I’m not ashamed to admit that Twitter is a big part of my daily routine, both in and out of quarantine.
As an active user since 2012, I check Twitter at least once every day, scrolling as far back as the platform would let me, reading tweets sent by users I follow, both local and international. If asked, I would describe my feed as a healthy concoction of tweets about both world issues and Animal Crossing.
However, one account that I follow and regularly interact with—and this may be slightly controversial—is Buzzfeed. Yes, you heard me. I’m not above wasting a couple of hours of my day taking quizzes about which Friends character I’m the most like.
(For the record, it’s Chandler.)
Buzzfeed has its fair share of detractors, with many people disliking the way the company itself is run to the content it hosts on its various platforms. And while I understand some of this complaints, there is one complaint that I often disagree with: that celebrity news is intrinsically worthless.
This complaint is not specific to Buzzfeed alone (although an argument can be made that Buzzfeed gets the brunt of these complaints). Check the comments of any website that reports on celebrities and you are often greeted with comments like:
“People are dying lmao”
“Hop in, we’re gonna find out who asked”
“Nobody cares”
While it is tempting to shit on celebrity news, the easy target that it is, I would argue that these “frivolous” pieces of news do have a place in the media space.
Articles on celebrities and entertainment are often light-hearted and short. It is rare that such pieces go above 100 to 150 words, and they are often filled with images to capture the audiences’ attention. The focus is often on a small issue with little-to-no impact on society at large. No one ever seriously worries about the celebrity in question. In short: they’re fun to read. And that is perfectly fine.
News doesn’t always have to be serious. Sometimes they can be superficial in nature.
Humans don’t have the mental capacity to only deal with doom and gloom 24/7. It is not possible for us to be engaged with serious, life and death issues every hour of the day. So what’s so bad about giving a fuck about the Kardashians now and then?
So to answer your questions, random online users: I care, Chad from New Orleans! I asked, Jennifer from Los Angeles!
No one is denying there aren’t serious issues going on in the world everyday. No one is saying coverage about Covid-19 or Kim Jong Un’s possible death isn’t important.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to read a lighthearted piece about a possible feud between two celebrities. Some days, after reading multiple pieces about how we’re all going to die, I want to read an article about Elon Musk giving his newborn a stupid name and laugh at him.
Where did we get the idea that you can only consume one form of media or another? Only the smartest consume news about pandemic litigation and hedge funds. Only the lowest common denominator consume celebrity news.
In case it wasn’t clear enough: you can consume both forms of news. There is enough space online for coverage of issues, both serious and trivial. You can be up-to-date with world issues, and also be interested in the newest season of The Bachelor. Consuming only one form does not an intellectual superior make. You can tolerate reading a 100-word article now and then.
So if you don’t mind me, I’m going to read this Buzzfeed article about Bella Hadid for no other reason than I think that she’s pretty. And the world will continue to turn regardless.
