David Gauntlett argues that idea that the media provide us with tools and resources that we use to construct our identities. He says that whilst in the past the media tended to convey singular straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities, the media today offer us a more diverse range of stars, icons and characters from whom we may pick and mix different ideas. He suggests that some of these stars and celebrities become role models for an audience, someone who they may share an ideological outlook with.
Gauntlett asserts that modern media "provides an opportunity for individuals to think about the kind of person they want to be". He would suggest that Zoella's blog gives her audience a good opportunity to pick from her website to incorporate it into their own identity. For example, there is a "Shop" section at the bottom of each page relating to beauty, fashion and lifestyle, which gives her readers an opportunity to buy and wear the things she likes, which shoes that Zoella is almost a role model for her audience, as they want to be like her by purchasing what she recommend.
The content on the blog offers lots of guidance and recommendations from Zoe, sometimes about trivial matters like what to wear, what to buy for your house and what makeup to use, but there are also more defining matters that she discusses, for example, how to deal with anxiety and offers her readers strategies in which could help that. This represents Zoe as not only a human being who has feelings, but also a trustworthy guide and role model for her audience to look up to and go to whenever they need advice with anything.
