Is Pop Culture Good for Us?

Is pop culture good for us to consume? Pop culture is the spread of trends and information through media. Currently, we are living in a world where pop culture is coming at us at astronomical rates. With social media, the spread of information has rapidly accelerated. This makes pop culture as a whole more prevalent but also more diluted. There is no longer one movie, song, or style that is the main thing anymore. In the past, Star Wars, skinny jeans, and songs like The Gangnam Style were things everyone was aware of and following. Now there is not a consistent style, song, or movie that everyone is following or aware of. Phil Miller’s Ted Talk, Pop Culter is Dead! argues that this influx of information and things that are popular takes the power of pop clutter away. Saying that pop culture is no longer relevant. He makes this claim by saying that the extreme amounts of media make it so nothing is popular. In other words, Miller claims that pop clutter does not exist because nothing is truly the most popular.

Despite this argument, I do see value in pop culture. Even though it is not as strong as it once was, pop clutter unites people. Social media helps to get people more aware of their surroundings and the world around them. The chapter Small Changes, by Gladwell, criticizes how social media makes actions performative. It discusses how because there is so much around us, and we don't have to truly commit to an issue, we let ourselves off the hook for responsibility to each other. However, it also discusses the community social media and pop culture give us is so powerful. Even though there is an influx that can be overwhelming, I think it allows us to find a community that has things to unite us. We can then all find popular culture that is relevant to us and the people we want to surround ourselves with. If anything the information of pop culture we have at our fingertips is a benefit to us. Never have humans had the ability to be so connected to everything happening around them. But with our extreme amounts of pop culture we know can. Alexandre O. Philippe discusses this in his TED talk Why Pop Culter? He claims that pop culture is about community and uniting together through a shared interest or idea. I believe that because there is more of this, there is more room for individuality and self-expression.

Overall I think social media has benefited pop culture, as we have become more accepting as a world. Because there is not one popular thing anymore, we have more expression of ourselves and our world. I also think the amount of information we have is powerful, as we have more awareness. I really do believe that pop culture is good for us.

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