Many people, both young and old, criticize BuzzFeed quizzes for being too weird or oddly specific in nature, yet many other people enjoy them. Despite knowing I could be spending my time more productively, I identify with the latter, enjoying the process of taking the quiz and seeing my results.
Taking online quizzes is a pretty great way to kill time, procrastinate or simply find the type of bread that matches your personality. As a result, I have discovered the quizzes I enjoy and don’t enjoy as much. Here are my favorite types of BuzzFeed quizzes, ranked from worst to best.
We’ll Guess Your ___ by Your Preferences
BuzzFeed’s quizzes where creators pretend as if they can guess fundamental truths about you based on simple questions annoy me, especially when they are trying to guess things such as age, weight or height. Usually, the result I get is completely wrong, with my age having been guessed at either 14 or 36.
Probably only one or two quizzes have guessed my correct age. One of these quizzes was something like “We’ll guess your age by your McDonald’s preferences,” which then promptly told me that I was 15 probably because I like chicken nuggets.
Can You Do ___?
These quizzes are pretty silly, with topics like “We’ll tell you how long you would survive after an outbreak of zombies.” For a quiz meant to be entertaining, it turned out to be stupidly hard and it seemed as though I would die no matter what I did, which is accurate but kind of frustrating.
There are other ones such as “Can You Pass This 11th Grade History Test?” and “Can You Survive the First Day of Your Dunder Mifflin Summer Internship?” which seem to be based on arbitrary standards created by the BuzzFeed contributor.
While most quizzes are random and not meant to be taken seriously, some are more accurate than others.
We’ll Tell You How Many ___ You Will Have
The quizzes here are similar to the first category, but on a slightly less annoying level. An example of this kind of quiz would be “We’ll tell you how many kids you will have based on your favorite color.” While I’m intrigued by this type of quiz, I’m just not here for it. What if I don’t want to have kids someday?
Of course it’s all fun and games, and totally not that deep, but sometimes it’s just not accurate or appropriate for all users.
Which Character From ___ Are You?
I like these types of quizzes simply because I am curious about what character I am and how accurate the result will be. Sometimes it is spot on, but they normally aren’t and are kind of hilarious to me (I might have laughed to myself in public on several occasions).
A quiz that I remember taking is “Which character from ‘Friends’ are you?” I was expecting a perfect blend of Rachel and Phoebe, but instead got Emma, Rachel’s daughter. Not exactly a shining moment for me by any means — no offense, Emma.
Build A House and We’ll Tell You ___
These quizzes are awesome because you are able to design your own hypothetical house or apartment with spiffy furniture without worrying about the cost. The results have been pretty accurate (at least for me), even though I am more likely than not to choose the same general aesthetic every single time.
As a millennial, I am often fearful that I cannot buy a house or even rent a nice apartment due to the terrible economy; these quizzes provide some hope that I may someday own a humble abode, while also affirming something about my personality type.
We’ll Tell You Where You Should Live / Travel
A quiz telling me to go travel or live somewhere interesting would be my favorite type of quiz, except for the part where it led to my decision to study abroad in Ireland. The quiz was “Based off your coffee preferences, this is the European city you should visit.”
My result was Dublin, Ireland, a city full of incredible espresso and cheap lattes. Nearly a year after taking the quiz, the opportunity for students in my department to go to Ireland came up, which didn’t at all seem like a coincidence.
While I loved going on this trip, it was expensive and the quiz is partially to blame. However, I do love these quizzes as they inspire me to think about where I may go next.
Choose Between These Foods
Food quizzes are great as they allow one to imagine they can have any food they currently crave. Taking these quizzes can be difficult, as they can unwittingly whet your appetite, but they are still fun. A few of my favorite food quizzes are “Choose between chocolate and cheese” and “Choose between breakfast and non-breakfast foods.”
There’s usually a variety and sometimes BuzzFeed shows you how other people voted, allowing you to see if your food opinions are popular or not. Mine usually are, but sometimes my tastes prove to be weird.
BuzzFeed quizzes may seem like a complete waste of time to you. They may be something that you only do on occasion or to compare your results with friends. You may love or despise them, but they are abundant; new ones are being created each and every day.
Taking an online quiz created by a stranger may not be the best way to get to know yourself or the best way to make important life decisions, but they are pretty amusing.
