OSP:
Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
Our first Online, Social and Participatory CSP is Teen Vogue - the
former print magazine turned online sensation.
25 Marks… this will be a big one!
Teen Vogue has generated a huge amount of coverage (and attracted a
significant audience) by re-positioning the magazine as a socially conscious
political hub for young women.
Notes from the lesson
Teen Vogue: background
Teen Vogue was launched in 2003 as a print magazine ‘little sister’
title to US Vogue. It focused on fashion and celebrity and was a conventional
magazine aimed at teenage girls.
In 2015, in response to declining sales, the magazine cut back its print
distribution and focused on digital content. After single-copy sales dropped
50% in the first six months of 2016 alone, the magazine went quarterly (four
issues a year) before announcing the closure of the print magazine completely
in November 2017.
Online growth
Led by digital director Phillip Picardi, the Teen Vogue website grew
substantially as the print magazine declined.
Between January 2016 and 2017, Teen Vogue’s online traffic rocketed from
2.9m US visitors to 7.9m. The magazine then surpassed 10m unique users later in
2017. In addition, the magazine has 6m Facebook likes, 3.5m Twitter followers
and a huge following on Snapchat.
Evolution and activism
The spectacular digital growth of Teen Vogue has been credited to the
editor Elaine Welteroth and digital guru Picardi leading the magazine in a
radically different direction to traditional teenage magazines.
Focusing on politics, activism and feminism, the magazine has developed
a reputation for high-quality journalism while recruiting millions of
socially-conscious, educated readers.
'Woke'
Teen Vogue considers itself a ‘woke’ brand.
Woke definition: a political term of African American origin that refers
to an awareness of issues concerning social justice.
This means Teen Vogue covers issues of politics, racism and gender
identity… and amazingly has expanded the appeal and reach of the brand while
doing do.
Teen Vogue: background reading and textual
analysis blog tasks
Work through the following tasks to complete your first case study on
Teen Vogue.
Teen Vogue: background reading
1) What was
the article that announced Teen Vogue as a more serious, political website –
with 1.3m hits and counting?
The article about Donald
Trump gas lighting America
2)
When was the original Teen Vogue magazine
launched and what was its original content?Teen Vogue was originally launched in 2003, and its content
included: fashion and celebrity gossip.
3) How did
editor Elaine Welteroth change Teen Vogue’s approach in 2015?
Welteroth decided it was more appropriate for
the modernday teenage audience to be informed about things like politics and
moving forward in life, i.e. things like college.
4) How many
stories are published on Teen Vogue a day? What topics do they cover?
The team of editors will
publish 50-70 stories a day. These will range from politics, to fashion, to
lifestyle.
5) What
influence did digital director Phillip Picardi have over the editorial
direction?
6) What is
Teen Vogue’s audience demographic and what does ‘woke’ refer to?
Teen Vogues demographic is ages 18-24 females, and
the word "woke" refers to being socially conscious
7) What
issues are most important to Teen Vogue readers?
8) What does
Tavi Gevinson suggest regarding the internet and ‘accountability culture’ with
regards to modern audiences? Can you link this to our work on Clay Shirky?
Gevinson suggests that the internet has changed the way
audiences react to things, which links to "End of an Audience" as it
shows the audience of the modern cultures doing more than just reading/viewing
the media product as they are now trying to make change with things that are
perhaps wrong.
9) What
social and political issues have been covered successfully by Teen Vogue?
"Trump Gaslighting America"-Trump telling
lies to put himself in a better position for the vote.
10)What do
Teen Vogue readers think of the magazine and website?
Teen Vogue reader love the website as at a womens
parade the editor, Elaine Welteroth had seen a sign taying that "Teen
Vogue will save us all," therefore this reader is clearly portraying her
love for the website.
Teen Vogue textual analysis and example
articles
Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of
the Teen Vogue website and read notable Teen Vogue articles to refer to in exam
answers.
Homepage analysis
Go to the Teen Vogue homepage and answer the following:
·
What website key conventions can you find on
the Teen Vogue homepage?
·
the menu icon
·
category bar along the top
·
logo
·
images
·
social media references
·
articles
·
click bait titles
·
continuous scrolling feeling
·
How does the page design encourage audience
engagement?
The home page encourages audience interaction through
social media, as well as through the titles which through the titles make it
seem like the writer is talking to the audience, asking them a question of
sorts and encouraging thoughts.
3Where
does advertising appear on the homepage?
4)What are
the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content of
Teen Vogue?
- News
and Politics
- Fashion
- Entertainment
- Beauty
- Lifestyle
- Wellness
- Homecoming
·
5) How far does the homepage scroll down? How
many stories appear on the homepage in total?
The homepage goes as far as
5 different categories, all with different things to offer, the first being the
editors pick of sorts, displaying a range of different important stories, the
next being the trending subheading, showing relevant topics their target
audience may be stereo typically interested in. After that we are met with more
stories, displayed in a list format, some of which include ones from the top of
the homepage. Next is the Teen Vogue 21 under 21, which portray successful
young women.
Lifestyle section
Now analyse the Lifestyle section of Teen Vogue and answer the
following:
1) What are
the items in the top menu bar for the Lifestyle section?
- Tech
- Campus Life
- Careers
- Decorating Ideas
- Food
2) How is
the Lifestyle section designed to encouragement audience engagement? Think
about page design, images, text and more.
The titles if the articles
have quite a personal tone to them, allowing audiences to feel more enticed to
click them, pretty much click bait titles. These make it seem as the reader is
having a conversation with the writer of the article. In addition to this, the
use if GIFs to evoke a sense of humor, one of which being Rachel from friends
with a turkey on her head. Also, because this page is formatted in a list, it
entices the readers to continue scrolling in a way.
What do you notice about the way headlines are written in Teen Vogue?
3) What does
the focus on education, university and ‘campus life’ tell you about the Teen
Vogue audience demographics and psychographics?
This tell us that Teen Vogues audience is on the older
side of the spectrum of teenagers, meaning that it focuses on more mature
topics, like politics, and preparing for university. In addition, this tells us
that the psycographics of the Teen Vogue readers would be: Aspirers/Reformers
as TV readers want to change the world, and aspirers because of the themes the
website focuses on, like beauty and fashion.
4) Choose
three stories featured in the Lifestyle section – why do they fit the Teen
Vogue brand?
- 7
Things you should do when applying to colleges - Teen Vogue
readers are likley to be either in college or applying, therefore there is
appeal straight away.
- 3
Reasons the XR should be your next phone - TV readers may
be interested in new technology, meaning that not only will they know
about the Iphone XR, but may be considering buying a new phone, therefore
this article
- Starbucks
is selling a "Snowy Cheese Latte" - T.V readers may
go to Starbucks and may therefore be interested in a new flavour coffee that
they are bringing out
Five key articles
Read the following five notable Teen Vogue features then answer the
questions below for EACH feature.
For each article:
1) Who is
the writer and what is the article about?
Lauren Duca is the writer of
this article and it is about Trump telling lies to america, so much so that he
begins to really believe the lies that he is telling.
2) How does
the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory
here if possible.
This article uses narrative to portray the
binary opposition between republicans and democrats, clearly portrayed simply
through the writers viewpoints. Also, the Propp's character types, as Trump is
clearly portrayed as the villain, and the writer as the hero/donor of sorts as
she gives us useful information.
3) Why is
this article significant?
This article is significant
because it was the first of many articles that put Teen Vogue into the
limelight for being a mature magazine/website aimed at young people, that
talked about political issues, such as Trump etc.
4) How does
this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?
This article reflects the values of a modern day Teen
Vogue due to the fact that it clearly has left wing ideologies, as it
villainizes Trump and debunks a lot of the lies that he has told.
Industry is the final key concept to address in this in-depth study.
It's important to remember that the exam question could cover anything from how
Teen Vogue makes money to what attracts audiences to their social media pages.
This means we need comprehensive knowledge across the board.
Notes
from the lesson
Industry:
Conde Nast
Teen Vogue is owned and published by Condé Nast, an American media
organisation that publishes around 20 magazines including Vogue, GQ and Wired.
The company targets a wide range of different audiences – 164 million consumers
across its brands.
In March 2018, Condé Nast announced the launch of Influencer Platform
Next Gen, a digital campaign that links advertisers and content creation. The
goal is to “connect to a new generation of audience”.
Income
sources
Teen Vogue’s main source of income is through selling advertising space
online – adverts that are targeted using browsing history.
However, they also monetise their customer data and loyalty, encouraging
readers to register online for updates, offers and access to the ‘Insider’ area
of the website. This data can then be sold to other companies or used to
attract ‘advertorial’ or sponsored content.
Teen Vogue also makes money through YouTube with plenty of 1m+ views on
their video content. This is an example of digital convergence – a traditionally
print-based product moving into multimedia and accessible on one device.
Teen
Vogue: fashion industry player
Although Teen Vogue has been creating headlines for its political
content in recent years, it is also an important part of the fashion industry.
Both editorial content and advertising is designed to create a strong desire in
their audience for products featured. This links to Condé Nast’s role as a
major media company interested in maximising profit.
Some argue that Teen Vogue’s more diverse coverage offers a form of
public service through its political coverage. But are features criticising
capitalism hypocritical when the brand is owned by a media giant like Condé
Nast?
Teen Vogue: Industry and social media blog
tasks
Create a new blogpost called 'Teen Vogue Industry and social media' and
work through the following tasks to complete the final aspects of your Teen
Vogue case study:
Industry:
Condé Nast
1) Research Teen Vogue publisher Condé Nast.
What other magazines do they publish and how much money did they make last
year?
Some of the other
newspapers that Conde Nast publish are: Allure, Architectural Digest, Ars Technica, Backchannel, Bon Appétit,Brides, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Glamour, Golf Digest, GQ, Pitchfork,Self, Teen Vogue, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, W and Wired.
2) What are Teen Vogue’s main sources of
income?
These include advertising on the website and tickets for
their Teen Vogue Summits. Other sources include: revenue through you tube
3) How are traditionally print-based
products like Teen Vogue diversifying to create new income streams?
Through the summits which fans of the website can buy tickets
for and attend.
4) Why is sponsored content and ‘advertorial’
particularly important in media linked to the fashion industry?
This
is because it can generate important revenue for things like magazines and
websites in advertising fees. Also, it can generate huge buzz for the brand
advertised if the website/magazine has a large readership as more people will
be aware of the brand.
5) Do you view Teen Vogue’s content as a
form of public service media or is Condé Nast simply interested in clicks and
profit?
In a away, it is a public service as it is providing
important information to their target audience, this information includes
things like university information, under the "Campus Life," as well
as political information. Although it can be argued that Conde Nast are just
doing this for more clicks, the same way Teen Vogue write their titles in a
specific way, for more clicks.
Closure
of print edition research
Read the following short articles to learn the background to Condé
Nast's decision to close the print edition of Teen Vogue in 2016 and then
answer the questions below:
1) Why does the BBC suggest “Teen Vogue’s
digital game is strong”?
This is
because of their large social media followings with three and a half million
Twitter followers and 6 million Facebook likes.
2) What does the BBC suggest is responsible
for the Teen Vogue website’s success?
This is because the titles are concise and
relatable.
3) How did Teen Vogue justify the closure of
the print magazine?
Their audience is using the digital content more than
the paid for magazines. This is also because people want their content for
free, rather than paying for it.
4) In the BBC article, David Hepworth
suggests there is a risk to going digital-only. What is it?
He says that when you go website only you lose the
brand values as well as what the brand actually stands for, meaning that you "are just another website."
5) How do online-only publications make
money?
This is through advertising on the website and talking
about specific products in dedicated articles, which companies would pay for
them to do. In addition to this, there will be advertising slots on the website
which companies can also pay for to get that slot.
6) What does Sarah Penny suggest regarding
audience consumption for print and digital – and how might it be changing for
Generation-Z?
Penny
says "Print is a very difficult medium to sustain," which may be
because Gen Z has grown up with the digital presence, therefore they're
more likely to use that medium rather than print.
7) What does the New York Times say Conde
Nast is known for?
NYTimes says that Conde Nast is known for rich, glossy
magazines.
8) The New York Times states that Conde Nast
expects to bring in less revenue in 2017 than 2016… by how much?
This
is by $100 million
9) The Folio article also looks at the switch
from print to digital. Pick out a statistic that justifies the digital-only
approach.
The
amount of people that went to the Teen Vogue website increased to nearly
9million, from 2 million.
10)
Finally, Folio also highlights some of the aspects we have studied elsewhere.
Pick out two quotes from the article that link to our work on the Teen Vogue
audience, representation or design.
Social
media analysis
Work through the following tasks to complete your textual analysis of
Teen Vogue's social media presence:
1) Look at the Teen Vogue Twitter feed (you
don’t need to sign up to Twitter to see it but may need to log-in at home). How
many followers does Teen Vogue have?
3.3 million followers.
2) Now look at the content. Classify the
first 20 tweets you can see using the sections on the Teen Vogue website: News
& Politics, Fashion, Entertainment, Beauty, Lifestyle, Wellness and
Homecoming. What does the Twitter feed focus on most? Does this differ to the
website?
The
first 20 tweets would come under these categories:
TV
Lifestyle
Mental Health
Celebrity
Music
Fashion
Health
TV
Lifestyle
Mental Health
Celebrity
Music
Fashion
Health
3)
How are the tweets and headlines written?
Can you find examples of clickbait?
The tweets are written in a
serious tone and an example of click bait is "An allergic reaction to hair
dye reportdedly caused this women's head to swell in size."
4) How does the Twitter feed use videos and
images?
There is an image with every tweet, possibly to provide
something for their followers to look at, giving them an idea of what kind of
content they would find on the website.
5) Analyse the Teen Vogue Facebook page. How
many ‘likes’ and ‘follows’ do they have?
Their
Facebook page has 5.9 million likes
6) Click on the Videos link on the left-hand
menu. What type of content do the videos feature? Does this differ to the
website or Twitter feed?
This
part of the facebook page includes interview style videos, all of which tackle
important topics which the Teen Vogue audience can relate to in some way.
7) Now look at the Events tab to explore
past events. What are these events and what do they tell us about how audiences
interact with the Teen Vogue brand?
The
Teen Vogue facebook Events tab is mostly just the Teen Vogue Summits, which
suggests that the audience is quite passionate about the Teen Vogue brand.
8) Go to the Teen Vogue Instagram page. How
many followers do they have on Instagram?
Their Instagram page has 2.4 million followers
9) How does the Instagram feed differ from
other social media channels?
This
page will have a lot of pop culture references, whereas the twitter page will
be more news and website oriented, the Instagram page acts like it's own brand
which is heavily celebrity oriented.
10)What examples of digital convergence and
synergy can you find on Teen Vogue social media including the Teen Vogue
YouTube channel? (E.g. opportunities to engage with the brand across different
platforms).
The
you tube channel refers heavily to celebrities as that is clearly what the
audience wants as each of their recent videos have over a million views, so
they are clearly popular.
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