Upworthy

Last updated
Upworthy
Logo Upworthy.webp
Screenshot Upworthy 29 November 2022.png
Type of business Private
Type of site
News and entertainment
Available inEnglish
FoundedMarch 14, 2012;12 years ago (2012-03-14) [1]
Headquarters Los Angeles, California,
United States
Owner Good Worldwide
Founder(s) Eli Pariser and Peter Koechley
EditorEric Pfeiffer (Editor-in-chief)
CEOMax Schorr
URL upworthy.com
Current statusActive

Upworthy is a media brand that focuses on positive storytelling. [2]

Contents

It was started in March 2012 by Eli Pariser, the former executive director of MoveOn, and Peter Koechley, the former managing editor of The Onion . One of Facebook's co-founders, Chris Hughes, was an early investor. In 2017, the company was acquired by Good Worldwide. Between the two platforms, they reach 100MM people a month. [3] [4] [5] [6]

History

In October 2012, Upworthy raised $4 million from New Enterprise Associates and other angel investors, including BuzzFeed co-founder John Johnson, Facebook co-founder and New Republic owner Chris Hughes, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. [7] It has worked with Unilever, Skype, CoverGirl, through its native ad business. [8] [9] [10]

Originally, Upworthy curators searched the internet for existing content to feature on the site. [11] Once selected as an option, curators brainstormed different headlines and shareable images for the content, and tested it with a small sample of Upworthy’s visitors before sharing it on the site. [11]

In June 2013, an article in Fast Company called Upworthy "the fastest growing media site of all time". [12] It had 8.7 million unique monthly visitors in the first six months, [13] and in November 2013, had a high of 87 million unique visitors in a single month. [14] That month, Upworthy announced a new global health and poverty section of content would join the site, through a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [15]

The site popularized a style of two-phrase headlines. [15] Some have criticized these headlines as, "clickbait" style, headlines and believe the company simplifies issues that are controversial by nature. [16] [17] [18] [19] Upworthy was accused of laying off one round of writers in 2015, and another in 2016, after an unionization effort by some of the staff. The union involved, the Writers Guild of America, East, has organized several online "viral" news publishers. [20]

In January 2017, Upworthy was acquired by GOOD Worldwide, a social impact and media company. The newsrooms of the two organizations would merge as part of the acquisition. About 20 staffers were laid off as part of the merger. [21]

In March 2020, Upworthy saw a 65% increase in Instagram followers and a 47% increased interest in positive content on-site page views as a result of increased interest in positive content during the COVID-19 pandemic. [22]

Upworthy was ranked as one of the Top 100 Social Brands of 2021 (#38), and one of the Top 50 Brands by Cross-Platform Video Actions (#34) with 180.6 million and 49.7 million interactions, respectively. [23]

In January 2023, National Geographic Books bought GOOD PEOPLE: Stories From the Best of Humanity from Upworthy, with a publication date of September 3, 2024. [24] The book is described as “a heartwarming collection of first-person tales that will provide comfort and inspiration to anyone who could use a little dose of joy right now”. It was created by two senior Upworthy team members, Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Knell, and features 101 stories from Upworthy’s audience. [25] [24] The co-creators encouraged Upworthy followers to connect with the brand through questions on their posts, opening the door for organic and personal stories to be shared in the comment sections. [26] The book debuted on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list on September 22, 2024, and remained on the list for two weeks. [27] [28] The book is seen in the top 10 on Publisher’s Weekly Fall 2024 Adult Preview: Lifestyle and on Washington Post’s “5 feel-good books”. [29] [30]

Awards and recognition

See also

Related Research Articles

Dotdash Meredith is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, lifestyle, travel, and education. It operates brands including Verywell, Investopedia, People, The Balance, Byrdie, MyDomaine, Brides, The Spruce, Simply Recipes, Serious Eats, Liquor.com, Lifewire, TripSavvy, TreeHugger, and ThoughtCo. In August 2012, About.com became a property of IAC, owner of Ask.com and numerous other online brands, and its revenue is generated by advertising. In addition to its Manhattan headquarters, Dotdash Meredith maintains offices elsewhere in the New York metropolitan area, as well as in Des Moines, Iowa, and Birmingham, Alabama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer 8. Lee</span> Chinese-American businessperson and former journalist

Jennifer 8. Lee is an American journalist who previously worked for The New York Times. She is the co-founder and president of the literary studio Plympton and a producer of The Search for General Tso, which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival.

USA Today Sports is an American sports website owned by the Gannett Company. It is a vertical of Gannett's flagship newspaper USA Today. It is the publisher of USA Today Sports Weekly, an American sports newsmagazine published weekly. The website and magazine largely feature coverage of baseball news from Major League Baseball (MLB), Minor League Baseball and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from spring to early fall, as well as football coverage from the National Football League (NFL) during the fall and winter months. The magazine also features statistics for each covered league and interviews with players and staff members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerson Spartz</span> American media executive

Emerson James Spartz is the founder of the viral media company Dose and the founder of MuggleNet, a Harry Potter fansite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Complex Networks</span> American media and entertainment company

Complex Networks is an American media and entertainment company for youth culture, based in New York City. It was founded as a bi-monthly magazine, Complex, by fashion designer Marc (Ecko) Milecofsky. Complex Networks reports on popular and emerging trends in style, sneakers, food, music, sports and pop culture. Complex Networks reached over 90 million unique users per month in 2013 across its owned and operated and partner sites, socials and YouTube channels. The print magazine ceased publication with the December 2016/January 2017 issue. Complex currently has 6.02 million subscribers and 1.8 billion total views on YouTube. As of 2019, the company's yearly revenue was estimated to be US$200 million, 15% of which came from commerce.

GOOD Worldwide Inc. is a United States–based company with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle that reports on businesses and non-profits. GOOD produces a website, a quarterly magazine, online videos, and events. Content covered includes environmental issues, education, urban planning, design, politics, culture, technology, and health. Good Worldwide Inc. is the consolidation of originally separate brands: Reason Pictures, GOOD magazine, and GOOD Digital, in partnership with Causes, a Facebook/MySpace app promoting donations of time and money to charities and non-profits; Goodrec and Govit, an application that connects US citizens with their elected representatives. GOOD Worldwide Inc. is made up of three organizations: GOOD/Media, GOOD/Community and GOOD/Corps.

BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Kenneth Lerer, co-founder and chairman of The Huffington Post, started as a co-founder and investor in BuzzFeed and is now the executive chairman.

Business Insider is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in Business Insider's parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the international publishing house Axel Springer. It operates several international editions, including one in the United Kingdom.

Bleacher Report is a website that focuses on sport and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London.

The International Business Times is an American online newspaper that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called IBTimes or IBT, offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on business and commerce. IBT is one of the world's largest online news sources, receiving forty million unique visitors each month. Its 2013 revenues were around $21 million. As of January 2022, IBTimes editions include Australia, India, International, Singapore, U.K. and U.S.

Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company founded in Washington, D.C. with operational headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by CEO Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass SB Nation and The Verge. Bankoff had been the CEO for SB Nation since 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defy Media</span> Defunct American digital media company

Defy Media was an American digital media company that produced original online content for the 12–34 age group. Originally founded in 1996 as Alloy Online, the final company was formed in 2013 by its merger with Break Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clickbait</span> Web content intended to entice users to click on a link

Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow ("click") that link and view, read, stream or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically deceptive, sensationalized, or otherwise misleading. A "teaser" aims to exploit the "curiosity gap", providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content. Clickbait headlines often add an element of dishonesty, using enticements that do not accurately reflect the content being delivered. The "-bait" suffix makes an analogy with fishing, where a hook is disguised by an enticement (bait), presenting the impression to the fish that it is a desirable thing to swallow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mic (media company)</span> American internet and media company

Mic is an American internet and media company based in New York City that caters to millennials.

ClickHole is a satirical website that parodies clickbait websites such as BuzzFeed and Upworthy. It was launched on June 12, 2014 by The Onion, in conjunction with that publication's decision to stop its print edition and shift its focus exclusively to the internet. According to ClickHole's senior editor, Jermaine Affonso, the website is "The Onion's response to click-bait content" and serves as "a parody of online media". Critics noted that, on a deeper level, ClickHole illustrates the shallow nature of social media content and media sites' desperation to share such content.

The Independent Journal Review is a conservative American news and opinion website based in Alexandria, Virginia. The publication was founded in 2012 by Alex Skatell. Skatell serves as its CEO, with Camden Stuebe as President and Shushanna Walshe, former political director at ABC News as the Editor-At-Large. The site covers general interest topics including politics, culture, entertainment, and viral news content.

SHE Media is an American digital media company. It operates the website properties BlogHer, SheKnows, STYLECASTER, and HelloFlo. It has been a brand of Penske Media Corporation since 2018.

Digiday is an online trade magazine for online media founded in 2008 by Nick Friese. It is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London and Tokyo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insider Inc.</span> American online media company

Insider Inc. is an American online media company known for publishing Business Insider and other media websites. It is a subsidiary of the German publisher Axel Springer SE, the largest in Europe.

Peter Lennon Koechley is an American writer and internet entrepreneur. He was the managing editor of The Onion and co-founded Upworthy.

References

  1. ↑ "UpWorthy.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS . Archived from the original on 2017-04-15. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  2. ↑ Lorenz, Taylor (2020-04-14). "The news is making people anxious. You'll never believe why". New York Times . Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  3. ↑ Carr, David (March 26, 2012), "New Site Wants to Make the Serious as Viral as the Shallow", The New York Times, archived from the original on March 30, 2012, retrieved April 11, 2012
  4. ↑ Pilkington, Ed (March 26, 2012), "New media gurus launch Upworthy – their 'super-basic' internet start-up", The Guardian, archived from the original on March 4, 2014, retrieved April 11, 2012
  5. ↑ Gannes, Liz (March 26, 2012), Viral With a Purpose? Upworthy Finds Serious Web Content Worth Sharing., AllThingsD, archived from the original on March 30, 2012, retrieved April 11, 2012
  6. ↑ "The woman behind Upworthy's viral explosion". Archived from the original on 24 January 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Upworthy Raises $4M for Aggregating Virals That Aren't Cat Videos – Liz Gannes – Media – AllThingsD". AllThingsD. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Derek Thompson (14 November 2013). "Upworthy: I Thought This Website Was Crazy, but What Happened Next Changed Everything". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "How Upworthy gets its branded content to outperform editorial". Digiday . 10 July 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Viral Content With a Liberal Bent". The New York Times. 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  11. 1 2 Sanders, Sam (2017-06-20). "Upworthy Was One Of The Hottest Sites Ever. You Won't Believe What Happened Next". NPR . Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  12. ↑ "How Upworthy Used Emotional Data To Become The Fastest Growing Media Site of All Time". Fast Company. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Lowenstein, Fiona. "Why you should pay attention to Upworthy measuring engagement in 'attention minutes'". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  14. ↑ Sanders, Sam (2017-06-17). "Upworthy Was One Of The Hottest Sites Ever. You Won't Believe What Happened Next". NPR . Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  15. 1 2 "Why Are Upworthy Headlines Suddenly Everywhere?". The Atlantic. 8 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  16. ↑ Kaufman, Leslie (14 October 2013), "Viral Content with a Liberal Bent", The New York Times, archived from the original on 8 November 2013, retrieved March 12, 2014
  17. ↑ James Ball (16 March 2014). "Read this to find out how Upworthy's awful headlines changed the web". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  18. ↑ "Create Your Own Overly Emotional, Click-Baiting Headline With the Upworthy Generator". AdWeek. 20 November 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  19. ↑ Christopher Zara (11 December 2013). "The Rise Of Clickbait Spoilers: Bloggers Expose What's Behind Upworthy's Histrionic Headlines". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  20. ↑ "Report: Upworthy's Lefty Owners Scared Employees Out of Unionization". 10 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  21. ↑ Sutton, Kelsey (January 27, 2017). "Upworthy to merge with Good Worldwide, newsrooms to consolidate. About 20 staffers were laid off as part of the merger". Politico. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  22. ↑ Lorenz, Taylor (2020-04-14). "The News Is Making People Anxious. You'll Never Believe What They're Reading Instead". The New York Times . Retrieved 2024-09-04.
  23. ↑ "The State of Social Media" (PDF). MediaPost. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  24. 1 2 Deahl, Rachel (2022-12-30). "Book Deals: Week of January 2, 2023". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  25. ↑ Vermillion, Stephanie (2024-06-17). "How to Find and Share Positive Stories". Adorama. Retrieved 2024-07-24.
  26. ↑ Hunkins, Alain. "What Upworthy's New Book 'Good People' Teaches About Trust And Connection". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-18.
  27. ↑ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - Sept. 22, 2024 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  28. ↑ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - Sept. 29, 2024 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  29. ↑ Grossman |, Miriam. "Fall 2024 Adult Preview: Lifestyle". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  30. ↑ Meloan, Becky (October 19, 2024). "5 feel-good books to provide a distraction from election stress". Washington Post. Retrieved December 11, 2024.
  31. ↑ Horgan, Richard (2016-03-28). "Upworthy Skeletons Dance Their Way to 'Partnership of the Year'" . Retrieved 2025-01-02.
  32. ↑ "Dollar Shave Club is Best in Show at the Digiday Video Awards". Digiday. 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2025-01-02.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.