Teen Vogue: Background and Textual analysis

Teen Vogue: background reading

What was the article that announced Teen Vogue as a more serious, political website – with 1.3m hits and counting?

• The 'Trump is gaslighting America' piece by Lauren Duca. 

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

• Teen Vogue launched in 2004 and had conventional teen magazine content such as articles on fashion trends and classic 'celebrity worship'.

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

• Welteroth debuted with a cover that included 3 unknown Black models, despite being told it would be a 'commercial risk' 

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

• Between 50-70 a day- covering a mixture of topics from fashion to current affairs.

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

• The online magazine, provides far more politicised, 'controversial' material as well as being a 'voice of resistance' within, in particular the American, media industry.

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

• Teen Vogue's audience demographic is 'genderless, aged 18-24' and 'woke' refers to someone with a keen interest in social justice, as well as an open and educated mindset.

What issues are most important to Teen Vogue readers?

• Readers would consider themselves 'activists' so they'd be interested and passionate about issues concerning LGBT rights, political activism, institutionalised racism and an array of socially and environmentally conscious movements.

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 suggests that 'accountability culture' commonly referred to online as 'call out culture' means that the relationships between audiences and producers is far closer, and far more transparent- much like Shirky's suggestion of a many to many audience structure, this means that institutions have to be open about their issues and respond to audience criticisms in order to remain successful in a digital age.

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

• Black Lives Matter, Police brutality cases, Representation in the media, the Dakota Pipeline as well as the 2016 presidential election. 
• ''women’s rights, LGBTQ community rights, immigration''

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

• Teen Vogue readers see the magazine as a source for information, as well as a reflection of their own personal politics. It allows young women to be empowered for their passions and doesn't force them to choose between being active in politics and educated and enjoying fashion and your appearance- this is an issue that follows teenage girls where their interests are seen as 'less than' or an 'obsession' by the media and society but this institution- although its motivations may be far more commercial than they promote- allows young girls to be both and I think seeing that representation, as well as educational sources and aspects of diversion through video content makes readers grateful for the online magazine. 

Teen Vogue textual analysis and example articles

HOMEPAGE: 

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

• Logo
• Main Navigation Bar
• Search Bar
• Content Hierarchy [central piece and peripherals]
• Minimalist colour scheme
• Buttons, Links, Adverts

How does the page design encourage audience engagement?

• The central image, uses star power in order to gain audience engagement. The peripheral images use pop culture, and clickbait titles in order to gain audience engagement and 'clicks' - the layout is also very minimalist and easy to navigate allowing the young audience to browse through the website without difficulty.

Where does advertising appear on the homepage?

• Above the content grid on the homepage - in the top third of the website.

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. This shows that the content of Teen Vogue still conforms with the superficial aspects of fashion magazines through the 'style' option however the Politics, Culture and Identity items suggest that Teen Vogue is branching out of the restrictions of a fashion magazine and providing intellectual content as well as aspects of personal identity and social education for it's readers. 

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

• With only 28 stories in total, the homepage does not scroll down as far as many 'tabloid' online sources do- this suggests their material is filtered through and promoted with commercial potential as well as the current zeitgeist in mind. 

Lifestyle section

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

• Campus Life, Back to School, News, Politics and Lifestyle. [Note: There is no change; however these titles show up on promoted content which I assume you meant!]

How is the Lifestyle section designed to encouragement audience engagement? 

• The lifestyle section has a minimalist aesthetic, that complies with teen vogues colour scheme. The relatable content alongside clickbait titles and audience address personalises the experience and encourages audiences to interact with the content.

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

• Headlines in Teen Vogue are written in a 'clickbait' fashion using a simple statement or question structure with literary enigma codes to attract audiences.

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

• That the Teen Vogue audiences are late teens/young adults with an interest in further education. Perhaps aspirers or redeemers - people who want to make a change in the world. But it still appeals to the traditional teen audience, as well as mainstreamers with content concerning fashion trends and the 21 under 21 feature.

Choose three stories featured in the Lifestyle section – why do they fit the Teen Vogue brand?

•  21 Under 21
• Amazon prime deals
• Travelling after college
• These articles accentuate the key aspects of Teen Vogues brand identity- the 21 under 21 article displays the celebration of diversity, liberal politics and social justice. The Amazon article displays the commercial side of the brand, a promotion of a corporation that contradicts their ethos however would be a 'hit' with their audience due to the popularity of online shopping in recent years and finally, the travelling article links with the idea that their audience are explorers- and are eager to experience the world around them especially at a young age.

Five key articles

Donald Trump Is Gaslighting America

Who is the writer and what is the article about?

• Lauren Duca. It is about how Donald Trump is using classic emotional manipulation techniques on the general public. 

How does the article use narrative to engage the reader?

• The article uses Propp's theory to paint Donald Trump as a 'Villain' , Being more socially aware and asking questions as the 'hero' and the princess being the general public. The article also uses references to 'gaslighting' and also highlighting key inconsistencies within Trump's campaign, which is culturally relevant.

Why is this article significant?

• This article is significant because it was the first step towards Teen Vogue's more politicised agenda. It created awareness on mediated manipulation and asking questions about information and spoke out on the current president- something unconventional for a 'fashion magazine'. 

How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

• This article highlights Teen Vogue's left-wing policies, as well as their belief in standing up and speaking out on vital issues. 

The new face of teen activism 

Who is the writer and what is the article about?

• Alexis Manrodt. The article is about how the internet and online resources have allowed teenagers to be more active within social justice movements- such as Black Lives Matter.

How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? 

• This article uses the cultural zeitgeist to gain reader's attention. The heroes [Propp] would be the teenagers engaging online and taking part in activist movements, in relation to Todorov, the equilibrium would be societal ignorance, the disequilibrium would be traditional protests and the new equilibrium would be online activism. 

Why is this article significant?

• This article is significant since it highlights how the younger generation, Gen Z has become more interested and active in the political sphere. It also displays how social media has had a positive impact on progressiveness within society and acted as a platform for social justice especially for teens despite pre-conceived ideas surrounding social media and whether it is a helps or hinders their mental health.

How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

• Teen Vogue is progressive, liberal and has a feminist perspective. It also encourages young people- teenage girls in particular to take a stand and speak up for the issues that impact them and challenge their future. This article provides an outlet and exposure for one way to be more 'woke' online. 

Black Teens Have Been Fighting for Gun Reform for Years

Who is the writer and what is the article about?

• Written by Lincoln Anthony Blades. It's an Op-ed on gun protests in America as well as speaking on race, culture and societal politics as well as debunking misinterpretations.

How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? 

• Propp: Villain = Guns, Hero = protestors, Helper = movement
• State of disequilibrium

Why is this article significant?

• This highlights the different media reception for the Stoneman Douglas and Black Lives Matter, Police Brutality protests. An Issue extremely topical in an American Society.

How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

• Reinforces the intersectional feminist perspective: Equal rights are a key aspect of liberal politics and Teen Vogue's personal ethos.

Netflix and strong female leads 

Who is the writer and what is the article about?

• De Elizabeth. The article is about how Netflix is changing the stereotypical female character into someone more empowering and complex through diversity and strong female leads.

How does the article use narrative to engage the reader? Try and apply narrative theory here if possible.

• Propp: Netflix as Hero, Women as helpers
• Binary Opposition: Two categories of femininity- breaking these boundaries.
• Netflix created a New equilibrium of gender representation.

Why is this article significant?

• It talks about realistic representations of women and how no longer using stereotypical characters can be beneficial in the long run.

How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

• This article reflects the feminist values of the brand, through a highly debated feminist topic as well as discussing challenging traditionalism and feminine stereotypes, something Teen Vogue themselves have done under Welteroth's leadership.

How to Break Away From the Gender Binary

Who is the writer and what is the article about?

• Written by Samantha Riedel and it's an op-ed on the gender binary and how everyday lingo can enforce archaic gender dynamics. 

How does the article use narrative to engage the reader?

• Propp: Cis People = Villain, Education = helper, Trans people = princess

Why is this article significant?

• This article is significant since it discusses how traditionalism has impacted gender identity and as we progress into a gender neutral climate, whether we should enforce subtextual gender dynamics through normalised language and ideologies and whether this is toxic or whether being politically correct is merely an 'attack on traditionalism'. Gender identity has become a key educational topic in recent years, having a trans perspective on the issue allows cisgender people to gain insight on why these turns of phrases are toxic.

How does this article reflect the values and ideologies of the modern Teen Vogue?

• Teen Vogue has inclusive values and offers representation of both transgender people and their issues and movements. It allows their readers to see a trans perspective which is something mainstream media may overlook.