OSP: Influencers and celebrity culture

 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"?

It is said that "content is published first and then filtered and judged later." We can say that people find whatever they find appropriate.

2) How does YouTube and social media culture act as a form of cultural imperialism or 'Americanisation'? 

YouTube allows people to make whatever they want and post it to the public, and mostly these creators are American and make videos mainly targeted at an English-speaking audience.

3) How do influencers reinforce capitalist ideologies? 

We can see this from all of the brands that they sponsor or appear in to sell towards their fans/audience.

4) How can YouTube and social media celebrity content be read as postmodern, an example of hyperreality? 

We can say that it is like hyperreality as we only see the good parts of people's lives and what they want us to see, everything is highly constructed to appeal to us.

5) What are the arguments for and against regulating online content such as YouTube?

There are people who want to have free speech and post what they want on the platform, but then you have people who say the site needs to be more regulated because of younger audiences and how they are more easily influenced.

6) How can Hesmondhalgh and Curran & Seaton's ideas be linked to online media debates? 

It is written: "The cultural industries are driven by corporate power and the pursuit of profit."

7) How can Gauntlett's ideas around identity and audience be applied to YouTube and influencer content?

There are many influencers who influence others to become them and then cycle repeats, we see that everyone can become a producer and we can use Gauntlett's theory as mentioned of identity and how audiences will relate with the person on screen, we can also apply Blumber and Katz's theory of gratifications of personal identity.

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?   

I would say that they could be good like providing advice, knowledge and motivation, but then there are a lot of people who post a lot of fabricated content which makes other's more self-conscious about themselves.

2) 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: 

1) What are the different ways celebrities manage their social media accounts? Give examples. 

They will sometimes have their own genuine reactions and views or possibly communicate with the public by making jokes such as Zendaya parodying an old meme off of Facebook, but they also have a PR team in which they will manage and filter what they say to get the best result or if not have as little minimal damage.

2) Why is 'voice' important in celebrity social media content and what examples are provided? 

Voice is important as it allows them to have an opinion or idea about something, this can make them more relatable towards an audience that feels the same way or perhaps makes them agree with the celebrity.

3) What different goals may celebrities have for their social media accounts? 

Sometimes they may want to voice an opinion towards the public and depending on how it is perceived by the audience it will determine how successful it is and how it is agreed with the public.

4) What types of content can be found from celebrity social media posts? 

They can have lots of different types of content such as:

-Behind the Scenes

-Life Updates

-Sponsors

-Inspiring speeches

-Collabs

-Music

5) How does social media allow influencers to interact with fans? Give examples.  

DM's, asking questions, polls all of these features can be done on major social media platforms.

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:

1) What did the YMCA's report suggest about social media content and celebrity culture?  

It is written that: "YMCA spoke to more than 1,000 young people aged between 11 and 16. They found that 62% of 15 to 16-year-olds felt that social media had ramped up expectations over their personal appearance."

2) What examples are provided of how this can have a damaging effect on young people? 

Dubicka says "social media such as Snapchat and Instagram can be damaging and even destructive to girls’ mental wellbeing."  And also talks about how there is a constant pressure of being up to standard.

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.

I would say that is it dangerous to young people as there are many things that can happen such as children being groomed, cyberbullying and all the such. Even though I think an age restriction should be put into place, I think that it would anger way too many people and they will backlash saying something along the lines of suppressing their freedom of speech.