OSP: Taylor Swift: Audience and Industries

Audience and Industries

Background and audience wider reading

Read this Guardian feature on stan accounts and fandom. Answer the following questions:

1) What examples of fandom and celebrities are provided in the article?

The article gives examples of Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters, Beyoncé’s BeyHive, Taylor Swift’s

Swifties an Nicki Minaj’s Barbs. It also discusses Julia Fox and Keke Palmer’s fan accounts.

2) Why did Taylor Swift run into trouble with her fanbase? 

Taylor Swift’s fans were disappointed when they struggled to get Eras Tour tickets because

Ticketmaster’s system failed. The article shows how fans can publicly criticise celebrities and

companies when they feel let down.

3) Do stan accounts reflect Clay Shirky's ideas regarding the 'end of audience'? How? 

Yes, stan accounts reflect Shirky’s End of Audience because fans create their own content, share

updates and influence how celebrities are represented. They can also challenge their idols and 

influence public debates, rather than just consuming media

Read this Conversation feature on the economics of Taylor Swift fandom. Answer the following questions: 

1) What do Taylor Swift fans spend their money on? 

2) How does Swift build the connection with her fans? Give examples from the article.

3) What have Swifties done to try and get Taylor Swift's attention online? 

4) Why is fandom described as a 'hierarchy'? 

5) What does the article suggest is Swift's 'business model'? 

Taylor Swift: audience questions and theories

Work through the following questions to apply media debates and theories to the Taylor Swift CSP. You may want to go back to your previous blogpost or your A3 annotated booklet for examples. 

1) Is Taylor Swift's website and social media constructed to appeal to a particular gender or audience?

2) What opportunities are there for audience interaction in Taylor Swift's online presence and how controlled are these? 

3) How does Taylor Swift's online presence reflect Clay Shirky’s ‘End of Audience’ theories? 

4) What effects might Taylor Swift's online presence have on audiences? Is it designed to influence the audience’s views on social or political issues or is this largely a vehicle to promote Swift's work? 

5) Applying Hall’s Reception theory, what might be a preferred and oppositional reading of Taylor Swift's online presence? 

Industries

How social media companies make money

Read this analysis of how social media companies make money and answer the following questions:

1) How many users do the major social media sites boast?

2) What is the main way social media sites make money? 

3) What does ARPU stand for and why is it important for social media companies? 

4) Why has Meta spent huge money acquiring other brands like Instagram and WhatsApp? 

5) What other methods do social media sites have to generate income e.g. Twitter Blue? 

Regulation of social media

Read this BBC News article on a report recommending social media regulation. Answer the following questions:

1) What suggestions does the report make? Pick out three you think are particularly interesting. 

2) Who is Christopher Wylie? 

3) What does Wylie say about the debate between media regulation and free speech? 

4) What is ‘disinformation’ and do you agree that there are things that are objectively true or false? 

5) Why does Wylie compare Facebook to an oil company? 

6) What does it suggest a consequence of regulating the big social networks might be? 

7) What has Instagram been criticised for?

8) Can we apply any of these criticisms or suggestions to Taylor Swift? For example, should Taylor Swift have to explicitly make clear when she is being paid to promote a company or cause? 

A/A* extension tasks

Read Deconstructing Taylor in Media Magazine MM51 which covers representations, postmodernism and the relationship between Swift and her fans. You can find this in our Media Magazine archive.

Read Media Factsheets Taylor Swift Online Part 1 (282) and 2 (291) which covers her online presence the construction of brand identity, her communication with audiences and how she uses online media as a marketing tool. You can find this in our Media Factsheets archive.

Read this Guardian article on teenagers and phone addiction. Do you recognise what it is discussing?

Read this Guardian article on the Online Harms Bill. What does it suggest regarding regulation of social media companies?

This Guardian article also explores the mental health implications of social media. Do you think that strict regulation of social media should happen?