Chris Johanesen is vp of product for Buzzfeed

“Slideshow” has become a dirty word on the Web, and with good reason. Here’s why Buzzfeed will never have slideshows and what that means in the media industry.

Before Buzzfeed was a media company, we were a tech startup, and technology still runs in our veins. When we launched in 2006, we weren’t focused on monetization. We were concerned with making a site people would want to visit and articles people would want to share.

This second part, sharing, is key, because people will only share something they like. The more barriers you throw at them — interstitials, “next” buttons — the less likely they are to share. People hate slideshows. They mimic the experience of going to a friend’s house and being forced to look at the friend’s vacation photos on a slide projector.