Zendaya Audience and Industry Flashcards
Who is Zendaya’s social media feed targeted towards?
It’s tailored towards a young, primarily female audience, especially with the emergence of a Gen Z/Millennial culture. She targets them with strategic posts designed to resonate with their interests and values
Which platforms is Zendaya on?
Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. However, she hasn’t used Twitter since September 2023 and Facebook since 2020
What does her declining use of social media platforms suggest?
The effect it may be having on her mental health and how she’s trying to prioritise herself. This may make her seem more authentic. However, she is now unable to show different aspects of her public persona on different websites, which may make her seem less personalised and her feed more controlled and centralized
How might consumers on Instagram feel about the fact she’s stopped using Facebook and Twitter?
They may feel like they are being given exclusive content and so feel closer to her.
What is Zendaya’s interaction and engagement like with the audience?
Despite opportunities for interaction, Zendaya’s actual engagement is controlled, reflecting a broader trend of managed celebrity-fan interactions.
Why is Zendaya’s interaction with fans particularly limited lately?
On her Instagram, she spoke out in support for Gaza, calling for urgent relief for children. Many Jewish fans has resorted to speaking against her in comments saying, with one saying ‘Jewish fans are hurt and disappointed’
What does Zendaya effectively balance in her posts alongside social advocacy? Which website is this particularly prevalent on?
Commercial interest. On Twitter the majority of her posts are promoting commercial interests and the films she’s been involved in
What are some of the controversial effects that social media can have on consumers- how does Zendaya address this?
- Issues with body image because a majority of female models are skinny and society has created this into a cultural code or a myth that this makes you more glamorous, because of society’s beauty standards - Zendaya doesn’t specifically promote body positivity and instead does more to highlight post-feminism and intersectionality
- Social media can have a negative impact on mental health because influencers construct narratives that their lives are perfect - Zendaya conforms to this as her Instagram feed constructs a perfect life and her most recent Twitter posts shows her reposting birthday messages, portraying her as a popular women. However, this could be subverted by the fact she has stopped using Facebook and Twitter and her latest character of Rue in Euphoria faces many struggles
What is social media?
Online platforms in which content is made, so that we can interact and share ideas and interests with others
Where did Zendaya gain her fame?
She first gained fame for comedic roles in Disney Channel, such as in KC Undercover and Shake it up
What did the Times Magazine name her in 2022?
One of the top 100 most influential people in the world
What has Zendaya been in more recently?
more recently, she has transitioned to more serious roles such as Rue Bennett in Euphoria, for which she won an emmy and the Spiderman movies, Dune, Malcolm and Marie, The Greatest Showman and Smallfoot.
What is Zendaya doing outside of acting?
Modelling: launched her first fashion collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger in 2019, which was inspired by female empowerment. She is currently the face of Lancome, Bulgari and Valentino. In 2021, Zendaya received the CFDA’s Fashion Icon award, making her the youngest recipient of this
How many followers does Zendaya have on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook?
Instagram: 184m
Twitter: 20m
Facebook:19m
What’s an example of Zendaya placing her fan’s mental health first?
Before Euphoria was released, she took to social media to say how proud she was of the season, but also pointed out that watching Euphoria, with its potentially activating content, might not be a good idea for everyone
What is the importance of analysing Zendaya’s social media in A-level media?
It shows how social media is an effective mechanism for celebrities to build a personal brand and public image. It’s a great way to interact with fans because it seems authentic and resonates with the consumer
How many likes did Zendaya receive on her pink campaign post for Valentino?
7.5 million.
Which organisation has Zendaya been seen to work with to highlight her advocacy work?
GLSEN, who promote rights of LGBTQ+. She won the game-changer of the year award in 2017, which is awarded to those who have a significant impact on the lives of LGBTQ youth
What are some examples of Zendaya championing LGBTQ+
-playing a queer character in Euphoria
-the Bulgari unexpected worders advert which showed clear sexual tension between herself and Anne Hathaway
What product has been made of Zendaya that shows her ultimate message of female empowerment as an influencer?
She’s been made into a barbie
How does Zendaya’s website promote her social media?
Her website offers little information about herself: while there is some background information at the bottom, each paragraph leaves us with questions, creating enigma codes and so make us want to know more about her. Similarly, where it lists her credits, it tells us very little about it and instead gives us links to other websites, forcing us to go and find out lots more about her and creates clickbait. There’s also a lack of pictures
Who owns Instagram?
Meta Platforms
Who owns Meta Platforms
Meta isn’t owned by one single individual, but instead a large number of investors. The main individual shareholders are:
Mark Zuckerburg - he owns 13.6% and is the fourth richest person in the world - almost his entire wealth comes from Meta, which he started in his university bedroom at Harvard in 2004
Michael Schroepfer - 0.02%
David Fischer - 0.01%
However, 79.65% of the company is owned by 4,716 institutional investors. The three largest are the Vanguard group, BlackRock and Fidelity Investments
What products and services does Meta operate?
Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Threads
How is Meta funded?
- the vast majority of the company’s revenue comes from social media advertising, which amounted to 97.8% in 2023. In 2022, Meta had revenues of $39billion, with each Instagram user bringing revenues of around $312.
- Platforms have also integrated an e-commerce system that allows users to buy and sell products; they take a commission for each transaction
- More controversially, Meta collects your data, including demographics and behaviour, to sell to third-party companies who use this information to create more targeted advertising, develop new products and services, or swing election campaigns.
How successful is Meta’s stock performance at the moment?
Meta has surged by 400% since October 2022, when it bottomed at $88. In April 2024, the stock price stands at $497
How is instagram and social media regulated?
Regulated through a combination of:
-its own community guidelines (content of hate speech may see a user being removed from the platform)
-content moderation: human and automated moderators to identify and remove content that violates guidelines
-legal regulations, e.g. privacy, data protection and online safety
-oversight from government bodies such as passing new regulations and conducting investigations
-user reporting and feedback e.g. users can report inappropriate posts
Who owns X?
X corp was established by Elon Musk in 2023 as the successor to Twitter. It’s a subsidiary of X Holdings Corp, which is owned by Musk. The Tesla CEO bought Twitter for $44billion. However, Musk isn’t the only owner with other investors, including the 2nd largest shareholder of X being Kingdom Holding company, which is owned by Saudi prince and billionaire
How does Hesmonhalgh’s theory apply to companies like Meta?
- Meta is diversifying itself and taking advantage of multiple media platforms - new media- such as Instagram, which focuses on social media as well as Whatsapp and Messenger, which are texting and communication apps. This is more likely to enable them to minimise risks and maximise profits.
- Media companies have undergone internationalisation, expanding the market and reducing cultural risk
- Meta has undergone vertical integration- how owning messaging apps, social media and virtual reality, as well as horizontal integration, by acquiring both Facebook and Instagram
Her can we apply Hesmonhalgh’s theory to Zendaya’s social media?
The number of international brands and non-profits organisations working with her suggests these companies hope her star power will generate a desire for products and services. This can be done through the two-step flow of communication Her brand is beginning to become commodified
How can cultivation theory be applied?
Given she is an influencer, people are likely to listen to her and so her work for advocacy and positive change are likely to become cultivated in the mind of the reader.
What are some of the uses and gratifications of Zendaya’s social media?
Personal relationship- feeling of the authentic girl next door, but also someone to aspire to
Personal identity- you may aspire to be more like her and buy the clothes she advertises
Surveillance- want to keep up with recent trends
Diversion- escape from your own reality and enter hers as she conveys to have the perfect life
How can Bandura be applied to Zendaya’s social media feed
The Sabido method- social learning theory has also been used in order to inspire positive change in media audiences. This should be shown through Zendaya as it’s hoped that her work of positive influence and change will lead to others wanting to advocate for this as well
How can reception theory be applied?
Dominant reading states that she is a positive influencer trying to advocate and allows people to improve their personal identity for the better
However, the oppositional reading would suggest her message could be damaging as vulnerable users of social media could find her message damaging as they compare their own appearance and achievements to Zendaya’s
How can Henry Jenkins be applied to Zendaya’s social media?
Fans have created fan pages on Instagram and Tik Tok, creating edits of her and her work through textual poaching. For example, her biggest fan page on Tik-Tok has 1.5 million followers, showing how fans are creating social communities and subcultures around her and her values of advocacy and female empowerment. People may feel like they are connecting with her via her Instagram comments, but this is a hyper-reality
Is Zendaya’s product facing an end of audience?
Her product is somewhat facing an end of audience as her feed becomes more controlled and covers less platforms, meaning her content is less personalised given people less opportunities for interaction. However, this could be somewhat untrue as most her feed was on Instagram to begin with and gratifications are simply changing with less people experiencing personal relationships and more people looking for identity from her content.
many of her posts are partnerships with luxury brands and promotional pieces for her acting work. Despite the huge increase in user-generated content and the mass amateurisation of production, the media conglomerates and global enterprises can still exercise their power through these social networks to reach their target audience.
What are the psycho and demographics like of the audience of Zendaya’s Instagram page?
The largest age group on Instagram is 18-24s, with a larger % of females (48%) compared to Facebook. Gen-Z and millennials make up two-thirds of their users. They are likely to be aspirers, as they wish to be like her with status, or they may be reformers as they want to see change in society and like Zendaya’s message of social activism.
What are the psycho and demographics of Zendaya’s Facebook audience
The largest age group on Facebook is 25-34s, with 56% of the audience being male, which may suggest Zendaya has less engagement on this sight as she targets her smaller millennials audience and her female orientated content will have less appeal to men. Her viewers on here are more likely to be mainstreamers, who seek security, as they want to be in line with trends and be up to date with her social activism
