Zoella Representation Flashcards
Can you name some Zoella YouTube videos?
“Dealing with panic attacks and anxiety” + “Boyfriend vs Brother” + “Christmas Gingerbread Light Cupcakes”
What is a parasocial interaction?
With a comment section, Youtube allows for talking back. The audience feel like they are talking to the creator when they comment. The audience spend interest and time in creators where the other party is unaware of the other’s existence.
Who is Zoella’s target audience?
10-14 year old girls, Mainstreamers (Seen with Primark haul video).
What book did Zoella “write”?
The book was called “Girl Online” and it was ghostwritten by an English graduate. This is important as it is evidence of how Zoella sanitized her content as she does not show what she truly wants to write, it keeps her image sanitized.
How does Zoella create representation of a best friend character in the video “Dealing with panic attacks and anxiety”?
In the video “Dealing with panic attacks and anxiety”, she showcases her home become studio setup, with a single camera, an everyday mise-en-scene, comfortable costume, and inclusion of presenter clothes to create an amateur aesthetic. She has done this to make the audience feel more connected to her, as she looks like a common person, when in reality she is worth £5 million in 2022.
Why does Zoella include the best friend representation?
She does this so the audience can personally identify with her, which is part of a theory by Blumler and Katz which states that all media products serve the purpose of uses and gratification, as she presents herself as down to earth when in reality she is a millionaire.
How and why does Zoella break the 4th wall?
Direct address to the audience is made with a single camera setup, which enforces the amateur aesthetic, to break the 4th wall and this allows the audience to have a parasocial interaction with her. In the video “Dealing with panic attacks and anxiety”, she uses direct address when she states “I wanted to speak to you”.
How does Clay Shirky and his “End of audience theory” link with Zoella?
Clay Shirky says the audience can “talk back” to the creators with web 2.0. Web 2.0 allows for a conversation between media producers and consumers and the line between them is blurred. This allows for a parasocial interaction between media producers and consumers.
What does Zoella represent?
A domestic woman, a best friend character, a feminist.
How does Zoella create a domestic representation?
She conforms to multiple gender theorists. Butler’s theory on Gender Performance, which is where behavior = gender, is highlighted by the casting of the video. Only Zoe, who is a woman, appears in the video, along with her relaxed gesture codes which signifies a familiarity and confident approach to baking and or cooking in the kitchen, conforming to Hall’s theory of stereotypes. Secondly, Zoe’s choice of set, to be in the kitchen reinforces Van Zoonen’s theory of spectacle, where she states that female characters belong to the home and the domestic.
Why and how does Zoella keep her content monetized?
She keeps her videos monetized so they do not get demonetized, meaning she will be able to make no money from the video, and to also keep her content family friendly, as her target audience is 10-14 year old girls (before her rebrand). The way she keeps her content sanitized and able for monetization is through using sounds to cover over swear words and by using an innocent presenting style.
Why does Zoella create a domestic representation?
Zoe may have done this to keep her content mainstream, a theory by Young and Rubicam, where people belong to certain groups based on their personality as mainstreamers make up most of the population we know today. A domesticated woman is tradition in society, and mainstreamers feel discomfort with anything new or challenging to their to their ideas, so most mainstreamers would be comfortable to see representation of a domesticated woman.
How does Zoella create a feminist representation?
In a Twitter post from the 18th April 2022, her brand “Zoella” posts about orgasms and sex, which are topics not suitable for the mainstream media which she previously conformed to. As a white, upper-class woman, according to bell hooks and her theory of intersectionality, she will not be discriminated against for talking about said topics.
Why does Zoella create a feminist representation?
She knows her audience has grown up as she has been on YouTube for a long time, so she wants to talk about topics which are more suitable for an older audience.
