Online Media: Zoe Sugg

Textual Analysis: How does Sugg's face and general appearance allow her to appeal to her many audiences?

• Sugg presents a straightforward and even bland set of fashion choices
• this 'corporate blandness', typified by neutral creams and her high ponytail suggests neutrality and an unwillingness to portray unconventional lifestyles
• this allows her to appeal to very vast target audience
• the MES of her gold jewellery is further anchored through the symbolic connotations of her cream coloured jumper, which has significant connotations of purity and innocence
• her costume is somewhat conservative, and in it's baggy coverage subverts Van Zoonen's ideological perspective that women's bodies are a site of explanation by male audiences
• her makeup is prominent, yet applied in a somewhat neutral manner, and here takes on positive proairetic connotation: her makeup here symbolically connotes confidence and self affirmation
• Sugg is notable for starting her get ready with me videos by wearing no makeup, drawing attention to her acne and her skin conditions
• therefore her makeup here symbolically represents her confidence and has a therapeutic quality
• Sugg's smile is practiced and emphasises the soft quality of her face
• the lines of her smile and connotative of playfulness and silliness. However, we can argue that this smile has a cynical quality, and emphasises certain practiced playfulness
• this promotional image constructs a clearly hyperreal representation of Zoe Sugg
• in fact, she has published a blog post about how to take the perfect selfie, with hints and tips on how lighting can construct the perfect ideological connotations
• hyperreality = where the representation is more real than the thing it is representing

Jean Baudrillard - theories surrounding postmodernism

• we live in a world of fractured meanings that only make sense on the surface

Huge Summer Primark Haul | Zoella

• the video takes the form of a haul video
• objects are removed one by one, and held up in front of the camera in a series of extreme close ups
• this reinforces a clearly capitalist and consumerist ideological perspective
• in fact, by emphasising the MES of these consumer products, in a carousel of consumerism and commodity fetishism
• this is further reinforced by the straightforward and meaningless appraisal of each item
• Sugg (here in her Zoella format) simply comments on the price and that she will wear it
• Primark is marketed as an affordable shop
• here however, Sugg has purchased a vast amount of products, seemingly breaking the very values of Primark
• this address is potentially harmful in a number of ways. The environmental impacts of fast fashion are considerable
• fast fashion is predicated on the exploitation of workers
• "Whoever made these socks: I love you!" shows Sugg's blatant and almost fetistic love of consumerism comes through explicitly in this video
• Sugg here presents a clearly contradictory mode of address, with the 'relatable' address conflicting with her clear status as an established millionaire super vlogger
• this disingenuous mode of address may in fact alliances
• in later videos, she has pivoted to exploring more luxurious brands, which again may further alienate audiences

Postmodernism is difficult to define

Elements of postmodernism

• fractured narratives
• breaking the fourth wall
• style over substance
• a sense of the world being meaningless
• the idea that media products are more real than the reality itself (hyperreality)