Influencers and celebrity culture: blog tasks
1) Media Magazine reading
Media Magazine 72 has a feature linking YouTube influencers to A Level media theories. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM72 and scroll to page 60 to read the article ‘The theory of everything - using YouTubers to understand media theory’. Answer the following questions:
1) How has YouTube "democratised media creativity"?
The YouTube platform has democratised media creativity, with ordinary users uploading their
own content: they are ‘producers’ (producer-users) and ‘prosumers’ (producer-consumers). Content is published first and then filtered or judged later by audiences.
How does YouTube and social media culture act as a form of cultural imperialism or 'Americanisation'?
Improved communications turned the world into a global village, and this was decades before the internet. Not all famous YouTubers, like Emma Chamberlain, are American but Americans certainly make up the majority. YouTube influencers encourage the spread of US cultural references, language and attitudes. This form of globalisation implies a dominance of Western cultural attitudes (cultural hegemony) – ‘the West vs the Rest’.
How do influencers reinforce capitalist ideologies?
YouTube stars are often sponsored by commercial companies and become endorsers of products. Their posts illustrate the commercialisation or commodification of entertainment which, although in some ways more honest and explicitly done than the subtle product placement of the past, still channels audiences into conformist ways of thinking and behaving, encouraging them to buy products and aspire towards material improvement.
How can YouTube and social media celebrity content be read as postmodern, an example of hyperreality?
Typical YouTuber videos tend to subvert the codes and conventions of traditional cinematography. They use techniques such as handheld camera, cartoon-like captions and sounds, crash zooms into extreme close ups, jump cuts and other obvious editing devices which emphasise the artificiality of their filmmaking. The vlog is a highly self-reflexive media form. This postmodern self-consciousness involves breaking the fourth wall by revealing the ‘nuts and bolts’ of video shooting and editing.
What are the arguments for and against regulating online content such as YouTube?
The content of viral video clips is often subversive, the mode of address is informal. This raises the question of age suitability and availability to younger audiences. It is difficult to restrict access to such sites to younger children who may be more impressionable and less able to distance themselves critically and emotionally from what they are viewing.
While to some, the idea of regulating YouTube seems like unnecessary ‘censorship’, many others argue that platforms have to take responsibility for protecting their users.
How can Hesmondhalgh and Curran & Seaton's ideas be linked to online media debates?
David Hesmondhalgh and Curran and Seaton that the cultural industries are driven by corporate power and the pursuit of profit. When enormous conglomerates, like Google and Facebook buy up platforms and apps that were previously their competitors, they become leaders in the market and leave little room for independence, individualism and democracy.
How can Gauntlett's ideas around identity and audience be applied to YouTube and influencer content?
Media encourages ordinary users
8) What is YOUR opinion on celebrity influencers? Are they a positive, democratic addition to the contemporary media landscape or a highly constructed product promoting hegemonic capitalist ideologies?
My opinion on celebrity influencers are that they can be both a positive and negative because some influencers promote drugs and violence through their music and others express their thoughts about society and how to improve it. However I think that all media products promoting hegemonic capitalist ideologies as everything is more about making money rather than showing talent.
How to build a social media brand: case study
Read this excellent case study on how to build a celebrity social media brand and answer the following questions:
What are the different ways celebrities manage their social media accounts? Give examples.
Not all celebrities are responsible for their own social accounts. For an example; Harry styles twitter tweets, where some of them we can tell are written by him but some are more likely to be handled by a social media manager.
Social media managers are often responsible for adopting their celebrity clients’ voice and working alongside that client to make sure their social presence is “on brand.” You can’t tell whether or not a celebrity runs their own Twitter or instagram account.
Why is 'voice' important in celebrity social media content and what examples are provided?
Voice helps companies stand out from the crowd, the same can be said for the tone and personality of a celebrity on social media. Teigen’s off-the-cuff and often humorous tweets often don’t feel like they were written by a celebrity at all. Her human approach to social has made her all the more endearing and relatable to her millions of followers.
What different goals may celebrities have for their social media accounts?
The role of a social manager for a celebrity is to determine what those goals are and how to reach them while communicating with thousands or millions of followers.
What types of content can be found from celebrity social media posts?
- News, update and hype posts
- behind the scenes content
- slice of life content
How does social media allow influencers to interact with fans? Give examples.
Beyond likes and retweets, celebrities can drive engagement and interact with fans simply by asking questions. Celebrities and their managers can keep an eye on mentions and DMs to figure out who to like and shout-out.
while something as simple as a “Like” or retweet only takes a moment for a celeb, but could very well mean the world to a fan.
3) Guardian article: Social media harming young people
Finally, read this Guardian article reporting that social media and celebrity culture is harming young people. Answer the following questions:
What did the YMCA's report suggest about social media content and celebrity culture?
They found that 62% of 15 to 16-year-olds felt that social media had ramped up expectations over their personal appearance. Photoshopped images and the sharing of only the most flattering shots shifted young people’s understanding of what a normal body looked like, the charity said.
What examples are provided of how this can have a damaging effect on young people?
Social media was already a concern among 11 to 12-year-olds, with 43% of those surveyed claiming individuals they saw on online influenced them.
Dubicki said social media such as Snapchat and Instagram “can be damaging and even destructive” to girls’ mental wellbeing. “There’s a pressure for young people to be involved 24/7 and keep up with their peer group or they will be left out and socially excluded.”
3) What is YOUR opinion on this topic? Do you feel social media is dangerous to young people? Should age restrictions be enforced? Explain your answer.
Yes, I think that the media is dangerous to young people as parents cannot control what they watch. Social media affects teenagers' mental health negatively as they compare themselves to celebrities and are likely to be insecure which can possibly lead to depression and low self esteem.
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