Zoella- Audience (Clay Shirky- End Of An Audience)

Zoella- Audience

Zoella's target audience:

Gender: Female

Age: 7-13

Ethnicity: White, English

Social-economic status: Middle class

Zoella does not have a mass audience as she targets a niche audience, a specific group of people. 

Emotive content- the show appeals to its female audience through narratives that engage with subject matter emotionally. Zoella continuously tells us how she 'feels' about the problems she faces.

Zoella foregrounds stereotypical female based activities in her presentation: fashion, make-up, relationships.

Costume stereotypically feminine- feminine colour palette deployed in mise-en-scene
use of pets and pet orientated references (stereotypical little dog).

Presenter constructs a version of ideal beauty- highly stylised, lot of make-up, attention pain to outfits.

Intimate confessional tone- creates a female character.

A quiet/ passive presentation style that fits with the target audience's expectations and female presenter stereotypes. 

How does she reach a 13-16 year old audience?

heavy use of Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube- the sites fit with the social media applications most prominently used by this age group 

youthful co-presenters 

deliberately amateur aesthetic suggests authenticity to this media-saturated audience segment. 

everyday activities of this demographic are incorporated into narratives to create connections with the target audience (shopping, stopping at a drive-through, eating fast food)

fan connections showcased in uploads- fans represent the real target audience 

the videos have a light comedic tone. 

youth-orientated slang 

use of YouTube commentary to create intimate connections with the target audience 

secondary target audience (parents and advertisement) engaged by content that is safe in terms of sexual content and other taboo subjects  

Clay Shirky- End Of An Audience

The idea that the internet and digital technologies have had a profound effect on the relationships between media and individuals.

The idea that conceptualisation of audience members as passive consumers of mass media content is no longer tenable in the age of the internet, as media consumers have now become producers who 'speak back' to the media in various ways, as well as creating and sharing content with one another. 

Broadcast media, the media of passive television consumption, Shirky claims, arose as a response to the explosion of leisure time afforded by technological progress in the twentieth century. "Media in the twentieth century," Shirky points out, "was run as a single event: consumptions"

Conversely, digital media and technological convergence revolutionised the media landscape by substantially lowering barriers to ordinary users to produce and distribute media, and, in so doing, gave audiences the power to forge their own broadcast networks. 

How can we apply this theory to Zoella?

amateur aesthetic of vlogs- a sense of authenticity, that content is unmediated 

filming at home 'real' mise-en-scene, use of direct address etc- YouTubers constructed as relatable, 'real' people rather than distant 'stars' 

regular posts and updates keep the content fresh and current- sense of spontaneity 

In this sense, Shirky would argue that the early work of both vloggers exemplifies the way in which the digital revolution enabled ordinary audience members to distribute self-constructed work rather than passively consuming the broadcast products of large scale media institutions. 

Henry Jenkins- Fandom

Henry Jenkins also draws our attention to the revolutionary impact of new technology on media consumption suggesting that audience engagement creates what he calls 'media flows', that the very process of contemporary digital distribution and circulation is enabled by an active engagement on the audience's part.

Audience activity, Jenkins argues, provides the very mechanism through which modern media is distributed. Online media relies, he tells us, on audiences sharing content across their social networks. Audiences not only consume media but play an integral role in spreading 'liked' content virally via social media platforms. 

Both Zoe and Alfie are acutely aware of the need to engage audience distribution if they are to garner views, both using Instagram and Twitter to prompt user distribution and engagement with their uploads, for example

Alfie invites users the 'LBW' (like before watching) whilst also tweeting uploads progress to encourage his followers to retweet new content as it appears.

Zoella encourages audiences to retweet vlog content, celebrating distribution milestones with Tweets to thank her audience for their help in sharing key messages. 

Shirky states "The future presented by the internet is the mass amateurization of publishing and a switch from 'why publish this?' to 'why not publish this?'. to what extent is this concept of amateurization applicable to Zoella and to what extent can audience meaningfully interact with this product?

Plan for homework: 

Introduction:
Discus my basic thoughts on the question. introduce Shirky's theory and basic information on Zoella.

Point 1:
Discuss how the development of technology has made it easier for people to share anything at any time. Makes relatable content that creates meaningful relationships between the producer and viewer.

Point 2:
Talk about Henry Jenkins theory of negative fandoms. Mention obsessive fans and how producers use this to their advantage in order to maintain views and earn money from their products.

Point 3:
Clay Shirky theory

Point 4:
Capitalism argument

Conclusion: 

Review points and refer back to the question, reinforcing statements made in the introduction.