ISP 24

Task 1 – Media Studies textbooks 

Read and take notes on Chapter 5 (p.180-185) of your Yr1 Media Studies textbook on key approaches used to study online media products. (30 min)

Apply Barthes and Gauntlett and Hall

Jean Burgess and Joshua Green refer to YouTubers are figures who ‘despite their carefully cultivated “homegrown” brand identities, seem to be making a living via advertising revenue, reaching large audiences with content produced within and for YouTube, often with their own external websites as well’

Web 2.0- A new phase in the internet’s development, characterised by interactivity, user participation, connection and collaboration.

Content creators- Those who are involved in creating and sharing content online-bloggers and YouTubers for example.

Hyperlink- A word, phrase or image in an electronic document or web page that the reader can click on to navigate to a different part of the document or a different page.

Blogger– Someone who engaged in blogging, which is the practice of updating or adding material to a blog. The term blog is short for weblog.

Vlog- A blog in video form. Short for video blog.

Para-social interaction– The illusion of face-to-face conversation constructed through techniques such as a direct mode of address. The term was originally coined by Horton and Wohl. While their concept of para-social interaction was originally applied to mass media forms such as television, it has subsequently been applied to online media forms such as blogs and vlogs.

Non-verbal communication- Communication that doesn’t involve words. The way in which we communicate messages and meaning through our facial expressions, our body language and our tone of voice for example

Gatekeeper- A person or organisation that is involved in filtering content in some way. For example, in the newspaper industry editors generally perform this gatekeeping function as they determine which stories make it into the paper (through the gate) and which do not.

Types of Vlog:

• Personal vlogs- vlogger shares thoughts, experiences or feelings. Direct mode of address, speak straight to camera like a diary. use of close ups and minimal editing gives a sense of intimacy and authenticity. The illusion of face-to-face conversation that this creates is commonly described as para-social integration.
• Fashion and beauty– including; demonstration tutorials, hauls, reviews
• Entertainment vlogs– This is a broad category that encompasses comedy sketches and pranks as well as challenges and competitions
• Gaming vlogs– including: walkthrough videos where you are shown how to complete a game with strategies and tips. Let’s play videos where the gamer records themselves playing the game with their own personal commentary, this is less instructional and more entertaining.

 

Read and takes notes on Chapter 5 (p.215-220) of your Yr2 Media Studies textbook on the Media Language aspects of online media products. (30 min)

Apply Barthes, Clause Levi-Strauss, Jean Baudrillard

Multimodality- Defined by Theo van Leeuwen (2005) as ‘the combination of different semiotic modes – for example, language and music – in a communicative artefact or event’. For example, websites are multimodal as they combine images, text and sound.

Hyperlink- A word, phrase or image in an electronic document or webpage that the user can click on to navigate to a different part of the document or a different page.

Hypermodality- A term used to describe the way in which the linkages in online media products such as webpages ‘go beyond the default conventions of traditional multimodal genres’ (Lemke, 2002). For example, while these may be links between images and text in a film poster or print advertisement, a webpage also provides links to other pages or documents, introducing another layer of connectivity.

Above the fold- The portion of a webpage that is immediately visible to the user without the need for scrolling. That which can only be viewed via scrolling is said to be below the fold. The terms are borrowed from the newspaper industry, as newspapers would traditionally be folded in half before being put on display on newsstands. Therefore, passers-by would only be able to see material that appeared above the fold.

Social semiotics– A critical approach that addresses the perceived limitations of mainstream semiotics by acknowledging and exploring the social contexts in which meaning making takes place.

Phatic internet technologies– According to Wang, Tucker and Haines (2012), these are ‘special forms of communication technologies devoted to personal and social need and goals.

LGBT– An acronym that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. Other variations include LGBTQ+. The Q in these variations stands for the ‘questioning’ or ‘queer’ while the addition of the ‘+’ is intended to make the category more inclusive by encompassing other related groups such as those who identify as pansexual or asexual.

Conventions of a webpage homepage:

• A logo
• Main navigation
• A carousel or slider
• A footer
• A search box
• Social media icons
• Banner ads.

 

 

Task 2 – Exam Questions Planning (1 hour):

Spend 30 minutes (each question) planning a detailed response to the questions below. Use the PEETA model when you are planning your response.

Question 1 – To what extent is Zoella’s content a postmodern media text? Use p.218 to support you with this question.

• P- Zoella and other YouTubers are blurring the lines between media and real life
• E- Zoella creates personal blogs that are relatable and personal- giving fashion reviews where she doesn’t always like the products
• E- shows how she is real and has her own thoughts
• T- Baudrillard’s Postmodernism theory suggests that there is little differentiation between real life and social media
• A- Zoella follows this from her sitting at her home (not a set) talking to us (the camera) and not following a set script
• P- Zoella is not a postmodern media text
• E- We can distinguish between her and us due to PR, brand deals and sponsors
• E- She and YouTubers have transformed from no longer doing social media for fun but instead profit, due to the rise of interest in social media stars. As an original YouTuber she may be one of the last to do it solely for fun.
• T- Lévi-Strauss binary opposites
• A- See the differences between her life and our lives, she is very stereotypically feminine and audiences may not, they may also be men. The oppositions between her life and reality is too much, her life is too polished

 

Question 2 – How does Zoella use media language to connote an idealistic lifestyle?

 

• P- uses multimodal to visually show and speak about her lifestyle
• E- in the background of videos you can see her perfect house, also looking through older videos you can see how she has moved house many times, each one more extravagant and expensive
• E- this shows her to be unattainable and ideal, the semiotics in the back of her video show also connote luxury
• T- Barthes semiotics
• A- The use of fairy lights suggests positivity, high key lights suggest perfection and how her real personality is shown.
• P- Zoella Uses stereotypically feminine stereotypes to she her perfect life, she is not oppressed and does not face criticism.
• E- The use of pink and white colour pallets, her blog using varies female stereotypes like cooking and reading
• E- These show how she lives the perfect life, but she has faced criticism from traditional media sources and also the public for her ghost written best seller, she combatted this by crediting her writer and working on subsequent books and currently a new series with her.
• T- Levi Strauss binary opposites
• A- The oppositions between the traditional media and Zoella, The differences between her and her boyfriend are positive. She also opposes other YouTubers who are more action and challenge based.

Task 3 – Exam Question Response (1 hour):

Select one of the questions and, using the plan and the PEETA model, spend 30 min answering the question. (300 words)

To what extent is Zoella’s content a postmodern media text?

Zoella and other YouTubers are blurring the lines between social media and reality. The rise of the internet superstars and technology is changing the way audiences relate to texts and posts. Zoella creates her own personal vlogs and blog posts regularly, giving fashion reviews and showing her edited and polished personality. Zoella’s audience is loyal, with the process of daily or weekly vlogs, many viewers tune in to see her live her normal life, she ends up feeling like more of a friends than an idol. This close interaction with her fans is due to the personal blogs she releases, this adds to the thin lines between her reality and social stardom. Baudrillard’s Postmodernism theory suggests that the differentiation we make between our lives and reality compared to media and celebrities has started to increasingly blur. YouTube’s and Zoella have conformed to his theory, as YouTube started out as a fun video sharing platform their content creators did not make content for another reason than the joy for it, their videos used to be haphazardly edited and posted with little thought. But after a sudden surge in the popularity of these internet stars advertisers and YouTube’s own founders realised you could make a lot of money, this started to change the homemade feel of YouTubers. But although YouTubers evolved and became more mainstream, expanding to thousands of micro businesses viewers may still link their content to what YouTube used to be, therefore making it increasingly difficult to differentiate between YouTubers and their real personalities.

Zoella could also be seen to oppose the idea that YouTuber’s are blurring the lines between reality and social media. Viewers can notice the difference between when she is doing brand deals or if she is sharing her own opinion due to the need to specify in videos now. She has two channels, her main channel shows more polished and edited videos that follow a single structure and focus on one main theme per video, but her second channel is more informal and shows her vlogs, which follow her daily life. As she films such a large part of her day it is unlikely she is acting through a different “social media star persona”. I think that as she was one of the first few popular YouTubers who turned YouTube into a mainstream profession she is likely to still have her priorities in tact and continue with YouTube for the fun of it, not just profit, as when she started it wasn’t a way of making money. Following Levi-Strauss’ binary oppositions viewers can differentiate her “perfect” life from the hardships she faces, she has evolved to no longer cater to a young audience and has grown with her viewers to create more calming and soothing content that is more personal to her.