Exam Question : targeting audiences

Firstly, the gender of Attitude is male and they make the Attitude website fit with what males generally like. On the main page, there are many photos, more than text as men like to see visuals instead of text, if the reader does want to read more, clicking on that article will bring up more text however the text is in short paragraphs and lacks in emotional content to appeal more to the Male audience. 

The age range is between 26 and 55, this is shown from the way Attitude targets their audience. A heavy use of Facebook and Twitter shows that the age age range is between 26 and 55 as they are the age group that tends to use Facebook and Twitter, however they do use Instagram as well which does fall under a different age group but could still work as it could widen their current target range using Instagram. Attitude has articles mostly focused on politics, TV shows and celebrities, the celebrities are usually celebrities who were popular in the late 20th century or gay celebrities who are popular now, for example Elton John and Alan Carr who are famous gay celebrities are on recent articles. Another reason on why the age group is 26 to 55 is that there is no audience feedback, younger audiences has a heavy use of feedback like a comment section to express their feelings about the topic, they may not have any audience feedback on their website to not only avoid any discrimination but also, older audiences dont really use feedback sections as much as younger audiences.

The socio-economic group for Attitude is ABC1, the first reason is that Attitude has sponsorships with companies which advertise premium products like Calvin Klein and Jaguar which socio-economic group ABC1 are interested in. The second reason is that the langauage is formal and complex and is written in standard English to mirror middle class values and educational backgrounds of an ABC1 demographic. Articles also refer to the jobs that ABC1 demographics do like teachers, managers, designers and etc.

Attitude also depends on the psycho graphics of their audience to know how to present their website. The psychometric grouping of Attitude's target audience are Reformers and Aspirers. The website mainly is about politics, commenting on social issues which are mainly LGBTQ focused but does look at other topics too, this is for the reformers in Attitude's target audience who seek enlightenment. For the aspirers, the website has a style section which shows off premium products in a very saturated way as aspirers are concerned with looking good, material acquisition and brand awareness, also the travel section highlights 'boutique' hotel options at the expense of budget travel which definitely fits in with aspirers needs.

ONLINE MEDIA : Key text 2 ATTITUDE : Intro to text and audience

Attitude is a British gay lifestyle magazine owned by Stream Publishing Limited. It is sold worldwide as a physical magazine, and as a digital download for the iPad and iPhone via the App Store, and for Android devices via the Android Market. The first issue of attitude appeared in May 1994. 

A hyper sexualised representation of men - Most images of men are topless, and often in provocative poses. Articles have a critical lack of representation of different body types as on Attitude, a singular, muscular build seems to be favoured. Articles are generally focused on grooming, holidays, fashion and celebrities: a heavy emphasis on appearance and extrinsic - reinforces a gay stereotype. Normalisation - majority of articles feature gay and LGBT related issues. Articles featuring prejudice and attacks on gay men reinforce the ideology that to be gay still means being in a marginalised and threatened group - close up of mans injured head. Even straight actors are represented and codified in a way that specifically appeals to a gay male audience, for example, the voyeuristic shots of Cristiano Ronaldo in tight fitting underwear presents an appealing fantasy to the gay target audience, an escapist fantasy for a gay audience. Stereotypically attractive gay men, hyper masculine and strong, even if an audience lacks this body type, they are able escape in to a homoerotic fantasy, it offers the audience an escapist fantasy where everybody is gay, a hyper real fantasy, a utopia. Advertising - targeted to gay male audience. Advertorial "your dream home awaits" helps to normalise homosexuality. "your dream home awaits" is perhaps stereotypically feminine, reinforcing  a gay stereotype of enjoying interior design. Conformity to stereotype of vain men: article specifically on weight loss and improving muscle definition is a focus on aesthetics represented as vulnerability. References to the 'coming out' narrative, big focus on openness and 'out-there' sexualisation however, the magazine and website have a definite target audience, and may go 'hidden' in the general populace. Extravagant and with exotic lifestyles, its proud and self-confident. Gives audience the confidence to come out and to live with pride Singular and stereotypical representation of men.

ZOELLA : Audience in detail

Heavy use of Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube - these sites fit with the social media applications most prominently used by 13-24 . Deliberate amateur aesthetic suggests authenticity to this media saturated audience segment. Everyday activities of this demographic are incorporated into narratives to create connections with the target audience (shopping, stopping at drive-through, eating at fast food restaurants). Fan connections showcased in uploads - fans represent the real target audience. Use of YouTube commentary to create intimate connections with the target audience. Emotive content - the show appeals to its female audience through narratives that engage with subject matter emotionally. Zoella continuously tells us how she ‘feels’ about the problems she faces. Zoella foregrounds stereotypical female based activities in her presentation: fashion, make-up, relationships. Costume stereotypically female - female colour palette deployed in mise en-scène. Use of pets and pet orientated references. Presenter constructs a version of ideal beauty - highly stylised, lots of makeup, attention paid to costume. Intimate confessional tone - creates a relatable female character. A quiet/passive presentation style that fits with target audience expectations and female presenter stereotypes.

All the previous points show how Zoella shows off as a quite simple stereotypical girl, maybe influencing her fans on how they should be. Her fans are mostly girl based who like girl coded things like make up, fashion and positive things, their is usually no complex genders or stereotypes in her content. However, a stereotype of a man is usually strong, hard working who likes men coded things however, the men in Zoella's content are represented with the stereotypes of a girl, as they are trying out make up and fashion. Gauntlett's theory of people using the internet or other media texts to help create a identity for them, today we have more of a variety of representations to identify with which relates to Zoella as her fans are influence by her and choose to be like her and some boys choose to be like how the boys are represented in her content which is different compared to the main stereotype of men.

Many social media's have made it easier to create your own content. Fans not only can interact with the person in the comments of their post or their youtube video, but can create their own channel/page and post their own stuff. Their content may be influenced by who they follow or could be completely different. This point is reinforced by both theories of Shirky and Jenkins, where fans use the internet to gather and create their own content and easily share it, instead of just consuming the texts, as fans get inspired by creators and want to try it out to.