Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis

 

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?

It annouced that Donald Trump is gaslighting America.

2) When was the original Teen Vogue magazine launched and what was its original content?

It was launched in 2003 as a little sister magazine to Vogue.

3) How did editor Elaine Welteroth change Teen Vogue’s approach in 2015?

She changed it by changing the focus and adding pieces with a more political stance, as well as ones about fashion, to the mix.

4) How many stories are published on Teen Vogue a day? What topics do they cover?

The company produces between 50 and 70 articles per day, with a normal mix of fashion, entertainment, and current events.

5) What influence did digital director Phillip Picardi have over the editorial direction?

Philip Picardi employed a number of different editors with a variety of backgrounds. Philip intended to diversify the backgrounds of his editing staff by changing the editorial directions to a more diverse one.

6) What is Teen Vogue’s audience demographic and what does ‘woke’ refer to?

Woke refers to someone who is smart and conscious and is between the ages of 18 and 24.

7) What issues are most important to Teen Vogue readers?

Fighting for equality and equal rights through social justice movements.

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?

Tavi Gevinson's feminism ideas were previously unpublished, and as her site grew in popularity and her views became more mainstream, other larger firms, such as Teen Vogue, adjusted their material to appear more like that of a small blog.

9) What social and political issues have been covered successfully by Teen Vogue?

The election of Donald Trump and the 'Black Lives Matter Movements,'

10) What do Teen Vogue readers think of the magazine and website?

They feel Teen Vogue contains trustworthy content intended at teenagers, as opposed to the materialistic equivalent pieces.

Teen Vogue: Factsheet Part 1

1) The Factsheet suggests Teen Vogue has successfully made the transition to an online, social and participatory product. Why? What platforms is it now available on?

It represents the difficulties that print products face, as well as views about how the media landscape is changing and what audiences want. It can be found on Teen Vogue.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest now.

2)  What does Teen Vogue offer its audience?

Teen Vogue provides a varied range of representation to its readers; in the screenshots, there are White, Black, and Asian folks. It provides an attractive and easy-to-follow layout to its target audience. It also provides fashion advice, gives readers a voice, and raises awareness for campaigners.

3) Who is the typical Teen Vogue reader?

The typical Teen Vogue reader is a young woman between the ages of 18 and 24. Millennials who are interested in popular culture, current events, and identity and lifestyle issues.

4) Read the content analysis of the Teen Vogue website on page 5 of the Factsheet. Pick out three key examples of how meanings are created in Teen Vogue and what is communicated to the audience.

Teen Vogue use a variety of conventions, such as graphics and catchy headlines, to provide a variety of various types of articles, demonstrating the diversity and concept of fashion and style in some of the pieces they publish.

5)  What range of representations can be found in Teen Vogue and what does this suggest regarding Teen Vogue's values and ideologies?

Teen Vogue's representation is that they are a diverse organisation that is interested in and focused on showcasing and publishing relevant content when other firms would not. They are, however, portrayed as fairly left-wing because they have written pieces on how horrible Donald Trump is.

Homepage analysis

1) What website key conventions can you find on the Teen Vogue homepage?

Style, politics, culture, identity, and summit are all available as menu tabs.

There's a section with trending stories and bold headlines for different stories.

Advertisements in the search bar, t he Teen Vogue logo is a trademark of Teen Vogue and images and a large typeface

2) How does the page design encourage audience engagement?

This page design encourages audience participation by allowing users to sign in and gain access to additional Teen Vogue material. The page accomplishes this by the usage of well-known individuals, such as BTS, and a direct address message from them, which will get people talking. In addition, by addressing important and serious themes in some of the pieces, readers are given the opportunity to share their own experiences.

3) Where does advertising appear on the homepage?

Advertising displays directly below the menu section at the top of the page. After the audience has seen the entire homepage, at the very end. It shows on the sides of the homepage and in between news titles as you scroll down the page.

4) What are the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content of Teen Vogue?

Style, Politics, Culture, Identity, and Summit are all words that come to mind while thinking about this event. This indicates that Teen Vogue's material aims to keep readers up to date on issues such as politics and current events. It also indicates that Teen Vogue wants to connect with their audience through popular culture and make them feel like they're a part of something.

5) How far does the homepage scroll down? How many stories appear on the homepage in total?

The webpage scrolls a long way down, revealing a total of 28 stories.

Lifestyle section

1) What are the items in the top menu bar for the Lifestyle section?

. Horoscope

. Health

. Sex and Relationships

2) How is the Lifestyle section designed to encouragement audience engagement? 

The lifestyle section encourages audience engagement with the use of bright colours and minimal design.

3) What do you notice about the way headlines are written in Teen Vogue?

The titles are quite in formal and images are used a lot.

4) What does the focus on education, university and ‘campus life’ tell you about the Teen Vogue audience demographics and psychographics?

There is focus on education which shows that majority of the audience are older teens and they would be defined as aspirers. 

Teen Vogue: Five key articles

1) What do you notice about the content and style of these articles? What do they have in common? 

The articles' substance is centred on social injustice or problems that Teen Vogue has made plain they oppose. Gun reform, gender identity, and social protest are among these topics.

2) How do the articles use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible - what makes the reader want to click or read more?

Enigma codes are used in these articles to pique the reader's interest in the subject matter and encourage them to click on the page. They achieve this by using forceful taglines for each of their articles and photos, which spark debate.

3) Pick a quote from each article that illustrates the political, 'woke' ideology of Teen Vogue and paste it here.

Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America="so presumably that's another red-herring lie to distract from Trump treating the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States like it is some rogue blogger to be cast to the trolls. A foreign government's interference in our election is a threat to our freedom"

The new face of teen activism="They see us on our phones or laptops and think who knows what. But we're organizing, we're creating, we're signal-boosting, we're creating awareness. We're changing the world."

Black Teens Have Been Fighting for Gun Reform for Years="Students from Stoneman Douglas responded powerfully to the loss of life in displays of courage that exemplified what kids are capable of."

Netflix and strong female leads="People are seeing themselves on TV finally. Because of that, they are changing not just how they feel about beauty, but how they feel about people who are incarcerated. They're [changing their minds] about the system and how broken it is, changing their minds on religion, or what it means to be transgender…. This show has really hit it when it comes to dealing with female [characters] in television."

How to Break Away From the Gender Binary="Stop labeling gender at birth"

4) What effect on the audience are these articles hoping to achieve?

To raise awareness among the audience about contemporary issues affecting teenagers.

5) How do these article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

They are representative of the magazine's values and beliefs.