Popular viral site BuzzFeed just launched its fifth vertical and its theme is, you guessed it, cute animals. Lots of them — but especially kitties and puppies.
The vertical launched Tuesday and features perennial hits like “the 25 most awkward cat sleeping positions” and “Duck playing fetch.”
Animals editor Jack Sheperd said the site will be a go-to source for “breaking cat videos” but also “more in-depth stuff.” In-depth?
Sheperd pointed to more hard-hitting features like “21 Cats Imitating Art” :
He also called attention to BuzzFeed Animal’s groundbreaking “10 Corgis who didn’t know the Titanic was real” :
“We’re powered by cute,” said Sheperd, adding that animal pics naturally appeal to an audience that founder Jonah Peretti calls “the bored at work network.”
Like the site’s other verticals, BuzzFeed Animals will rely on emotional images, technology and an aggressive viral strategy to push its content far and wide. More than most sites, Buzzfeed strives for viral traffic over native seed traffic.
As for the content itself, Sheperd says he has no worries that the Internet will ever be saturated with cat videos.
“Cats have done well through the years. The Internet is groomed for this stuff.”