Why the Stereogum Buzz Chart is Bullshit
Today, Stereogum launched their new Buzz Chart. I love the concept in theory (a lot!), but it’s not based in reality. It seems to be some sort of pseudo editor’s pick, not the “scientific and definitive list” they’re touting.
They claim the rank of the story represents it’s “size,” whatever that means. One can only guess that the thumbs up/down designation has to do with an overall sentiment of the story. However, whose sentiment? I don’t know. That’s not explained anywhere.
What I do know is that I’d love to see the methodology for how this is put together since it’s — you know — scientific and definitive and all.
So, I went out and retrieved the social sharing data for all the top stories listed in the chart. Below are the results — in the same order — as this week’s chart:
Click to enlarge
I gathered all of this data around 8 p.m. EST Thursday, January 5. But, you can see as well as I can that there is no pattern for determining how this chart was ordered.
Perhaps the stories I chose were wrong. It’s completely possible given that the chart DOES NOT LINK TO THE STORIES IN QUESTION (wtf people). If someone wants to send me the correct links, I’m happy to update and revise. Otherwise… bananas.
Here’s what I know: Their #10 story (presumably the relatively least important story on the chart) has almost 1,000 Reddit shares and the next closest has exactly zero (let alone the 1,000+ Facebook shares more than the next closest story). That would easily make it the most popular story here if the chart was based on sheer popularity of links (e.g. pageviews), which is where you’d probably start if you’re trying to determine bigness.
Now, I know that social shares do not reflect direct traffic for any given story. But they are a healthy indicator of the story’s value — a barometer if you will. More shares of a story tend to indicate popularity. Popularity tends to indicate reach. Reach is basically a fancy way of describing how big a story is, which is what the Buzz Chart is supposedly trying to capture.
I’d love to hear more about how the chart is put together (the specific methodology) and would be happy to revise this post if sufficient evidence can be presented. Otherwise, the Buzz Chart is bullshit.
Please note that the views expressed here are my own personal opinion and do not reflect those of SPIN Media, LLC.
