Photo by Christopher Pledger from The Telegraph
I'm sure most people are now aware of the recent controversy making waves not only across the blogging/YouTube world but basically all over British media: that YouTuber Zoe Sugg, AKA Zoella, has recently released a fiction book for young teens which, because of her absolutely humongous young fanbase, actually managed to outsell novels by Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling, selling an unbelievable (and apparently record-breaking) 78,000 copies in its first week. Unfortunately, however, at seemingly the very height of Zoe's success the press, who just hours earlier had been singing her praises, changed their tune when Penguin released a statement last week announcing that "To be factually accurate, you would need to say Zoe Sugg did not write the book Girl Online on her own".
This revelation, which many will say was really quite obvious to begin with, has prompted hugeee debate over the blogging and YouTube scene regarding how much of the book really was Zoe's. Fans are currently divided, some questioning Zoe's integrity, others vowing to support her wholeheartedly through thick and thin. I will say, however, that I personally am one of the former.
The rise of the YouTube celeb is something that's made me feel a little uneasy for quite some time for reasons that for a long time I couldn't quite put my finger on. I've been following Zoe for probably over 3 years now and as anyone can see, and I will certainly vouch for, she's really just a nice, normal girl sharing bits and pieces of her life online; or at least, that was all it was to begin with. Over the last year or so YouTubers have taken off astronomically, shooting people like Zoella et al to legitimate superstar status (to get a better idea skip to about 4 minutes into the video below). Of course, Zoe could never have predicted when she first starting blogging and vlogging that she'd ever become as big as she is today but even so, what I'd like to say to Zoe is that with great power comes great responsibility, whether you like it or not.
The reason I'm rambling on about the whole general YouTube craze is because it's something that's helped form my overall opinion in light of the 'Girl Online' controversy. I loved Zoe, I listened to her and respected her opinion, tuning in to each and every vlog and main channel video religiously. Any time I was feeling down her videos would cheer me right up which I know is also the case for her millions of other fans. However somewhere in the midst of Zoe and her boyfriend, Alfie's unimaginable success this past year, (somewhere, I'd say, around the time young teens were being charged £75 to meet their idols at Amity Fest) something changed.
I'll be the first to validate blogging as being extremely hard work. Even though I only post twice a week at most, it still manages to take up a huge portion of my free time so I can only imagine how much of their whole lives Zoe and Alfie put into YouTube. I will also say I certainly don't have an issue with people monetising on hard-earned success. However, I feel like we need to remember that Zoe, and the rest of us as bloggers, are in the business of influencing people. Anyone who makes money from blogging/vlogging are marketers, endorsing products with their faces, their words, making use of the confidence of a loyal readership/following who trusts in their opinion. I feel like this is probably the reason why I've seen so many bloggers respond negatively to the whole 'Girl Online' situation since I believe most people who are familiar with the blogging world can see how easily this sort of influence could lead to exploitation.
I bought 'Girl Online' because I was a fan of Zoe's and I was proud of her achievement. I also bought it believing I was getting something that was authentically hers because she never really said otherwise- I mean why else would I have any interest in reading a book aimed at a demographic much younger than me? I always knew she'd had help because that's what she'd said from the beginning but I in no way thought it would have been to the extent that it now appears to be. I mean really, the whole premise of ghostwriting is simply for publishers to cash in on a big name and not much else so I have difficulty understanding which part of this whole book deal was to to celebrate Zoe's ability or creativity and not to do with $$$.
Anyway, I think that's all I have to say on this for now. I really hope my opinion doesn't seriously offend anyone but I felt like I just had to say it, if anything just to work out how I really felt about the whole thing myself. I'd really love to hear your opinions in the comments as well.
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I have to say I agree with you. I've been following Zoe since even before she started Yotube so I do love her to pieces but I just really don't understand why she didn't make it clear from the start? It's just a bit disappointing and unfair really :(
ReplyDeleteI've got a mac lipstick giveaway on my blog if you want to take a look :)
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Whilst I agree that the way the whole 'ghost-writing' situation has been handled is poor and that it is a shame so many of her younger fans feel let down by the revelation I think the question about how much Zoe was allowed to say about the whole process needs to be raised. I know she said that she was going to be writing a novel and did admit that she would be having editorial help but the public (and the press) don't know how much Zoe was told she could say. Zoe is now 'Zoella' the brand and as cynical as this sounds her management team and her publishers will have wanted to utilize that.
ReplyDeleteI'm not condoning lying to Zoe's fans and I am not belittling how you feel about the situation (I would feel the same if I found out JKR had not written HP) I just think that there may be a little more to the situation than we know.
Yeah absolutely, that's a completely valid point. It's just the issue I have is with Zoe allowing herself to be managed and marketed in such a way that is misleading to her followers in the first place. It's her decision whether she takes these opportunities or not and I would like to think with the influence she has she would choose to do the right thing for the sake of her young fans, which in this case would either have been to write the book herself or be more honest about the process :/ I think this is part of a much bigger issue of ethical blogging, YouTube endorsements etc though. The guidelines for what's acceptable need to be much more clearly defined in my opinion! xx
DeleteI do feel sorry for her really. She's going to have been totally guided by her management company and yet she's left to take the flack from the media and angry fans on Twitter. She's just a normal girl who got very lucky and I'm sure this is all quite upsetting for her right now. I think her management company is to blame here. I for one never once thought she was writing it herself, but I can see why her fans may be upset. Great post Beth! x
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny! Yes, clearly her management company has a lot to answer for but I just see all these young girls proclaiming their unconditional love for her and everything she stands for all over the internet without a passing thought and I just get this weird sickly feeling in my stomach (the same sickly feeling a got one time I watched a documentary on 1D superfans). I don't know, I think I'm just naturally suspicious of anyone who is able to incite such an extreme reaction in impressionable young people, especially when they're making huge amounts of money in the process. Plus there's the fact that Zoe's image is built on a claim of complete girl-next-door authenticity when really this isn't so much the case these days. But definitely, it's hard not to feel sorry for her with everything that's going on at the moment xx
DeleteI'm just glad there is zero danger of me having teeny bopper fans. They scare me xx
DeleteI am in the same boat as you, Beth. I bought the book, mainly because I was working in a bookshop and it was selling out super quickly and I felt like I had to jump on that bandwagon before they were sold out... but the main reason I bought it was because I thought Zoe Sugg had written it. I thought she probably had a lot of help with it, I read that bit on the back about her 'always wanting to write a book' and checked the inside cover for names (like, written by Zoella and somebody else or whatever) and since it pretty much looked like it was her own work, I bought it. In hardback. I almost never by hardback.
ReplyDeleteNow, reflecting back, knowing that it was partially if not totally written by somebody else, I think the whole 'I have always wanted to write a book' line was a total ploy. I'm pretty sure every teenage girl has wanted to write a book at some point and the team behind it were totally playing on the fact that people like me who dream of being published in the digital age, see someone living our fantasies and want to support it.
Was the book terrible? No. But having bought it for the picture of the "author" on the back, and not the actual story. I was very disappointed. That's the last time I buy a) a book by Zoella and b) purchase a book based on the writer alone.
Wow that was a rant. I love this post, it made me express all my feelings on this topic, which I hope is what you are trying to do!
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I honestly think youtube is getting so out of control. A few months back, i watched a vlog where Alfie was going to a book signing and people were going mental and they hadn't even gotten out of their taxi. People were shaking the car, screaming and crying- it was quite ridiculous. When I see a video is paid advertisement, I immediately click off and I find it hard to believe if the youtubers actually mean what they are saying about a product or if they've just been paid to say it. I think that it's all a big advertisement now and has become a bit warped xxxx
ReplyDeleteI feel exactly like you do. I used to love Zoe but lately I have stopped watching her because I feel like she's no longer relatable or 100% authentic. I really believe the only reason Girl Online was released was because they knew it would make lots of money since so many young teenagers worship her! She has kind of let all of the people who look up to her down by using her popularity and their support to make the big bucks for everyone :/ The whole YouTube celebrity thing is a bit ridiculous if you ask me! x
ReplyDeleteThis is a great and honest post, Beth. I have slightly differing opinions that I have published on my own blog if you'd like to take a look, but I'm glad that you've expressed your opinion with respect and tactfully instead of the thousands of quite frankly hateful comments that I've had the misfortune to read throughout today. More than anything I think Zoella is just a girl who's become a victim of her own brand, and it's sad really that this is what it's come to.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing lovely posts, I've just followed you as your content seems exactly like the stuff I find myself spending hours browsing through, so you'll probably be getting a hell of a lot more comments from me as I read through haha!
Cheri :)
http://illuminoire.blogspot.com
This is actually really interesting. I've been following Zoella for about a year now but ever since her book was published, I was really busy with my job and didn't realize what was going on until just now.
ReplyDeleteIf what you say about the ghost-writing is actually a hundred percent true then that would be a shame! I love Zoella and I really hope that this issue will get sorted out quickly. Especially if most of the decisions actually did come from her management.
Love,
Svenja
I think you've just put into words all my thought from the last month on this topic. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteRiley xo
Couldn't agree more. It's a shame not only on Zoella but to her fans that aren't so knowledgeable on the subject. My boyfriends little sister who has only just turned 13 hadn't even known about the ghost-writing situation till we had been speaking about it. You could tell she was disheartened by it because she adores her! There does need to be something done about it, just more spoken about why. Even it isn't from Zoe but from someone in publishing. It's a shame that Zoe will be getting a bunch of hate from trolls for this just hope it doesn't take too much toll on her.
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The whole situation is awful, mostly because it was all so avoidable. With such a huge following her book was always going to sell incredibly well, but with that comes a lot of attention and a certain amount of questions. Saying it was co-authored from the very beginning would have avoided all of this. Someone made some very bad decisions somewhere! x
ReplyDeleteI'm feeling really sorry for Zoe, to be honest. I loved her for several years, long before this whole craziness about Youtube has started. I haven't bough the book and wans't really planning to, but I was really impressed by the fact that she wrote that book herself and made her dream come true, just like she said. That is why, I think, so many people are mad right now, because they're feeling deceived by this whole story about writing your own book. She just shouldn't have claimed to have written this book herself and this whole situation could have been avoided. Great post, Beth! x
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Very inspiring post :) I agree with you for the whole thing. Some fans may be disappointed of her because of that.. Zoe is a really pretty and nice girl, I love her confidence and the way she brings herself to the society. She is having a really hard times now probably because of the critics and negative comments from her former fans. Well, we cannot really blame the fans because I get where they're coming from. She should have said it before so this thing would have never happened..
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colorsinmybubble.blogspot.com
I have to agree with this post on a number of things. I will fully admit to buying 'Girl Online' the other day, literally a day or so before this whole thing about the ghostwriting came out. However, that isn't what bothers me about the whole situation. The idea of her having help, or even having someone else write the book for her based on her ideas isn't something that shocks me - it takes years to become a writer in one's own right, quite often with some kind of high education in English, Literature or Language. I bought the book fully intended to read and review it on my own blog, just to see if it was worth all the hype (not to mention, it was half price, so bargain!)
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me most about the whole thing is how the YouTube celebrity thing has become insane. I can understand why, but at the same time, I can't. Vlogging, especially those who are doing it every single day (I can't even imagine), will work incredibly hard, and I think people underestimate just how hard they will work. The earning money doesn't bother me - like I said, they do work hard, and how much money they make is both a) not really any of anyone's business and b) if it's a lot more then people think they should be getting, that's really a question of morality where I think there are more high profile jobs that can be called into question (looking at you, premier league football).
What really bothers me about this whole thing is this kind of... 1D-esque following of you, very impressionable people who go absolutely mental for these people. I will admit, some of them are using their responsibility and raising awareness (Zoella, or Zoe Sugg, has raised awareness for anxiety and mental health), but at the same time... I also get that queasy feeling. I watched that video of Zoe and Alfie attending Alfie's book signing, I saw the way those people were behaving and honestly... it didn't make me feel good. I can't explain why but... something about it just felt wrong.
That being said, I would never wish anything negative on these people. Watching their videos, it is clear they are good, kind people who mean well and even those there's the age old argument of 'oh, you put yourself in the spotlight, you were asking for this because there's always the bad side of it, blah blah blah' I still don't think that's a reason to be treated like crap, which sometimes they often are but reasons that are beyond their control.
Apologies for the rant I didn't realize I was going on, and for the typos. Many, many typos...
DeleteI feel like it was always coming really, she was always going to be too influenced sooner or later its a shame really x
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