The Daily Gamecock

Opinion: BuzzFeed quizzes give students an escape

File image of the exterior of  the Los Angeles headquarters of the website Buzzfeed.com, on Beverly Boulevard, photographed Oct. 7, 2013. Buzzfeed was among other online outlets last week who laid off staff. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times/TNS)
File image of the exterior of the Los Angeles headquarters of the website Buzzfeed.com, on Beverly Boulevard, photographed Oct. 7, 2013. Buzzfeed was among other online outlets last week who laid off staff. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times/TNS)

It's hard to resist the unexplainable and uncontrollable urge to take a BuzzFeed quiz to find out what kind of sandwich you are. In fact, in the middle of researching for this article I found out that I am, without a doubt, a hamburger with lettuce for buns. 

Based on random questions that often have no correlation to the quiz or the results of it, BuzzFeed quizzes will even satisfy your need to find out which BuzzFeed quiz you are, and they're probably one of the leading causes of procrastination in students. They certainly are for me. 

But they can also provide momentary mental relief an overworked student. The only concern is making sure you don't get stuck in a never-ending loop of quizzes. It’s very easy to take one quiz to find out the weird way you're going to die based on what kind of gross milkshake you build (I guess I should avoid elevators from now on) and then get sucked in to the next one. And then the next, and the next.

BuzzFeed is a major player in the realm of digital media companies globally and they have many different facets, such as news, articles, quizzes, videos, commerce, brands and studios. And clearly, they are doing very well with drawing people in with their extremely addictive and unique quizzes.

Summer Anne Burton, the former Buzzfeed editor in charge of quizzes, said the most successful quizzes are the ones with personal or relatable results. Quiz takers like to feel as if the results really have some sort of impact on their life and are not a random algorithm, she said.

So, if you want to find out which dog breed you’re most like, which Kim Kardashian tweet to have on your gravestone, which "Stranger Things" character you are or what sea creature you are, that’s great. Don’t feel embarrassed about it because it’s more than likely the person next to you has done the same at least once in their life. 

Just be extra careful when browsing through the countless amount of quizzes on the internet. It’s great to let loose temporarily by taking one of these quizzes, but it’s important to take them in moderation and to not find yourself snapping out of a BuzzFeed trance after two hours.


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