. >>> jonah peretti, ceo at buzzfeed, says the internet is at a crossroads right now.here is a flaming dumpster dividing people, but on the other side of the road, the internet is a source of joy and truth and cat videos, bringing people together. so peretti has some thoughts about how to put out the fire, make more room for the cats and joy. i spoke with him at the south by southwest conference this weekend. >> i think there's been times when people have had just exuberant love for the internet. a few years ago, there was a lot more love for the internet. all these amazing things you could share with your friends, learning about the world, connecting with other people. and then there's times when people think the internet is a mess and you see content by anti vaxors and racists and hate and trolls. and there is more focus on that right now. and for a lot of reasons, part of it is some of the shifts we've had in our culture in the last couple years. but i think it's important to remember what is good about the internet, and it's important to fight for that, and to real

and i'm worried about the future and you know, jonah peretti has even tossed out a proposal that maybeome of these companies should american and that that would create a path out of this very difficult moment. >> they seem to still have a pretty high valuation. why is that? >> because they had crazy high valuations, you know, starting, you know, five or six years ago. it wasn't that long ago that buzzfeed's valuation was like $1.7 billion and vice's was the highest of any digital media company and got to the $6 billion. and you know, i think for both of them, you know, that meant the idea that there would be a white knight coming to acquire them, that that moment has passed, too. they're just too valuable. their valuation is too big. maybe the time will come that it's like newspapers. i mean the "times" bought ""the boston globe"" and another, you know, the worcester paper for $1.2 billion or $1.3 billion and sold "the globe" for $70 million. i mean, so surprising something happen over not that long a time. >> uh-huh. thanks for being with us. >> thanks, walter. >> and on that note, we