I find it interesting that Cosmopolitan used to be three separate kinds of publications before it evolved into what it is today. I see this magazine everywhere so I would say that the wide distribution and famous “sex tips" make Cosmo different from other publications. I believe that the whole feel of the magazine is trying to inspire women to be independent, fashion forward, and to charge of their sex life. It seems the main way that they are trying to inspire these young adult women to become independent is for them to be sexual wizards. There is gossip about “what men really want" and some celebrity news. The two biggest strengths about the print version of the magazine is: 1. It has a lot more advertisements for products so you might stumble across something you want easier (which is good for the companies). 2. You can save your favorite articles. The two biggest weaknesses for the print version are: 1. It becomes outdated easily 2. You have less access to content with print than you do the web site. The two biggest strengths about the web site: 1. Cleaner organization. It’s easier to skip the sex tips and go to the beauty products. 2. You have access to more content like past articles and polls. The two biggest weaknesses of the online version were: 1. although there is more content it’s not much different. Below is a link to the main page of the Cosmo web site. There are examples of a couple of headlines saying pretty much the same thing. 2. You have to be online to access it.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/
The target age group for this magazine is young single women. I would say from 18-early 30s at most who are possibly sexually active, wanting to improve their appearance, and hopefully on a career path. All the photos on both the web site and magazine are of products, celebrities, hair, and "cute boys". Since this pretty much covers the content of the magazine I find the pictures very fitting. I personally find it almost offensive that this is meant to be a symbol of the independent single working woman. I would hope that they would talk more about encouraging bold career paths and fashion more than fill the pages with 101 ways to bump uglies. It seems like a lot of the magazine is telling “what guys like" or find sexy. I don't think of being independent as intently trying to figure out what pleases the opposite sex. Maybe why its so popular is women feel like they are embarrassed talking about their sexual lives so they might feel empowered reading about a taboo subject.
I like the print version better just because I don't really make it a point to go to the cosmopolitan web site. If the magazine is lying around I'm more likely to thumb through it in a waiting room. If I was a Cosmo fan I would check out the website because you have more content at your fingertips. You can follow this magazine on twitter or facebook. I am pretty sure they have e-mails and there are polls and quizzes on their web site. They also have forum posts and free be give aways.
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/forums-freebies/
The most interesting thing that I learned was the history of cosmopolitan and what it was before today's editions. Another thing that I realized is how much content seems to be repeated, just in different ways throughout the magazine and the web site. The web site seems to have fewer advertisements. This may not be the case, but with the page set up you can have different ads each time you go to the same page unlike print.
