Posted by Willy Franzen on October 7, 2013. Positions below updated every five minutes.
If you use Facebook, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ve seen a friend post a story from Upworthy. The company’s goal is to get their content to go viral, and they’re really good at it. The difference between them and companies like CollegeHumor and Spartz Media is that Upworthy tries to focus on stuff that is both awesome and meaningful. Let’s be honest; most viral content is silly and mindless. Viewing it often makes you feel stupider (especially when you consider the way it’s displayed with ads and slideshows engineered to pillage every bit of attention they can get from you). Upworthy (which isn’t really based in any single location) calls itself “a mission-driven media company.” The goal is “to encourage that debate by curating great pieces of content that represent different sides.”
I can keep telling you about Upworthy’s goals with their content, but it’s really best if you check it out for yourself. Not only can you jump into what they’ve curated very easily, but you can also read their About page to get a much better idea of who they are. What I find most interesting is that their business model isn’t really ad-based. It’s based on “membership development” or lead gen. They think that they can grow the business by helping organizations recruit new member (mostly non-profits). So far they admit that they’re not making much money, but they’ve built a huge audience. Even if the membership development thing doesn’t work out, they have plenty of other options. That’s why you should take a look at Upworthy’s Jobs page. Right now they’re looking for a Business Development Fellow, an Analytics Engineer, and a Junior Web Engineer. They also have an open ended application for those of you who don’t see a position that fits you. All of the jobs can be done from anywhere with an Internet connection.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
What’s your favorite thing that you’ve found on Upworthy?
