The exposé on Cory Booker’s imaginary thug pal T-Bone is a pretty big story. One that the super-hip and current BuzzFeed should totes be all over. Right?
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373120460739072000
Or maybe not so much:
.@BuzzFeedBen has thrown out some lame ass excuses before, but this one takes the cake. https://t.co/2gXPjEIPIy
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
Let’s take a look at what editor-in-chief Ben Smith had to say about BuzzFeed’s silence:
@sschubart @redsteeze wait you couldn’t find the story on twitter? The Internet is no longer about aggregating stuff. Great story tho.
— Ben Smith (@benyt) August 29, 2013
Um, what?
"BuzzFeed – we feed the Buzz. Unless it's already on Twitter." Is that it now, @BuzzFeedBen? I look forward to holding you to this standard.
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
@RBPundit I am slightly amused that you think that’s new — that you missed the shift from aggregation to social. Not 100 pct of course.
— Ben Smith (@benyt) August 29, 2013
Call us crazy, but it seems that Smith is directly contradicting BuzzFeed’s whole stated raison d’être:
BuzzFeed is the leading media company for social news and entertainment, intensely focused on delivering high-quality original reporting, insight, and viral content across a rapidly expanding array of subject areas. Our technology powers the social distribution of content, detects what is trending on the web, and connects people in realtime with the hottest content of the moment.
Might be time for a new mission statement, no?
https://twitter.com/MadCaliph/status/373128850118803456
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373127532238749697
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373129856843657216
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373134425145753600
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373135124474232833
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373135259107213312
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373122011520045056
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373122113504555008
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373122684114448384
I mean, @BuzzFeedBen could assign someone to do a GIF listicle about @CoryBooker's imaginary friend, but that's below BuzzFeed, apparently.
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
@missADelgado No, Ben Smith said they don't do aggregation anymore. @mchastain81 @BuzzFeed
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
My, how things have changed.
cc @BuzzFeedBen RT @Wittorical Buzzfeed made Miley Cyrus GIF's even though they were already on the internet…huh.
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
Things I saw on Twitter before they appeared on BuzzFeed -> http://t.co/GMoK7Xlzjo cc @BuzzFeedBen
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
Things I saw on Twitter before they appeared on BuzzFeed -> http://t.co/fZF3qQpYzH cc @BuzzFeedBen
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
.@BuzzFeedBen I just linked TWO stories written up by BuzzFeed writers that I saw on Twitter before you guys wrote them. Try harder.
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
Things I saw on Twitter before they appeared on BuzzFeed -> http://t.co/yFe17Ve8fB cc @BuzzFeedBen
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
Shall I continue, @BuzzFeedBen? Or will you just admit you really didn't want to give the Cory Booker story attention?
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
Hold up — maybe Smith has a good excuse:
https://twitter.com/TheAmishDude/status/373126279806980097
@BuzzFeedBen BAhahhahahahha. Really, you should skip ignoring and denying it. Go straight to "the people don't care." @sschubart @redsteeze
— Area Man (@lheal) August 29, 2013
https://twitter.com/MadCaliph/status/373122563313897473
Any of those things could be true. But none of it matters because Smith and his buddies can deflect:
@MadCaliph @TwitchyTeam really sleeping on the job today @redsteeze @RBPundit cc @BuzzFeedAndrew
— Ben Smith (@benyt) August 29, 2013
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedAndrew/status/373125787752607744
https://twitter.com/mckaycoppins/status/373126523429347328
Hilarious!
https://twitter.com/MadCaliph/status/373127011012603904
Yeah, we are such amateurs. BuzzFeed, on the other hand, takes its journalism very seriously. Earlier this morning, McKay Coppins actually did deign to acknowledge Eliana Johnson’s real journalism:
https://twitter.com/mckaycoppins/status/373107909875732480
But the “awesome” story that he rightly thought worthy of tweeting about (“social distribution of content”!) didn’t merit any BuzzFeed coverage. Maybe he’s just brainstorming for later:
Relax, folks. Word is @BuzzFeedBen tapped @mckaycoppins for a piece on how Cory Booker's imaginary friend is tearing GOP apart.
— RBe (@RBPundit) August 29, 2013
https://twitter.com/OrwellForce/status/373122463103602689
No need to wait! BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski is on it!
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373125098452287488
https://twitter.com/buzzfeedandrew/status/373123807374229504
Nice save, Andrew!
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/373125306485583872
Ooo… a kitten! BuzzFeed loooooves kittens. Cats are real news.
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