Social media is broken. Could BuzzFeed’s new “Island” platform finally make social media about the content, not the algorithms?

As social media platforms become increasingly political and algorithm-centric, many are looking for alternatives to the Meta, the Musk-owned X, or the banned-then-not-banned TikTok. But the next social media alternative could come from an unexpected source: BuzzFeed. On February 11, Buzzfeed teased an “Island” social media platform – and published a manifesto denouncing the AI and algorithms driving the biggest platforms. Could BuzzFeed’s upcoming platform be the answer for photographers struggling with the ever-changing algorithms?

At the end of a long manifesto about what’s broken about today’s biggest social media platforms, BuzzFeed Founder and CEO Jonah Peretti revealed that the company is working on a new social media platform that uses human curation rather than algorithms “that brings joy and playfulness back to the internet.”

At the same time, BuzzFeed launched an early sign up for the platform. While BuzzFeed didn’t explicitly give the new platform a name, the sign up URL and graphics suggest a potential name or theme of “Island.”

This early, it’s unclear if the “Island” – or whatever the eventual name will be – will be photo-centric like Instagram, video-focused like TikTok, a mix of both like Facebook, or something entirely different. But Peretti’s manifesto makes it clear that the upcoming social platform will be human-curated, rather than using the AI algorithms that Peretti says have “already shipped the dystopian AI future.” AI won't be nonexistent on the platform but instead “will use AI to give users agency instead of stealing their agency,” Peretti wrote.

“If the early internet was serving beer and wine that brought people together, today’s internet is dealing crack and fentanyl that tears people apart,” Peretti wrote. “The consumer isn’t winning when they are addicted to a product that makes them unhappy, and when they are spending hours each day using products they would pay money to make disappear. Any theory of business competition needs to be updated with deeper analysis drawn from addiction psychology and behavioral economics.”

In the manifesto, Peretti says that AI algorithms incentivize content based around anger and fear, as well as stakes, novelty and retention, a recipe for an addictive yet draining platform that he refers to as the acronym for those things, SNARF. “The result is an endless stream of addictive content that leaves everyone feeling depressed, scared, and dissatisfied,” he wrote.

Perhaps it's unsurprising that BuzzFeed, a media outlet known for its more uplifting stories about celebrities and viral content, wants to create a social media platform that focuses on the same sort of material. But the teaser comes at a time where alternatives to mainstream platforms like Bluesky are growing in popularity. It comes at a time where, as Peretti describes, social media companies “are worth literally trillions of dollars, control the flow of information, and sit next to the President during the inauguration ceremonies.”

The platform won’t be devoid of politics, but Peretti says it will include “topics where the stakes are legitimate, the novelty is real, and the fear and anger are justified.” Those articles will come from HuffPost, which is owned by BuzzFeed. Of course, that relationship and the human curation could raise questions of whether or not other news sources will make an appearance on the platform.

A number of new social media platforms have risen then fizzled out without gaining enough users to compete with the big companies like Meta. But, Peretti thinks BuzzFeed is up to the challenge. “But I know we can still have success, and look forward to counter-programming with our human creativity fighting against the machine. The tide is starting to shift and we will benefit from the growing dissatisfaction with the big platforms.”

While full details and even a name isn’t apparent yet, BuzzFeed has already started an email sign up for users to be notified when the platform launches, available at BuzzFeed.com/Island.

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