David Hesmondhalgh has argued that while the internet initially had radical and transformative potential, this has largely been squandered by the involvement of vast corporations motivated by power and profit. Critically evaluate this theory related to the cultural industries. Make reference to Zoella/Zoe Sugg and Attitude Online to back up your argument
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| While Attitude Online should be commended for appealing to gay audiences, it arguably does so by presenting straightforward stereotypes. What should be a radical, exciting and challenging online magazine ends up being just as sexist as the edition of Woman we studied from 1964! Why? Hesmondhalgh would argue that corporate, profit based ownership leads to more straightforward boring products! |
Knee jerk reaction
Yes! Hesmondhalgh's argument that online media's potential hasn't been realised due to large corporations favouring power and profit over art and culture. The products we have studied are solely motivated by power and profit.
The internet holds many advantages which can potentially lead to a perfect, utopian society
- The potential to easily store all human knowledge
- Creating a new persona and identity
- Novel ways of making money and distributing products in an ethical and environmentally responsible way
- News and information can be instantly shared
- Revolution and social change
- A completely inclusive and universal structure
- Voices for marginalised groups, such as LGBTQ+ and fans of obscure media like science fiction and metal music
Plan
Horizontal integration
Conglomerate
Companies
Mass audience/target audience
Ideologies
Hyperreality
Niche audience
Regulations
Digital convergence
Advertising
Brand identity
Profit orientated
Rebranding
Diversification
(Representation)
Vertical integration
Stream (horizontally integrated)
Monopoly
Sponsors
Clickbait
Curran and Seaton/power Seaton
Pick and Mix
Introduction
The internet refers to a large connection of interlinked servers which allow audiences to freely access and share information. There are many platforms that can be linked and driven by digitally convergent technologies, and potentially they can present a unified and exciting set of opportunities. However, these potential advantages have been squandered by vast corporations through mass advertising, clickbait and exploitative tactics. In this exam, I shall argue that vast corporations have corrupted the creativity of the internet and the people who use it, and now most of the internet is solely motivated by profit over art. In order to explore this idea, I shall be looking at the examples of Zoella, an online blogger and influencer who is particularly appealing to teenage female audiences and more recently older female audiences, and Attitude Online, an gay mean's online magazine which is a supplementary product to the print version of Attitude.
Content
- Attitude Online engages audience with a variety of news articles, but is solely driven by profit and greet. Overwhelming presence of advertising, including banner adverts, wrapper adverts, scrolling adverts and clickbait
- Zoella's website includes a range of hyperlinks to her own online shop and the products it features, including shoes, clothing, books and makeup
- Hypermodality in Zoella's website, linking to a variety of social media platforms, and more opportunities to advertise to her target audience
- Zoella's rebranding to Zoe Sugg is a cynical move to appeal to and manipulate older fans
- Hypersexualisation of gay men constructs a stereotypical representation which cynically targets a gay audience