Just what is lifestyle media, anyway? In the simplest terms, lifestyle media is media that isn’t the news, but caters to the social aspects of life instead. Lifestyle media can also extend to social media, games on your phone, magazines about non-news topics, ranging from the home, to food, to other interests. If you're looking to study it,Centennial College offers a graduate certificate program on the subject. Naturally, Buzzfeed is a prime, prominent example of lifestyle media, and a perfect example of how it’s changing the way we see the world, and why joining it is important.
Why is it important?
Just think of how many people read Buzzfeed every day, for lists, quizzes, or anything else, including articles. Social Media Today names it the 47th most popular website in the United States, and the 140th most popular site on the internet at large, with 7 billion daily views and 200 million unique visitors. More importantly, that same article is an in-depth, scholarly study on just what makes it so popular.
Another study, by the Conversation, talks about how it’s part of the changing face of media, and changing the media itself, especially the news. According to them, more and more consumers of breaking news, original reporting, entertainment and video content are getting it through mobile devices, social media, and other venues’ Buzzfeed services, what they call the general “social web.” Clearly, they’re part of the next major market for attention, online, which is why they’re so important.
The fact that Buzzfeed is changing the online media landscape by drawing young people towards their news has meant they’re making good use of the responsibility that comes with it, when they’re not posting about gold and blue dresses. In the last few years, they’ve started supplementing their lighter content with stories about business, sports, travel, entertainment and, importantly, politics. They’ve been in the news this past year, for example, for leaking a dossier of information about Donald Trump and Russia. It got a lot of attention, and is now important enough to have its own Wikipedia page. On top of that, another article at the Conversation talks about how they’re picking up the slack when it comes to reporting on climate change, when standard TV networks aren’t. In fact, in the US, it’s one of the most popular destinations for readers looking for news about the environment, thanks to covering it in new, different, buzzfeed-ish ways.
Those are just a couple of examples of why they, and lifestyle media in general, are so important: Whether we realize it or not, lifestyle media shapes our lives, and is just as important as news when it comes to shaping our worldview. By becoming a part of that area of media, you’ll become an important influencer. That’s where Centennial College comes in.
We are the best place to go
So, how do you get involved with something like this? Through Centennial College’s Lifestyle Media program, a one-of-a-kind graduate certificate program that turns you into a specialized professional at the hub of lifestyle media. The program partners with real-world companies, with real clients. It hits important areas like writing, visual communication, social media, and entrepreneurship. Remember how most people get their news on the “social web” now? That’s why there is a particularly strong focus on web production, social media, analytics and measurement. You can specialize in specific sectors, like food, beauty, fashion, architecture, entertainment, health, fitness, gardening, family and relationships, finance, technology or travel. You’ll also gain the skills to work as an entrepreneur and market yourself, too. You can graduate into a career where you’ll be the one influencing trends and tastes, using contemporary digital media brands. Career areas can include spokesperson, columnist, writer and producer, and content marketing specialist. Maybe you’ll even join Buzzfeed yourself. Either way, you’ll become a part of one of the most important, emerging areas of media, and help shape the future in terms of how we see the world around us.
By Anthony Geremia