Cody Johnston, a frequent contributor to cracked.com, recently wrote a witty article article about 2013’s obsession with viral content. He points how so many familiar websites compromise quality control over their content (which are almost always lists) in order to drive in as much traffic as humanly possible. While this may not be news, his detailed and humorous take on it makes it well worth the read. If you’re pressed for time, you should, at the very least, check out the brilliant little tumblr Johnston set up in order to illustrate his point: it’s called Buzzfeed Articles Without The Gifs.
It’s exactly what you’d expect but so much more. Condense the text from just about any Buzzfeed article and you’re left with what amounts to little more than a essay from an elementary school kid with an extreme case of ADHD. The excessive exclamation points and capitalization, the overuse of lists, the hyperbolized everything — it’s hysterical (and, not to mention, somebody’s job!)
Check out the existential sadness in the link above. Some of my personal favorites include inevitable downward spiral of picking up a new TV show and the pure poetry of the “19 Worst Things Ever.”