The canary in the content mine died ages ago

What happens to all the people who can’t find new jobs in old media?

Yesterday, BuzzFeed sold Complex for pennies on the dollar and Vice threw in the bare threads that were left of its towel. That’s it. There is no story worth telling. The death of these two titans of social fed “news” isn’t news. Not to me. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows the canary died in that content mine a long time ago. We’re pulling out the corporate corpses.

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“The job hunt is incredibly tough. PLEASE consider how you can help the thousands impacted.” For far too many people, LinkedIn has gone from watercooler cat inspiration to a watering hole filled with tears. Some literal ones from literary people, “This is the longest I’ve been unemployed and I have no interviews in sight… Just wanted to vent, because I figure it’s better than crying every day. Sometimes it’s tough not to despair.”

That posts like this get big like numbers and lots of comments tells you how bad it is out there. There’s a big community of people who need support.

I don’t care about BuzzFeed. Never did. I was a VC and know you play the game expecting to lose more often than you win. So, I don’t feel for the monies lost. My capitalist teenage self is going to cringe, but I care about the people.

Let’s rewind 56 words, “…there’s a big community of people who need support.” The problems of three little people may not amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, but the lives thousands or tens of thousands of people sounds like the beginning of a beautiful business plan.

Someone needs to build a site or start a newsletter for the unHeralded, Messengered about their jobs being Buzzed. The folks who got Gothamed and are left to be Gawked at. People in a Complex Vice Huffing for a job Post they can see as salvation.

People are posting on LinkedIn and then, worried about how that might look, they’re taking those posts down. That’s sad. They need a new place. Where they can vent freely. Despair with respect. Help each other.

There are many examples of sites that started like this, or devolve into this, or started like this and grew up. Blind (teamblind.com), Glassdoor, Café Pharma, Vault. There are sites that feel different but are, at heart, the same. A swap meet for people’s baggage. Craig’s List. But nothing that’s specific to the times and the Times.

This doesn’t take as much effort as you’d think. A simple website. Heck, a newsletter on Substack with comments turned on would do the trick. Once you have an audience, you have a media business.

Put an ad at the top. Today’s place to commiserate. Brought to you by Comerica. I mean sure, it sounds may sound all leftwing and uniony but it’s undeniably American.

It just needs a name and tagline. Since I’ve run this far, I’ll cross the finish line.

Younion.

I’m here because it’s not an issue, it’s an ish-me.

I hope that cheered you up. Ladies and gentlemen, go start your growth engine.