An analysis of the BuzzFeed Celebrity section of the BuzzFeed site for S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications class BuzzFeed: Future Media Skills. #NHBuzzFeed By Jonathan Gordon, Carly Kaplin, Biko Skalla & Briana Rinaldo

1. BuzzFeed Channel
Analysis: Celebrity
By Jonathan Gordon, Carly Kaplin, Biko Skalla & Briana
Rinaldo
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Fall 2016
BuzzFeed: Future Media Skills
#NHBuzzFeed

2. OBJECTIVE
• Present content on the BuzzFeed Celebrity section within
their website.
• Discuss celebrities often featured on the BuzzFeed
homepage.
• Demonstrate of how and why the page works and who
engages with the content
• Suggest recommendations and ideas to grow channel.
Ideas are as follows:
Getting Personal
Celebrity Reactions
Rising Stars
|OBJECTIVES

3. CONTENT
What is it?
BuzzFeed Celeb is a hub for everything celebrity related
Sorted by chronologically as opposed to trending
What’s on it (BuzzFeed, 2016)
• New movie or album out - Kristen Wiig & Zach Galifinakis Masterminds
• News stories related to celebs - Kim K. robbed, Brangelina divorce
• Quizzes - Which Paul Rudd is Youngest
• Trending thing a celeb has done recently - Kevin G. Mean Girls rap,
pictures of Chris Hemsworth stretching
• Celeb Q&A’s - Troye Sivan, Gigi Gorgeous
• Tweet compilations - Jaden Smith tweets
• Literally any BuzzFeed article posted involving a celebrity
|CONTENT

4. CONotes&Shit
NTENT
What people look at
• Place to read more about celebrities that may not make the
top trending articles on the front page
• Sidebar shows trending articles of the Celeb page
Who does BuzzFeed consider a “celebrity?”
• What “type” of celebrities are featured?
• Very few articles involving athletes - there is a separate sports
page
• Royal family is included
• YouTubers
Why?
The only people left out are politicians. This separation between
“celebrities” and politicians likely comes with BuzzFeed’s new
separation between News and Entertainment.
|CONTENT

5. WHYIT
WORKS
• There is no rhyme or
rhythm to what gets
shared most on
BuzzFeed Celeb’s
Twitter but the page is
run much like the site -
quantity is key.
• They are posting a new
story every couple hours
and some are hits while
others are busts.
• BuzzFeed’s page is
much more focussed on
comedic and interest
posts compared to other
celebrity Twitter pages
(Like Daily Mail Celebrity
on the right).
|WHYITWORKS
@BuzzFeedCeleb Twitter, 2016
@DailyMailCeleb Twitter, 2016

6. WHYIT
WORKS
• It works because people love
learning things about
celebrities!
• The Kardashian’s are featured
more than anyone else and
are generally good for shares.
• For the most part though
BuzzFeed spreads out posts
between many celebrities
which covers a broad
audience.
• Justin Timberlake, Britney
Spears, Chris Pratt, Chris
Hemsworth, Zac Efron and
Chrissy Teigen are all also
common celebs to get posts
as well.
|WHYITWORKS
Twitter @BuzzFeedCeleb
@BuzzFeedCeleb, 2016

7. GETTING
PERSONAL
● BuzzFeed Celebrity lacks a personalized
connection to the celebrities they report
on
● Websites like Reddit have something
called an “AMA”
○ AMA = Ask Me Anything
○ This gives users the ability to ask the
person hosting the AMA any question
and the host can answer directly back
Reddit.com, 2016
|GETTING
PERSONAL

8. GETTING
PERSONAL
● BuzzFeed could incorporate this using a thread with…
○ Direct posts
○ Embedded Tweets
○ SnapChat
○ Video
● This would make the page and content more personal
● More audience engagement
|GETTING
PERSONAL

9. CELEB
REACTIONS
● BuzzFeed could add a feature where they aggregate all of
the things celebrities are saying about a certain topic
● It would be so much easier to take in our news/opinions if
all of the information was put together in one place
● More than that, it would help raise awareness to issues
● Imagine: These Celebrities are Saying x about y
○ Followed by a post where you can see exactly what their
opinions and thoughts are at that moment
○ It would give users an easier way to connect with their
favorite stars
|CELEBRITY
REACTIONS

10. RISING
STARS
BuzzFeed rising star section
• Suggested subpage to the BuzzFeed celeb page that
specifically aims to help new celebrities gain followers
• Compare to Spotify Playlists or Forbes Celebrity 100:
Ones to Watch (Forbes, 2016)
• Creates a space where visitors can go to see who to
follow, separate by genre (TV, film, music, social media)
• Audience can utilize the Getting Personal feature to get to
know new celebrities and see their thoughts and ideas
through the Celebrity Reactions.
|RISINGSTARS

11. RISING
STARS
Spotify, 2016
|RISINGSTARS
Spotify playlists catering to new and
rising musicians. BuzzFeed could adopt
similar idea regarding a list of
celebrities to watch each year.
Spotify, 2016
Spotify, 2016
Spotify, 2016

12. RISING
STARS
Forbes, 2016
|RISINGSTARS
Annual list from Forbes detailing different celebrities in various
genres to watch closely in the coming year (2016 edition).

13. CITATIONS
BuzzFeed. (October 5, 2016). BuzzFeed Celebrity.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/celebrity
Forbes. (2016). Forbes Ones to Watch, 2016.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/gjdm45efik/the-up-and-
comers/#7d19d9fd3f01
Gordon, Jonathan (2016, October 5) AMA Schedule. Reddit.com/r/iama
Spotify Premium. (October 5, 2016).
Twitter. (October 5, 2016). BuzzFeed Celebrity.
https://twitter.com/BuzzFeedCeleb?lang=en
Twitter. (October 5, 2016). Daily Mail Celebrity.
https://twitter.com/DailyMailCeleb?lang=en
|CITATIONS

14. CITATIONS|THANKYOU #NHBuzzFeed