World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech

by Franklin Foer

To sell ads, it helps to create an environment where advertisers feel assured that their message will be heard, or rather mistaken for editorial. BuzzFeed was the reductio ad absurdum of this. Very early in its life, it decided to make branded advertising its chief stream of revenue. To bolster this pursuit, it generated reams of stories that sounded just like press releases. Andrew Sullivan made sport of pointing this out. He ran a feature called “Guess Which BuzzFeed Piece Is an Ad.” It was damn near impossible to detect any difference—“19 Incredible Things You Didn’t Know About Dunkin’ Donuts”; “The New iPhone Keyboard Changes Everything”; “The Only Post You Need to Read About the PlayStation 4.” (Those were all supposedly legitimate works of journalism, not advertising.) How confused was BuzzFeed about the difference between advertising and editorial? When writers published pieces critical of advertisers, BuzzFeed management vanished them from its site. (After public outcry, BuzzFeed conceded its sins and vowed not to repeat them.)