Georgia Lay

How far can aspects of identity be seen to affect the way in which
audiences use online media. Discuss, with reference to Zoella and Attitude

Aspects of identity are constructed in many different ways and depend on many factors surrounding the
company’s producer, content and audience interaction. Zoella and Attitude have contrasting audience
interactions due to their differences in demographics and the different platforms they use. Zoella offers
more traditional content reflecting typical women’s magazines of appealing to young girls interested in
fashion and makeup, however, her platform is more modern resulting in new audience interactions.
Attitude contrastingly has more innovative content appealing to the LGBTQ+ community whilst their form
of platform is more traditional, and their website layout reflects many online newspapers. These different
elements that form an identity can affect the audience, the extent of which they are affected is debatable.

Firstly, identity can be constructed through the representation of groups, this is clearly evident in both
Zoella and Attitude. The representation of social groups on online media can influence how the audience
feel about these groups and how they treat them through the media. Firstly, on Zoella there is a lack of
representation of other ethnicities or cultures than white British. This is due to Zoe’s location and who she
surrounds her with, unlike traditional media products Zoe can’t ‘cast’ other ethnicities to be in her videos,
causing a lack of representation. This links to bell hook’s theory which states that within the hierarchy of
society there is a hierarchy within the group of women, white women being at the top. Zoe reinforces this
theory by only including white women in her content. This can be seen on her YouTube channel where she
has done multiple collabs with friends, family and her boyfriend. This affects how the audience use online
media as audience members may become desensitised to the lack of representation and not realise the
implications it has on social groups of other ethnicities and cultures, ultimately reinforcing the view that
white people are superior through who they surround themselves with, who they post photos with and
which celebrities/influencers they follow. Moreover, Attitude also represents social groups within its
product. Contrastingly to Zoella, Attitude’s main focus is the representation of the LGBTQ+ community and
giving them the exposure and content that is lacked in traditional media. The online magazine represents
the community through the use of celebrities in the community themselves. For example, the interview with
Dr. Ranj Singh and his experience with coming out. The article looked at the struggles he faced, how he
came out and how it is affecting him now. The representation of LGBTQ+ figures affects how the audience
use online media, as similarly to Zoella, the audience will feel more inclined to be inclusive of the
community and content including LGBTQ+ figures will be normalised. However, arguably, those who read
the magazine are already a part of the community reducing the impact of the representation. On the other
hand, through the popularity of the magazine the content will become normalised. Overall, the
representation of social groups within online media affects how the audience use online media as their
opinions of that social group can be influenced, changing how they feel the need to present themselves
online and the content they choose to see.

In addition, aspects of identity can further affect how audiences uses online media through how the
audience interacts with the product. Both Zoella and Attitude have platforms for their audiences to interact
with their content. Firstly, Attitude uses social media as a form of interaction, interestingly Attitude does
not clearly advertise their social media on their website. Arguably, this is due to them being an online
magazine where a social media presence is not as important as it is for influencers. However, Attitude do
have Twitter (@AttitudeMag) where they commonly tweet about new issues of the magazine, the celebrities
on the front covers and other content they have written about in the magazine. Once again, little audience
interaction is shown suggesting that an intimate relationship between the creator and the audience is not
extremely important for an online magazine. Overall, Attitude does offer audiences the chance to use online
media differently through the use of social media where fans can interact with the magazine and keep up to
date with news. Attitude uses online media in a more traditional way than Zoella who’s channel and brand
grew through audience interaction. Zoe’s YouTube channel was created after it was requested by the fans of
her blog, as her followers grew so did her online presence. As well as social media that Zoe uses constantly
to update her fans of new videos, where she is and what she is doing, fans have also taken it among
themselves to create their own content. For example, many fans have fan pages for Zoe where they post
video or photo edits. There are also many examples of ‘fanfiction’, this is where fans write their own stories
featuring Zoe and often her friends or boyfriend as characters. This links closely to Clay Shirky’s theory
which looks at how with modern advancements with technology audience members aren’t only consumers
but also create their own media. ‘Fanfiction’ and these video edits are all examples of fans creating their
own media, many fan pages also have their own following, making them creators by making work inspired
Georgia Lay
by other creators. This also links to Henry Jenkin’s fandom theory which looks at the concept of a ‘fandom’
which is a group of fans that have a shared interest in one topic. Through the creation of ‘fanfiction’ and fan
pages Zoe has accumulated her own fandom. Overall, these aspects of identity affect how audiences use
online media as audiences are given new ways to use online media to interact with the products and
ultimately become creators themselves.

Furthermore, a key aspect of identity that also affects how audience use online media is the producers of a
product, this is particularly significant for Zoella and her brand. As Zoe created her channel as a hobby and
not a brand a company was never established, now through her success Zoe has been placed as her own
‘gate-keeper’ where she is in charge of what is released and how she is represented. Zoe’s self-identity has a
very clear ‘girl next door’ aesthetic through her appropriate fashion sense, family friendly content and
friendly personality. This is evident in the blog post ‘Autumn Style | Pinafores & Plaits’ where Zoe is seen
wearing an autumn themed outfit of a white top and pinafore. She has decided to not objectify herself,
contrasting with how women are typically presented in the media. This links to Liesbet van Zoonen’s theory
of how narrative codes are constructed to sexualise women, through Zoe’s own representation she has
avoided this. How Zoe presents herself affects how her audience use online media as it can impact how they
dress, how they present themselves and raises awareness that women do not have to sexualised. Her
content teaches young girls that they don’t have to portray themselves in the way many media texts present
women. Moreover, due to the influence of online media through the presentation of Zoe as a role model,
ideas surrounding body image are also conveyed. Zoe is naturally skinny, this is something she has
addressed many times, particularly through the series ‘Chummy Chatter’ with her friend Louise where they
address topics such as body image, relationships and confidence. However, audience members may
interpret Zoe’s representation and imply that they also need to be skinny, even though she is not
intentionally conveying this message. This links to Stuart Hall’s reception theory which looks at how each
audience members may interpret a text differently due to their own understanding and opinions. Due to
some audience members possibly interpreting this Zoe is arguably reinforcing typical expectations that
women need to be skinny, this is something often shown in the media and has resulted in an increase of
body issues. Overall, Zoe’s self-representation as her own ‘gate-keeper’ affects how the audience use online
media as her representation can influence what is perceived as ‘correct’ or an ‘expectation’ to reach. Fans
may recreate her style and personality or attempt to copy her lifestyle. Ultimately, this affects how they use
the media as they will present themselves differently in order to convey a different identity. This links to
Gauntlett’s theory of identity which looks at how we use online media to present our ideal selves and convey
a version of ourselves that we want to be.

In conclusion, aspects of identity can affect how audiences use online media. Arguably, Zoella is more
influential due to her positioning as a role model however both Zoella and Attitude can impact their
audience. Due to how susceptible we are to what we see online we are easily influenced. Zoella and
Attitude’s content can therefore influence how we view ourselves and others, and how we present ourselves
and others online. Similarly, both texts allow audience members to use the online media to interact with the
product, opening another new way to use the media. Arguably, it is not the products themselves that affect
how audiences use online media, the products influence how audience members view themselves and due
to our lives being online this therefore affects how we use online media. Therefore, I would argue that
aspects of identity can strongly affect how we use online media.