Question 5 - Attitude and Zoella

Question 5 - Attitude and Zoella

1. "Online media is much more relatable to post-Millennial audiences than raditional forms if publishing and broadcast media." Discuss this viewpoint with reference to the set pieces and their use of interactive technology.

   • Theorist(s): Bulmer and Katz, Uses and Gratifications Theory - audiences seek out specific media to satisfy their needs: facts/information, identity, relationship and diversion. References to demographic/psychographic factors in relation to the theory.
   • Theorist: Clay Shirky, End Of Audience Theory - No such thing as a passive audience, all are active and expect to interact/engage with media texts. How technology facilitates the consumer to speak back to the producer.
   • Theorist: Henry Jenkins, Fandom Theory - Postmodern societies = fragmented into communities of fans of media texts = texts are more meaningful. Fans = engage intently/critically, 'fan-art' = own genre, producers are taking notice.
   • Theorist: Stuart Hall, Reception Theory - Building on Bathes' Death Of The Author, argued producers encode, audiences decode. Decoding = dominant, negotiated or oppositional reading/model.
   • Theorist: Jean Baudrillard - Media creates hyper-realities based on a continuous process of mediation. Encoded as 'real' = actually a simulacrum, offers hyper-reality ('a real without origin or reality') = we accept as real because we are constantly exposed to it.

2. World = increasingly dominated by digital technology, online/social media, have become an integral part of contemporary media landscape.

3. No. of subscribers to YouTube channels (e.g. Zoella/Pointless Blogs) = shows the growing cultural significance of online platforms, + in the amount of web traffic online newspapers/magazines generate.

4. Gen Z = demographic 'cohort' after Millennials, no precise date for where it begins, but typically = early-1990s to early-2000s. (Birth Year) Most have used the internet since a young age + are comfortable with the use of technology and social media.

5. Extent uses and meanings of online media products are determined by their producers, and audiences are active participants in the production of textual meaning.

6. Extent demographic/psychographic factors can be seen to effect the way in which audiences use online media.

7. Extent an audience member's own experiences of prejudice/discrimination may affect the way in which they use articles on Attitude's website. (e.g. 'Iraqi LGBT activist, Amir Ashour, tells Attitude about his ongoing fight for equality.' article.)

8. Extent body image may affect the way in which audiences use articles in the 'Active' section of Attitude's website. (e.g. 'You don't have to spend your life in a gym to look and feel good.' or 'It was only after coming out that I started having body confidence issues.' articles.)

9. Extent self-esteem and self-image may affect the way in which audiences use blog posts. (e.g. 'Just Say Yes' or 'Panic Attacks' blog posts by Zoella, discussing her own, personal experiences of anxiety and panic attacks.)