The Buzz around Buzzfeed's Viral Food Channel

Buzzfeed, a self-proclaimed "social news and entertainment company" continues to dominate the Facebook feeds of avid social media users, with its colorful, trendy content and eye-catching headlines. A quick glance at my Facebook feed would show at least one Buzzfeed content - may it be an article on the latest Taylor Swift song, a "Which Game of Thrones character would you date?" quiz, or - as what this post would eventually highlight - addictive, minute-long cooking videos made simple.

This One-Pot Shrimp and Spinach Fettucine Alfredo recipe already accumulated over 70,000 views after one day.

Since its launch, Tasty, Buzzfeed's recipe channel, has created over 2,000 recipe videos that reach nearly 500 million people a month. For those unfamiliar with Tasty, the channel features a variety of recipes simplified into fuss-free, short (often minute-long) videos. Undeniably, the popularity of these videos on social media has generated a lot of revenue for Buzzfeed, in terms of advertisements and sponsored content. Tasty's formula for success is as simple as its content - it found a way to connect with its audience by leveraging on today's social media "sharing culture" while at the same time creating distinct content different from those usually published by already existing cooking channels. Instead of utilizing the professional-looking "feel" of most cooking videos, Tasty recognized that most millenial users are amateurs, and that what they needed were simple video recipes that they could relate to, instead of the often complicated, formal videos already found on the Internet. By understanding the market well and creating content that its target could connect to, Buzzfeed was able to create an overnight success that is now being emulated by several other online news and content companies, such as Plaid Crafts (which produces arts and crafts videos with a similar style and feel as Buzzfeed's Tasty videos).