've been purposefully ignoring everything happening in the world because it didnt effect you directly
Those “fun” offices in hindsight seem like nightmare places to work. Mandated fun, not so fun.
Usually when an office like that has a ton of amenities and fun stuff, the more hours you're expected to work and ultimately stay there as opposed to your own home.
That's an unwritten rule working in corporate, especially in tech.
Currently work in an open concept office. It's horrible. I'll take a cubicle, thanks.
@@sidtv2542gives those coal towns where you could only use the coins the company gave you, at the company store and never got paid.
Agreed. Especially as someone who isn't a people person.
Don't get me wrong typical US work culture has a lot of issues, but I'll gladly take a traditional office over a "fun" one.
Reminds me of Google offices. They make it appealing and fun so they can keep you there as much as possible in order to pump out content.
i still think it's a little crazy that there's a whole generation of content creators that would not exist had they not worked at buzzfeed. like safiya and tyler, try guys, shane & ryan, worth it, quinta, etc. like what? especially seeing quinta go beyond buzzfeed & youtube, and even direct her own show on national television.
I had no idea Ze Frank used to work for Buzzfeed.
@@LikaLarukuHe did?? No way haha
Oh wow, I've just gotten farther in the video, and I had no idea he was so high up at the company.
Michelle Khare is a huge one too☺️ but even people like Kelsey, Kristin, Jen still had smaller but successful channels after leaving
I don't believe Safiya's bf worked at Buzzfeed at all.
Will Neff worked at Buzzfeed and was fired
as a former unsolved producer, making videos for an audience that only wanted ryan and shane content was tough on our entire team : / wish things were done differently. loved this and your channel!
Yeah that must have been brutal. I’m sorry that you guys had to deal with that 😕
Tbh others videos didn’t feel the same compared to the ones with Shane and Ryan. Don’t know why but that was the outcome.
I think the two most successful series being unsolved with Ryan and Shane and Try guys really showed that buzzfeed needed more consistency in the series and people that wer in them. I didn't like that there was a constant changing of faces for videos. RUclips and creators rely on not quite parasocail but an understanding of the creator on screen to some extent. A relatablity .
Slowly the faces we as an audience would get used to, would leave . The two series that popped off wer the only series that had the same faces doing the episodes.
You can’t really build a positive collective response off of the back of two creators who essentially carried the show. I respect your work but, not everyone can have that charisma. It’s what it is.
Do you think that's part of the reason why Ryan and Shane's new venture involves their crew a lot? So that what you experienced would happen less and that the people would also want the content because of the people behind the scenes
Ryan and Shane for the fucking win!!!! No one cared about buzzfeed, they were so smart to branch off and do their own shit
Ryan and Shane really were the last Buzzfeeders I followed, and I was always so worried that they would never be able to leave because of how expensive all of that ghost hunting equipment, night vision cameras, etc must be. I cheered when they + Steven announced Watcher
I love that they have Steven with them, but I miss Worth It so much. It was my go-to mealtime show
@@whatwhatwhatttttt it was a really dumb idea of BuzzFeed to move worth it to let's eat while expecting the same amount of views and not telling the OG's who only watched/subscribed on their channel about it. Wish it didn't get cancelled, it deserved to go out like unsolved did. I hope Andrew finds something better, he's clearly passionate about cooking.
@@greyblueme9711 I.. just learned about it now from your comment.. I'm so sad
& Ze Frank too.
I remember buzzfeed always felt surface level to me, some of their videos seemed to encapsulate 'girlboss feminism' and when I found youtube channels that were also left leaning while going more in depth in the ideas they expressed i essentially abandoned buzzfeed and I havent watched them since
When buzzfeed started making those content I got so upset cuz they're setting feminist dicourse BACK because of the rage clicks 🙄
@@amirahazhar4192 LITERALLLY like who gives a fuck about 'manspreading'
same here. witnessing some of the countless "why i left buzzfeed" (i.e. Try Guys, Ryan and Shane) and now i know why😢
Buzzfeed owes feminism reparations. They gave anti-feminists years worth of content.
"girlboss feminism". You know that the "Try guys" is their popular show right? And you're angry at "girl boss feminism" bit. You're just exposing yourself dude.
The best thing that has come out of Buzzfeed is Quinta Brunson. She was woefully under appreciated while she was there. Thankfully the larger entertainment industry is valuing her talents.
Yes!! Abbott Elementary is one of the best shows ever!
She was way too big of a talent for a place like Buzzfeed, I'm so glad she made her getaway.
literally who
BF was sitting on top of gold mines and decided they weren't worth paying more too. It was their own fault they could have been another media studio they could still be moving like Netflix, but they got greedy.
@@HT.100not knowing a very famous person doesn't not make you cool
I think it’s also very telling looking at the type of content the creators who left now make. Like Safiya is making content that is COMPLETELY her own, also interesting that she seemed to leave before the performative Ladylike era started. Also telling (as someone who loved Ladylike) that the content that had the most positivity was the Kristen and Jen stuff and they still make extremely wholesome and enjoyable content.
It’s just interesting to see how these creators have been able to make their own content once the left buzzfeed.
Even for the Try Guys, who I’m also a fan of, their content has changed drastically in my opinion, it’s less “trying stuff” and more actually doing things if that makes sense (their podcast also got wayyyyy more candid after Ned left which is telling as well)
Kristen and Jen and their friendship were my favorite when I watched LadyLike so it's great to know they're still going strong with their own content. I had watched their channel but over the lockdown period, my taste in videos changed so drastically that I rarely if ever watch anything I used to.
That anecdote about Keith complaining behind the chew dude's back was interesting, especially when you also consider the anecdote that involved Ned basically being a drunken pig to a couple of fans and Keith pretty much shrugging it off. I think the story ended with Keith saying something like, "Yeah, Ned does that."
IDK have you been around someone doing dip? Lots of spitting and they often have like a spit can/bottle that they then have to carry around with them; they also tend to make a lot of mouth noises due to having to manage all the extra saliva...none of that is good for video/sound production. Should Keith have just said something to that guy instead of complaining to a higher up? Yeah probably.
@@Digit2517 chew is definitely nasty, but Keith should've just told the dude something like "they kinda frown on that, fyi." Unless there's more to the story---and there could very well be---that's just looking out for your coworker. It sounds like Keith knew how to do that when it came to Ned, until that situation exploded. It makes me wonder if Keith sucks at confrontation, was intimidated by Buzzfeed office politics, was being strategic and underhanded, or the chew thing came out when Keith was just talking shit and Buzzfeed management ran with it.
I mean, interacting with fans randomly vs being at work is completely different
I think those really have no correlation to each other. I do think Keith is a bit of a sell out, but anecdotes are only anecdotes, and to basically act that Keith's a shithole bootlicker over this situation because HE(cameraman) found it rude is vaguely whiny. Not only is it not the problem of the talent to have that conversation with crew, plenty of people will ignore things but mention it to a higher up to ask you to not do it again, because to certain people that IS what's polite. He just seems offended that someone didn't like his gross habit-like he has the right to do it, but that doesn't make it not gross
@@aff77141 would you say that the other person is pre judging based off those anecdotes? Maybe even acting a little prejudice?
Now, Jubilee and Cut has received the same status like Buzzfeed did in 2010s. Wonder they'll have the same downfall in the next few years.
People have already laughed at them so idk if they're going to get fully canceled & dumped.
Jubilee is already going down cliff cuz ppl calling them out for their bs. Their content is not necessarily as deep and meaningful as they claim, rather, they often engage in unnecessary confrontations and controversies to bring in views. Same w Cut and the button series
@iliketoads6924 I agree. I started watching jubilee when it wasn't very popular. They had great content that reached a deeper level. But now it's just drama and very tone deaf stuff.
i do feel like the fact that cut and jubilee primarily rely on randomly casted people is a key difference though. maybe it’ll make them last longer
Will’s story had my jaw on the floor. I wish that whoever tried to screw him out of Buzzfeed got the karma they deserved.
Its crazy to think that the person was probably close enough to him…
I honestly think its kelsey the girl who is in his video majority of the time
@@HeyITs0B0r3Dwhy??
@@user-og7qq5zy8p just my thoughts. Cause who else know what project he is doing. Obviously she felt threaten cause remember she never got the chance to do major projects (she wasnt in ladylike, unsolved, worth it or tryguys) its obvious someone who stole his hardrive knew what project he was doing. Why else would they stole his drive. And when he got let go. Who immediately got the better end of the stick? Kelsey. He never said her name but kelsey is the only girl who worked with him alot. I dont think she acts alone tho. But its just my take. So not confirmed as well
@@HeyITs0B0r3Dnever thought about that, but yeah, it could have been kelsey, I guess.
If it was indeed her, than she definitely got the karma.
I think she stayed on buzzfeed for a while longer until everybody started jumping ship once it was clear buzzfeed was sinking. And she tried to become a content creator but never managed to achieve the same numbers as other ex buzzfeed employees who left earlier, like the try guys, the guys from the watcher, safiya, etc… dont know what she is doing now but last time I checked she had a podcast that gets an average of 2k views.
She also looks older, idk why. I believe she is in her 30’s but she looks like she is in her 40’s, no joke. Maybe she went overboard with the fillers, as most influencers/people who live in LA do
@@lalailm initially she was alright but as i watched more of her. She is those kind of girls where she thinks she is funny just by saying things louder acting quirky with sexual jokes. Its not
39:00 also, nobody at buzzfeed “pushed” this dude to right-leaning politics. He is fully responsible for his own actions and choices. Not a soul “made” him right-leaning, and to assert the opposite is to resolve him of responsibility and autonomy.
yeah, also like if someone calmly saying to ya 'hey, can you use a slightly different word' is gonna turn you into an trump insurrectionist, then you were probably gonna go down that path regardless
It really is just "The left got a little too PC so I changed all my opinions on economics and social issues" except not as a joke
Sure, no is forcing anyone to be anything. Being alienated by people you spend all your time around when you know they only superficially care and just want to win over on you, and then seeing anti-sjws act comparatively more open, more rational (for the time), and not willing to kill your career over innocuous statements or positions certainly doesn't help one stay with their personal status quo.
Exactly
Hi, I’m someone who was a leftist most of my life until the left PUSHED ME THE FUCK AWAY like it’s nobody’s business. Y’all and your extremism did that. Nobody else. But taking accountability was never a leftist’s strong suit.
“Someone informed me that ‘spirit animal’ is an insensitive term so I became a white supremacist” If that’s all it took, he was already a white supremacist.
@@martinajohnsonEXACTLY 😭 THANK U
@@martinajohnson You mean black and queer co-workers feel uncomfortable, and therefore distance themselves from an extremist coworker who promotes a platform that targets them as second class citizens on the sole basis of their identity? Gee, what a difficult revelation to come to on ones own. 😆
Omg this is the problem 😂 why if someone has a different political stance or supports trump they automatically are a white supremacist !? 🤦🏻♀️ you people don’t even know what that term means , Jesus Christ read a book babe
Honestly, even if those meanie libs at Buzzfeed *did* push him down the far-right pipeline, I don’t particularly care. The fact that he did it at all still speaks volumes of his character.
Yeah that part of the video was absolutely ridiculous. I'm glad I found someone else in the comments who feels the same way.
I feel like buzzfeeds shallow takes and liberal aesthetics was fun/entertaining when I was a young college kid who also had shallow understandings of politics simply from age/lack of knowledge/experience. However, inevitably I grew up and the content was no longer enjoyable. I feel like many of their millennial audience just grew up as well.
Agreed!
Yep. It was entertaining when I liked Feminism 101 content but now it feels so obvious it’s cringe
@@keelyparker8466all this stuff is just a big cash grab for a revolving door of assholes on Both sides
my favorite fun fact about the rejection hotline is that chelsea peretti, jonah peretti's sister, wrote a bunch of the voicemails as an early way to start her comedy writing
I knew the name Peretti sounded familiar!
Being rejected by Gina Linetti from Brooklyn-99? This is an experience some people would be ready to pay for
@@dityacivilizacii I was about to say this
okay but being called out for cultural appropriation doesn't make people vote for trump. mans did that himself with his own foolishness
lmao thank you for this. i got to that part just now and had to pause and take a full laugh break because be SO SERIOUS!!!
Snowflake behavior to be radicalized because someone said you shouldn’t say Justin Bieber is your spirit animal
Right?? We've all been corrected or called out before but this guy went to to get Trump TATTOOED on himself, joined a mob, went alt-right. That's not buzzfeed's fault.
I agree, but I think it was because she wanted to share as many stories of former Buzzfeed employees as she could, even the controversial/problematic ones.
I mean she was narrating that literally while rolling footage from the Riot. Doubt it's meant to be 100% sympathetic. Seeing a lot of overreaction and missing the point of it.
Wow... I was a middle schooler in 2012 and idolized Buzzfeed's work culture. Sooo glad that this was made, I was always curious as to why so many people made 'why I left Buzzfeed' videos when they could never say much about the situation. This was so interesting to learn more about after so many years and rocketed me back to gathering around the family computer with my friends so that we could take Buzzfeed quizzes haha.
Hahaha I was working for Maker Studios. I felt for kids that were taken in by the facade it was awful on so many levels working at these influencer start ups. Never will I work for a company that caters to that crowd again.
Comment about the 40:00ish mark - I know us lefties can be very preachy and self righteous half the time but I'm sorry "liberals were kind of annoying so I directly acted as a right wing contrarian and they didn't like that so I became a Nazi. Look what they did made me do :(" is not a compelling argument?
I totally agree, that, and the tabacco chewing guy complaining, was so strange. People made him feel ostracized because he had a Trump tattoo, and he blames Buzzfeed? Very odd. Especially because this wasn't needed, there was enough in this video to show how bad buzzfeed is without adding that.
Yeah, BakedAlaska 100% had a case of the Contrarian Stupid, dug in his heels to an absurdly ridiculous degree - a Trump tattoo? Seriously? - and then whined when the bed he'd made for himself wasn't as comfy or cozy as he felt it should be. He tried to turn himself into a far-right social martyr over a couple somewhat annoying but ultimately unimpactful experiences. The use of the term "coming out" in this context is also pretty tone deaf. One doesn't don't "come out" as a billionaire-stanning idiot.
@@meggy0and not only that, he was chewing tobacco in a tiny boat. I assume it was one or two of the guys and the chewer filming. You gotta spit that shit out and it’s gross. So he either spat in the lake (most likely) or into a cup he brought with himself (equally gross). I wouldn’t want to be trapped near that. This dude couldn’t wait til he was alone? A 15 min “smoke” break? I’d have been just as annoyed if he was smoking. It’s not appropriate
@@Zelda00Gamer I've lived on the rural-ish south and yeah generally country folk do use dip, and they know its gross, we know its gross, literally everyone knows its gross, but they just do it. Regardless of Keith's reaction to it, it would be as unprofessional as pulling out a cigarette and smoking it in the middle of a shoot, at the very least.
Yes Buzzfeed is a shitty company with plenty of valid complaints and criticism, but "my boss had me written up for dippin while on the job" seems like a normal situation with employer
@@FezUsocrazy yes! That’s what I was trying to say. It’s not like eating a snack or something. Tobacco products in general smell and are kinda gross to be around if you aren’t partaking and to do that in a professional setting on a small boat is just beyond not okay. Sorry if that didn’t come across!
I find it funny that she keeps referring to Buzzfeed as being authentic but my experience was that Buzzfeed was always seen as formulaic trash, completely devoid of authenticity, and synonymous with the concept of clickbait. I mean this as being my experience from around 2012/13. And I feel like that was the general consensus on the internet the entire time. I don't think I've ever heard Buzzfeed described as authentic before in my life.
It depends which area of the internet you hanged out in I think
Agreed it was basically a slightly less level than tv
I keep seeing people talk about "talent" and all I remember is clickbait since its inception. Then again suppose I can't expect people who like clickbait to recognize clickait...
i kind of did? only the videos though, because i really liked the personalities of specific creators but the buzzfeed website always did seem really stale (?) to me
@@stackflow343 I mean being clickbait/looking clickbait-y has long become an internet necessity to promote content. Still clickbait mostly means that the content is shallow except for its package, buzzfeed had a lot of bullshit content but also some actual content.
I can’t believe this on RUclips for free…amazing work on the doc🎉 the detail you go into buzz feed problems is something they shoulda done years ago
Buzz feeds story is def a learning lesson for these massive RUclips channel conglomerates on how to operate
@@Astronomica999 well good thing it's free?
Hey, it’s VinceVintage, creator of also free and awesome content on RUclips! :D Excellent to see creators supporting one-another dude ✌️
I contend with the framing of the baked Alaska guy in any sympathetic light. I know you said that is not why you included his segment but there is not nearly enough of a denunciation of his outright bigotry. His reaction to being informed that using the term spirit animal can be appropriative was his own responsibility, and he ostracized himself by choosing to be overt with his bigotry and his support of bigots. It is not the responsibility of the people around a n*zi to make them feel comfortable, wherever they are.
This this this!! I thought this too, and for a second I was afraid I stumbled on a tr*mp/new-nattsi apologist video…
Baked Alaska was and still is a clown show. Same as the people that cry about cultural appropriation. He's a bigot just like all those anti fascist supporting bigots. So it makes sense that buzzfeed catered to bigots.
@@PadreMortalisCultural appropriation is real and harmful. A pillar of being anti fascist is to be against bigotry. It sounds like you need to educate yourself before using terms you don't understand.
@@pjihae I don't need to educate myself in the way you think. Appropriation is real, but cultural appropriation is as real as the white dudes that assaulted Jussie Smollett that one fateful night in a subfreezing industrial area of chicago.
Literally this! Thank you!!
Blaming Buzzfeed that Baked Alaska fell into the alt-right pipeline is a weird fucking take considering he's a grown ass man and probably already had those views before he was even hired into the company. He only got more vocal once he didn't have to keep it quiet after he quit. He went and got himself a Trump tattoo and participated in the Jan 6th riots, thats ALL on him.
all right winged males do is blame people instead of themselves
It's funny how anyone who doesn't align with the left is "alt right" and riots? You mean when the police lead people in to the capitol and into various area inside? Oof. I'm so glad I'm no longer a democrat. I guess that would make me "Alt right" in your eyes 😂
And BLM 2020, was that summer of love?
@@Bufekana great brain power at work here, boss
@@Bufekana"no u" lmao, childish af. Jan 6th was a sore loser kicking up a deadly riot over a vote he lost in every way possible, BLM 2020 was a bunch of folk getting upset over a man being unjustly murdered and expressing their frustration Civil Rights style (the real way, not the fake way you read about in 6th grade). Grow up.
“I was corrected about certain micro aggressions that were super easy to address and that led me to being part of the Jan 6 insurrection and it’s partially because of Buzzfeed” wild
On another note, this documentary was great!
Literally. "I was told not to use a sentence that was REALLY easy to avoid using, because it may be harmful to real people - so I rioted against democracy, and that's their fault". Like wtf?
Blaming it on buzzfeed is the same than blaming anyone who would've told him no. It's like saying someone became an incel cause a girl rejected them
People gain status for being offended which is annoying to everyone else. They’re just bullies hiding behind a superior moral complex
@@nathanbruce1992 To be fair, "bullies hiding behind a superior moral complex" applies to both the dude getting the tattoo and the white people being overly protective of minority issues that they don't fully understand.
I love this doc, and am not trying to say the intern was wrong, but packing a lip in the middle of a job? I don't know, I get it's 12 hours, a long day, but you're entitled to lunch or breaks at some point....at any civilian-esque job, you can't just pack a lip. That's the same as smoking in the middle of serving a customer. The way the guy comments about it just seems unfair. But I can totally see why it would put a bad taste in his mouth towards Keith. Not defending that Keith went to his boss, he should have said something directly to the intern 100%. But you have to be professional and packing a lip in the middle of work just isn't it.....
As someone who has been an intern in a corporate setting, his story isn’t unique. Someone reporting you to your manager is a common occurrence. Since it was “nice guy Keith” from the Try Guys, it makes people feel a certain way.
It's unprofessional and the habit is ick imo, but it sounds like they were out in a public space and not talking to other people. Kinda gives the impression that if he would go snitching to management about something fairly innocuous, who knows what else he would be bringing to their attention behind people's backs. But this was a lifetime ago in an obviously gross competitive environment so who knows what his personality is like now that he has his own company..
@@anaerobic but how do we know Keith didn’t just make a casual comment about it and the supervisor decided to act? I mean what if this is a common occurrence and the supervisor felt it was the last straw? Idk I just feel like there’s more to the story.
Imo why should it be the talents job to have that conversation with a random camera guy? A single day out of probably hundreds of shoots in a year, not his problem to deal with
@@alexiswhite1511 Especially because many people with tobacco habits are super defensive about it. Like if it seemed like Keith was purposely getting him in trouble over nothing that would be different, but he just sounds butthurt he got tattled on
I’m always wary of criticisms of Buzzfeed which boil down “grrr the SJWs ruined everything!” because they had a couple of cringe feminist videos. But I love that this is far more thorough and well-researched! Well-done and good to have you back!
A couple? So you agree with the rest of it, got it.
Literally the whole company was cringe feminists and openly anti white people. God your being ignorant.
@@jewel8425 what does this mean and what are you implying
found the snowflake@@jewel8425
@@jewel8425I have no idea what you're implying..
i remember straight out of college majoring in media production, everyone still wanted to work at Buzzfeed, a few people from my department ended up there. I'm so glad I dodged that bullet tbh. great work as always Donna
Buzzfeed really thought they could run with just their name but in reality, it wasn't the name "buzzfeed" that fans were attached to, it was the people behind that name, the ones who made it known. I remember there was a time where I'd binge watch so much buzzfeed videos that I didn't even realize hours had passed. The "cast" were the ones that made it entertaining and interesting to watch. It was the days of Try Guys, Ladylike, Unsolved, Ashley, Andrew, Gabbie, Quinta, Kelsey, Jen, Michelle, and so many more during that era that made Buzzfeed big. As soon as they started leaving, the videos just weren't the same and became less and less watchable. It wasn't that the newer people weren't good, its just wasn't the Buzzfeed we grew attached to.
I was Buzzfeed’s target audience back when they did life hacks and (poorly researched) fact videos. Working Night Shift at a hotel meant many hours of downtime, and I spent a lot of my time watching Buzzfeed evolve.
As the channel became more political, I brushed it off as long as I could. Then it became disgusting. Racist and sexist, all in the name of… equality? I binged the “why I left Buzzfeed” videos because I had watched all of these creators grow. Eventually there was nobody left who I cared about, and I unsubscribed from all of the affiliated Buzzfeed channels.
It felt like breaking up with a long term relationship that became toxic. You know your ex isn’t the same person who attracted you in the first place, but it didn’t make the transition any easier. It was my comfort channel, and it kept me entertained through the hardest time of my life.
I still watch Try Guys and Safiya Nygaard when a video catches my eye, but the feeling isn’t the same. I’m glad they got out when they did, but the antics are a lot more tame and small-scale than they used to be. I wonder what will blow up next on RUclips, but I’m loving the longer-form content like this!
I wouldn't have been surprised if Anita Sarkessian had done a Collab with them during their political stage.
Youre calling Saf's vids small scale? Where have you been she's upped her videos a lot
something tells me that someone telling him to not say he had a “spirit animal” didn’t turn him into a white supremacist
That's not what she said at all. He basically learned with buzzfeed how to make viral content with radical views. And he used it to do it with his own radical views.
White, black, brown, we are all human
I don't understand why america is so obsessed with race like everyone here n SEasia has varying melatonin skin tones and nobody really gives a fck about that. America is hella weird with races.
@@tintincruz8660America was quite literally built on racism like it’s sewn into everything so ofc they’re are going to be “obsessed” w race bc it’s everywhere and it’ll never leave, also SEasia may not hv racism the same way the US does but they def have colorism and they do give a fck abt it😭
let’s stop making excuses for grown men challenge. “radicalized by his work place” girl… it’s a grown man, he already had those views 😭
Right. That person's complaint that they went to work after a car crash is lame. You could call out of work and explain you can't come in. If they reschedule or hold your absence against you then _that's_ when it shows the company is bad. But honestly, the whole complaint is lame bc no company is perfect. 😂
@@katelynbrown98Lol. Watch Will Neff's explanation for the whole thing. You just sound like an arrogant, privileged scumbag.
I agree about Baked Alaska thing.
@@katelynbrown98he couldn’t do that because it was an interview for an insanely competitive company. he knew they wouldn’t wait for him, they’d just hire the next guy on the list. it’s easy to say you’d turn it down because they weren’t kind enough to reschedule, but as far as this guy could tell this interview was to make his entire career. it does say a lot though that he didn’t trust them to be understanding even in the case of a literal car crash (and they proved immediately that they weren’t by making him do that stupid video! he was entirely correct in that assumption)
100% true but youd be surprised (actually maybe you wont) how many fully grown men cant think for themselves
I think you misunderstand the meaning of radicalized. That means they had to have had those views already, but were pushed to a further extreme, or to be more outward about it, or to be encouraged to get more into that side of things. You can have a belief or value, and not have it in the forefront of your mind, or have it more as a preference, but not go to big events like rallies and protests because of it, or make your whole brand that thing until something big happens and you get pushed into it further. Experiences at work or feeling unwelcome can be that push for some.
I think this rise and fall also showcases the overall impact of trying to have exponential growth in an environment with finite attention. It’s a lot like businesses that try to work well in the capitalism model and inevitably go under
The business died because they didn't evolve, constantly abused their workers, and had a workplace culture so toxic that all of their stars left. Literally none of that is capitalism, that's shitty leads. Sure they're in a capitalist system while doing that, but that's like blaming the boston bombing on the entirety of America.
coming out as the guy who liked trump bc you were scolded for appropriating a native term that has several easy replacements is the wildest leap in the world.
FR 😭😭
Guys was just a trump supporter and was mad people actually associated him with trump views which are bad 😂
@@via45like what
What was the term? I honestly don't know what you're talking about. "Native term" lol so Indian? American Indians themselves prefer that, is that what you're talking about?
Yet I bet you don't gave the same energy for women who don't want to be called "CIS".
I’m gonna continue to “appropriate” terms just like most people do because that’s how the world has always worked, you leftists may not realise it but yes, acting this sensitive about crap like this does push people away, especially when you ignore the countless pieces of European culture that has been appropriated.
If you can be easily pushed to the right cuz someone said something about cultural appropriation (incorrectly) then you never really stood on anything
There is nothing to say about cultural appropriation other than it's a stupid concept invented by racist leftist morons.
i doubt that's the whole story. from what I gathered, it's more that he thought the performative lib stuff was stupid and in a move that's pretty on brand for a lot of people who consider themselves "different" (which conveniently aligns with the creative types that might work for buzzfeed), they pushed against their environment and went performative the opposite way. Basically like a teen lashing out at their conservative parents. It's just unfortunate that he probably also got a lot of positive attention and validation from other people that pushed him towards radicalization and becoming a spokesperson.
what gives this away for me is that the "anti-rad left" to MAGA pipeline is pretty well-established and most of them don't take a pit stop to actually internalize and champion conservative ideologies. they're just anti-left.
edit: to be clear, his actions are his own. I'm 100% just talking about the road that led him there and how being engrossed in the performative leftist environment as opposed to seeking it out via youtube videos could've played a big role in the degree of his actions. this stuff happened over the course of years so it's probably more complicated than "how dare you say I'm culturally appropriating".
Cultural appropriation is a useless term many of you westerners use. I suppose we in Nigeria are guilty of it because we speak English as our national language? Or because we use the metric system? Or practice Christianity or Islam?
Buzzfeed is synonymous with the concept of content farms
I will say the ramble about Keith being a “corporate weasel” for not confronting him directly about a personal issue sort of reads as someone who maybe hasn’t had to adhere to the expectations of a corporate environment before. Like I’ve had to work in a few different office environments at this point and have been trained to never engage in confrontation with coworkers and to instead go to a manager or HR. Does it suck if you’re the one receiving a complaint? Yes. I’ve been there. But it seems weird to treat that (pretty typical) aspect of having an office job as a character flaw.
yeah when I was an intern I never had someone come directly to me with a comment about my performance/behaviour it always came through my manager because I answered to her and not the other person
I'm glad someone else thought this too. Especially with the power imbalance between a big star and an intern, it's inappropriate for the higher up to give disciplinary comments Especially in the middle of a project
@@nerdgirl7363why did he say anything at all though?
@@Shearedfield because using any tobacco product while working is frowned upon these days
@@Shearedfielddude was sneaking in dip while working - not asking to take a break. That’s why
What made it lose credibility for me was when they started doing the layoff and the first to go were the marginalized creators and people without the same media connections as some of the more rich creators. While that wasn't their biggest money maker and from a business perspective yeah that's who you would lay off. Buzzfeed brand was intertwined with this idea of a progressive media company that wanted to lift the voices of those whtraditionallyly didn't have one. It was clear that it was just a fake. Even before then as a leftist, I felt like it was too preformitive in its messaging. Look up the beauty standards for women video and it's like the opening of Harmony Korine's spring breaker. Its like a textbook male gaze pretending to be empowerment.
I hope to God you grow out of this foolish mindset called progressivism one day😢 Why does this surprise you that a virtue signaling company was not honest? The "marginalized" people they let go were largely hired for quota reasons and yet you wonder why they were fired first? I'm black and even I am not surprised they were fired. Also, you seriously think a video about beauty standards with conventionally attractive people is bad?
@orboakin8074 you can't build a business around people and their personalities yet disregard them like they're objects once your business model starts failing. Rn the try guys are going thru something similar. They built a successful brand for a couple of years and they became irrelevant and didn't produce as much money. Like buzzfeed, they created their brand around their employees beyond the 4 guys they started with and now that their income is not the same anymore, they opted to completely change their business model instead of laying ppl off. You can't claim that you're a good guy because of your work environment then do exactly the opposite lmao
@@iliketoads6924 well said
In depth, thorough, and thoughtful analysis as always Donna. This is some great stuff! Happy to have been a small part of it!
Thanks again Josh.
Yeah no, I don’t subscribe to the notion that this baked Alaska dude was “pushed more and more to the right” bc of buzzfeed.
When a guy is that far off his views must have been cemented beforehand. And given how toxic trump and his supporters are I get why no one wanted to work with him at the end. Especially when u know how he is.
Exactly. A bigot deserves to be ostracized.
if people being annoying turns you into a neonazi maybe you didn't actually care about the causes you pretended to?
like if a black person being rude makes you anti-blm you did not gaf in the first place.
@@coatimundi69 very much this.
@@coatimundi69most people are anti BLM, that’s not something to be ashamed of. These comments are all telling of you guys being in a massive echo chamber lmao
You think saying “spirit animal” is RACIST? You American lefties may feel justified in your insanely over the top beliefs, but your delusional sounding to any normal person, the idea of cultural appropriation will never exist, it’s something you made up to attack white people as usual, all while appropriating European culture for hundreds of years. You just blame him for turning right wing and then wonder why most countries in the west are shifting right? It’s because of people like YOU, you guys get fooled into thinking most people agree with you by these internet echo chambers
My take from minute one before watching the video: they had some of the best talent out there. Then the company fucked those people over, barely paying them while making millions off their image and personality. Those people deserved better from the beginning and many of them are still my favourite creators out there.
BuzzFeed felt very performative and they could be considered as the first content farm on RUclips. I followed them diligently in my younger years but the authenticity started to fade and the corporate element began to show.
But I'm glad that Shane, Ryan, the Try Guys and countless others strayed from BuzzFeed.
TBH I’m not really buying the whole “he was radicalized because of Buzzfeed” thing. I’m sorry his coworker at Buzzfeed were wokescolds and a-holes, but this is a grown man perfectly capable of making his own choices. Nobody made you participate in that incident in January 2021, buddy- you did that on your own accord.
Yeah if getting told to not appropriate language is all it takes to "push you right" you were already pretty far right in the first place
Yeah, I literally am stopping the video now and not finishing it because that's such a RIDICULOUS claim for the video to try to argue. Like, all credibility gone for me.
@@lenny_wonderstelling people what to do because they don’t fit your moral values is conservative, not liberal
@@nathanbruce1992 Thats 40 years ago, things have changed, far left definitely runs the show now and yes you can be fired for "incorrect think". I work for big pharma and we are forced to hold meetings once a week where we explain why we are privileged because we are Yte, then we are also forced to read DEl books and if anyone dares to speak against it (like one time a woman complained one of the books was offensive to her faith)...she was ostracized to the point where she had to quit. It is indeed a hostile work environment based on fear and social manipulation. i live in San francisco btw, and yes getting canceled and fired for not having the same moral values of the left is very common.
@@Bookworm214-y3d You work for big pharma. You deserve a hostile work environment.
So the guy that started from stories about sweatshops ended up opening his own sweatshop?
🤔
Why is it that no video nowadays seems to normalize the volume? I'm listening to the video at a good volume and suddenly IT'S INCREDIBLY LOUD and then next I can't hear a thing. Please can we bring back normalizing audio?
24:18 this is SUPER cultural. A lot of ppl are taught that confronting an individual like that is inappropriate and unprofessional, esp if you’re senior but not their direct report. Not saying it’s right or better, just giving context.
Agreed. I would have done the same if someone had been doing something that made me uncomfortable.
Also who th chews tobacco during work 😅 that’s kinda gross
@@JJsims5504 seems like your culture is cowardly and two faced than lol
Culture BS. It’s being a two faced little weasel. If you can’t handle simple confrontation in the world or workplace than stay the hell at home and away from interacting with people. If that’s a part of ones culture I will disrespect it all day
@kayjayhay I generally like Keith so I hope that reaction was a product of his environment and position at the time, or that it was an offhand comment that was blown out of proportion. My hope is that after having left buzzfeed that his stance on that has changed given that he and the other try guys are constantly taking drugs at work. Not holding my breath since anyone on RUclips can portray themselves in any way, but I know I am a very different person than I was when I was in a different setting holding different hypercapitalistic values.
You did an exceptional job at sources throughout this whole video! Exclusive interviews, BTS videos from then employees, tell-all type videos from ex-employees, content from Buzzfeed’s site and RUclips channels, you dug through it all. It was so well-done and I felt like I traveled through time; there really was a time we lived through when Buzzfeed videos were everywhere and when the company was cool.
Slight problem about the video editing: the VHS/CRT stylized effect had a lot of flicker and blinking. They were pretty aggressive and hurt my eyes. Idk if there’s a way to make the effect less active or have it less of it in B-roll.
agreed abt the vhs effect - esp at faster speeds
LOVE the editing of this video ❤
Y'all remember in 2017 or so when there was a ton of "Why I Left Buzzfeed" videos?
Yup
So, old mate was accused of cultural appropriation, which led to him being charged for storming the capitol? Thats a huuuuuuge leap.
"Aaaw I was racist, so people ostracized me, no one wanted to talk to me because I had a trump tattoo :(" BOO HOOO, I can't get behind this portrayal that the liberals at BuzzFeed are responsible for BakedAlaska's racism
Idk who the guy is, but I can believe it. I'm very sure he was already a bit of a dick and probably right leaning, but I can believe they helped radicalize him
THANK YOU
You think saying “spirit animal” is RACIST? You American lefties may feel justified in your insanely over the top beliefs, but your delusional sounding to any normal person, the idea of cultural appropriation will never exist, it’s something you made up to attack white people as usual, all while appropriating European culture for hundreds of years. You just blame him for turning right wing and then wonder why most countries in the west are shifting right? It’s because of people like YOU, you guys get fooled into thinking most people agree with you by these internet echo chambers
@@stephanysanchez3264 You think saying “spirit animal” is RACIST? You American lefties may feel justified in your insanely over the top beliefs, but your delusional sounding to any normal person, the idea of cultural appropriation will never exist, it’s something you made up to attack white people as usual, all while appropriating European culture for hundreds of years. You just blame him for turning right wing and then wonder why most countries in the west are shifting right? It’s because of people like YOU, you guys get fooled into thinking most people agree with you by these internet echo chambers
They’re not liberals but progressives, who are fairly conservative (I.e. claim a monopoly on morality and ostracize those that don’t adhere to it)
You lost me when you blamed Buzzfeed for radicalizing Baked Alaska who went to prison for the Jan. 6 riots. This person has a screw loose. You don't start off as a healthy, well rounded human being but gets a presidential candidate tattooed on your body only later to take part of a violent insurrection because your workplace is too liberal. Normal people would quit. Or compartmentalize the fact that anything to do with media is probably batshit and therefore not a good representation of the real world. And lets not forget the reason why they rioted: They believed a the presidential election was stolen despite the many investigations done that show there is no evidence for this. I have very little sympathy for this man and I can't believe anyone would try to excuse or mitigate his behavior.
yeah its so irresponsible to attribute his radicalization to buzzfeed, her argument could have been made without making him come off as a victim of “wokeness”, its the same defense ppl like andrew tate give when called out, their beliefs and actions are just reactions to women being mean to them when in reality they dont see women as humans but simply objects for their consumption
"violent insurrection" lmao
She's not excusing at all, but trying to explain why something can happen. I think it's 100% possible Buzzffeed led him down a radical path he would have never originally gone. Buzzfeed in nature created and encourages harmful/ radical content. And IS like a cult the way many employees were manipulated. Baked Alaska got ostracized form the Buzzfeed cult and they treated him less than human. So he found a new Radical right-wing cult that accepted him.
@@stackflow343 They brought a noose and guns. That's all I am saying
@@tristanrouse6150 And yet the only people harmed and killed were the 'rioters'. Funny that.
I kinda get why Keith told the management tbh it's kinda like having a cigarette in the office/not on your actual break sure it's a different vibe to a normal office job filming outside but yeah idk.
I haven't watched a buzzfeed video in ages but I'm subbed to a few of the people who worked there. Great video Donna! 💜
Yeah, maybe it's because I hate confrontation but I'm with Keith on this one. Not only that, but in most job & other professional settings you don't talk to the individual themselves, you talk to HR or whatever equivalent there is. That's quite literally what they're there for. Chances are this wasn't the first instance of the cameraman chewing tobacco and it was just one too many times for management. I doubt Keith asked for him to be fired.
@@spaghetti_circle If you talk to hr before the person 15ft in front of your face, you're what's wrong with the corporate world. Everyone always talks about how bad capitalism is but when they see the abject horror that is toxic corporate culture, now they want to turn pragmatic and defend it? Making a better world in only the easy ways huh?
What a knockout documentary. Well done! I worked there in 2017 and it was a wild environment. Parties, free stuff, and celebrities everywhere! Then I went back in 2021 and you can see how much it changed. They completely eradicated their in-house creators and creativity was completely gone. They're now pumping out videos created by netizens (paid opps) and slapping their logo on them. It's sad to see how much they've changed. 😩
Some of the most insightful, compelling BuzzFeed videos were the ones by former creators explaining why they left.
Thanks! I remember I wasn't chronically online until 2015. Everything was starting to get divided right at this time. Thank you for capturing this and making a proper video on this Donna. And you have changed your channel name again. No matter, I'll still watch
This is the last time I change the name lol
When the world needs her most she will answer the call. Welcome back Donna! 🤗
Call me toxic I wouldn't associate with a guy with a Trump tattoo either, cannot fault buzzfeed for this one
Unfortunately, yes. It would be horrid for PR.
You are toxic
any main stream politics being pushed out my way yeah, I would not be associated, especially with a conservative liberals suck too, but they are another ballpark
Someone educating you on the usage of the term "spirit animal" causes you to not only support Trump but to get a Trump tattoo? That seemed like a bit of a reach compared to the other stories...
It's a common excuse for people who only pretended to believe anything else for friendship, clout, work, etc. That guy was already alt-right before any of that shit happened, but working at BF just made it harder to hold it in for the optics. That part of the video felt so out of place.
Agreed - this part of the story seemed either naive or disingenuous.
Yeah, but imagine that sort of crap for a year. Ugh.
@@lemmypop1300 none of that would turn me into an extreme right wing bigot..?
@@kennedy3682 Of course not. But if someone is already a conservative it would reinforce all the negative stereotypes about the left. Now, don't get me wrong: this can only be an explanation, not an excuse. All of his wrong life choices are his own fault.
I agree that Buzzfeed is toxic workplace, but if you lose your hard drive that contain company data that you were responsible of, no matter how, you are still responsible of that shit. I work in creative industry and i know damn well about this situation, You still take accountability even tho is not your fault that the gadget is missing.
100 % This👏
But other people handled the boxes during the move. Someone could've easily stolen it.
@@RogerKlots yes but you were still responsible for it. Because you are person in charge of that data. I don't know how it is in the states, but it's common sense here.
If you don't know how things are in a different place/culture, why are you speculating and condemning?
It was clearly stated that the employees were instructed to pack their equipment, and then leave it for other people move.
For all we know he could have been REQUIRED to leave all company equipment in his office so it could be accounted for prior to the move.
We don't know what happened so we shouldn't speculate and judge.
@@bijikedelai This was mid 2010s, before hybrid working was properly a thing. It's possible he wouldn't have been allowed him to take the hard drives home or anything like that considering they were Buzzfeed's property.
I remember your old buzzfeed video it's crazy how far back that waassss. This is such a great video btw.
I think the more interesting point about the trumpy alaskan guy isn’t whatever point made about buzzfeed pushing him to extreme, but actually that buzzfeed taught him the use of virality and surface-level virtue signaling… he just took it to a different side of politics.
Yeah, I think that was her main point, unfortunately I think she accidentally emphasized the wrong things.
I feel like anyone who got Donald Trump tattooed on themselves would probably be the target of workplace ridicule... it's possible Baked Alaska is just a really irritating dude.
I've worked at a bunch of jobs that were nothing like Buzzfeed's corporate culture, from retail to construction to tech, and I'm pretty sure that guy would have been ridiculed no matter what workplace I think of
seriously, u get a trump tattoo and expect ppl to be cool with it?
@@stephanysanchez3264it’s there right to do it
Especially since Baked Alaska's own statements made it clear he decided to be combative on purpose. If the dude was feeling out of place and intentionally became further right-wing to oppose his co-workers, of course they wouldn't welcome that with open arms.
@@The_king567 That's irrelevant. You get a stupid tattoo and people are gonna make fun of you. It has nothing to do with rights, don't try to make it about that.
I remember i was in 5th grade when buzzfeed was still popular. I think what appealed to me the most was also their video style- sleek, clean and simple
I feel like the chewing tobacco guy kind of soured this video for me. I would’ve complained too, confronting him would’ve caused more problems especially since tobacco guy had an excuse in his pocket. Just that part and the crash felt unnecessary, I liked everything else though
yeah, calling keith a corporate weasel for that was so dramatic
I agree, I likely would have done the same as Keith, you never know how confronting someone will go, and this video didn't need that example to get the point across. Really odd to add that in.
I'm from the same sort of area as that guy, very rural. Most men I know dip. But the only ones that do it while working are like mechanics and stuff. I can't imagine any of them would do it in like a professional setting like that.
@@MarkelleRayneeSheree yes I’m from a small town too and I can’t imagine someone doing that at a shoot. It’s so weird
@@angelac7125 he was such a little punk about it and looked more like a baby next too poor Will’s story.
36:35 As a woman, that was one of the most deranged and insufferable videos I've ever seen. Imagine conflating a VERY NATURAL human aversion to bodily fluids/waste with women being shamed for something we can't control. There is a major difference between women/girls being shamed or mocked for having periods and people saying "ew, I don't want to hear the details about your period, that's gross."
I feel you skipped or glossed over a few things, like the many changes in ownership, the actual website, the accusations of them stealing from Cracked, & them nixing their video game section after Gamergate, but I guess that could have turned this into a 1.5 or 2 hour video.
I think it is absolutely mind blowing that Jonah Peretti is Chelsea Peretti's brother.
I for one stopped watching when they fired jenny Lorenzo after she developed the channel and programming for pero like.
I'm so mad that the algorithm only showed me this 10 months later, this is a really really good video.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about something like this about Keith, Ned(yes pre scandal), and even Zach. Eugene seems to be the only one that still seems somewhat like their on camera self irl.
For example : remember being recommended a you can sit with us podcast episode where Keith’s wife Becky describes how they met and got together, and it made Keith seem pretty sus and Becky was trying play it off like he didn’t seem so bad😬
@@RVforestgreen wait what did becky say?
@@ishathakorthe stories low key made Keith seem like a jerk tbh, it’s in their you can sit with us podcast
which ycswu episode?
@@angelac7125 I Forget but i think it’s one of the initial ones where all the ladies basically talk about how they met their respective partner.
Seeing Baked Alaska in any mainstream RUclipsr's video feels like a yeti sighting. Lol I think he was radicalized by the money political RUclipsr's were making. He was witnessing it first hand at Buzzfeed.
avg political grifter
I remember finding your channel from your "Applying at Buzzfeed" video and loved your content ever since, and now this banger of a documentary? Great moves Donna, keep it up.
i can’t imagine anything worse than working in an open air office. i want privacy and personal space, wtf
I still remember seeing guy tries fruit for the first time on cody ko's channel and that being the last time I ever took buzzfeed seriously. From them on I avoided buzzfeed like the plague because I knew they were liars, trolls and were just pandering to millenials. And it was clear that by that point, they had run out of good, creative ideas
Bruh, I been subbed since u were a tiny little channel. I remember my husband and I thinking she is so creative, witty and smart. Im so happy to see how this channel has grown. Good work!
I spent so much of my high school years on Buzzfeed. All I remember about my photography and metalwork classes was just doing Buzzfeed quizzes
I still watch Kelsey's original 100 Baby Challenge all the time, she's really what got me into Sims, and that's literally one of the only Buzzfeed videos I watch anymore. I do watch the original people's new channels though.
I remember the days when all Buzzfeed did was 1)Ripoff topics from Cracked, when Cracked was at it's peak. 2)Make shopping lists. 3)Make animated gif spam articles that would tank your CPU. 4)Re-re-recycle the same topics every year. 5)Make quizes where none of the options were applicable to your tastes.
Face it, this site was a mediocre bag of dollar store chips you didn't really like but kept eating anyway.
The name change took me by surprise lmao
Yeah lol it was a jumpscare
@@strangeaelurus "WHO THE HECK IS DONNA" then is saw the thumbnail
This is the last time. I swear
@@DonnaIRL amen 😭
Came for 5 mins, stayed for the whole video. Excellent work! That backing track works brilliantly with headphones btw, felt like i was on a journey.
I still remember the "why I left buzzfeed" videos.
This is what it was like for me to work for Disney. Cut throat, cult, and you put your health on the line to "make" it. I did it for 9 years and it almost made me lose it. Still recovering and I left in 2014.
Crazy. How can creativity thrive under those conditions? What was your role at the company?
buzzfeed from ok to junkmail spam really fast in a year and top of hating anything with a DINGDANGDONG, really annoying.
Now that you mentioned it, I haven't had to dodge Buzzfeed's crap in a while now. Kinda funny how their existence was annoying, but their disappearance unnoticed. Like a headache or a stuffy nose.
You couldn’t be more accurate
i think something that is incredibly notable - especially as far as your last point is concerned - is that buzzfeed didn't just refuse to help the people that gave them an audience grow, but for a long time refused to let those people competently grow an audience at all. this was a huge reason, at least as far as my consumption was concerned, that i followed people that left buzzfeed to their own channels and left the corporation behind. i have always watched youtube videos for the creator's personality, the same way i watch tv shows and movies for the personalities of the characters. i never watched buzzfeed unsolved because i was enamored by ghost stories or true crime, i watched buzzfeed unsolved because i knew shane and ryan were going to make me laugh. zach and keith talk about it when they were interviewed by colin and samir: for a long time, buzzfeed didn't want the same cast across multiple videos, because that builds a connection between the audience and the company's employees, not the company's content. buzzfeed set out to prove that there was a formula to virality, and they did that. but they also proved that - arguably - the most effective part of that formula is to give the audience people to care about, and that's something they never counted on.
him saying "they are both cute and LOL" is making me giggle
your content is so up my ally i can’t believe it’s taken this long for me to be shown it
i really appreciate incorporating subtitles directly into the video!! i use picture in picture a lot and the captions don't transfer into the picture so it can be really annoying sometimes
Bruh how ironic is it that Buzzfeed starting out with a sweatshop joke then it turned into a sweatshop itself
Unpopular opinion: Buzzfeed was always terrible
I think in the beggining they actually came up with creative video ideas, but once they kept pumping the same video formats it became UNBEARABLE
They lost me at the painting with period blood thing 🥴
amazing video donna!!! i respect the amount of time that went into interviewing former employees and covering the history of buzzfeed because i personally never knew any of this until now.
I can say I've witnessed the death of both College Humour and Buzzfeed
the baked alaska and dip segments were bizarre takes. i highly disagree……
“they hated me cause i loved trump” aw boo hoo
don’t take this as buzzfeed endorsement, they fucking suck too, i just couldn’t help it. dude lives in a diverse work place, the hell did he expect? to get promoted for openly praising a racist misogynistic predator? too funny!
At this point, it's an open secret that it's a cult.
I don't shed a single tear for anyone who supports him.
How dare someone have different political opinions than me lmao 🤣 god you people are hypocrites
@@justinluc2572Yeah some people idolize him but most people just think he’s a better choice for helping the country’s economy than dementia boy. Hopefully we get candidates in the future that are less polarizing. The US needs to stop hating each other
Great deep dive video Donna! Anytime seeing Will “Billy Ichibon” Neff tell his stories is magnetic
It's sad to see how far they have fallen. The old buzzfeed was honestly how I survived middle and highschool during the years of 2011-2017.
Bravo. This has to be one of your highest quality videos. Really informative watch. I learned a lot!
*When BuzzFeed posted the video of “Manspreading”, i knew I was done.*
Reminds me of a certain coffee company in a lot of specific ways.