Pop Culture

 Is Pop Culture Good For You?

Whether we like it or not, pop culture surrounds us. It is everywhere from browsing online, social media, TV programming, and magazines. The main question here is, is pop culture good for you? Well, pop culture can increase and strengthen the interaction between people in society. Over time, pop culture has become a tool in bringing light to social issues. Lastly, pop culture has made us more intelligent.

 Many factors divide people in society. Some of these factors include religion, politics, and cultural beliefs. Yet different streams of pop culture can unite us, such as a song, a tv series, even comics. In the Ted Talk video, Why Pop Culture, Alexandre O. Philippe talks about San Diego’s Comic-Con. With about 200,000 people who share this common interest coming together to enjoy an event they mutually enjoy and appreciate. Not only do events like this bring joy, but as mentioned by Philippe, it's a way to preserve it. Social media outlets also serve as a way to bring people closer together. Many people, myself included, have distant family and friends on social media, the only source of keeping in touch.

Social media has become a prominent way of bringing to light societal problems. Many will argue that it doesn’t solve the issue; however, news travels quickly using social media as a platform. The article, Small Changes (n.d), explains how social changes came from high-risk activists back in the day and how social media does not compare to their accomplishments. However, the article also highlights how minor solutions can still occur from social media and the internet. The example illustrated in the article was about a person who lost their phone in a taxicab. After getting a new phone and her data transferred to it, she and her friend could see who had her old phone. Asking for the phone back did not work, so social media was used to get people’s attention to the issue. After more people became aware of the issue, proactive actions to retrieve the phone were made even within the N.Y.P.D, and eventually, the woman was able to get her phone back. 

As we sit to watch some of our favorite shows, we stimulate our brains. Of course, not all shows, but even what we consider “junk tv” has fostered our cognitive development. But how is that possible? Multi-threading. In the article Watching Tv Makes You Smarter, Steven Johnson points out the importance of the thinking one needs to do to “make sense of a cultural experience” (p.280). The show Hill Street Blues started a new era on complex tv shows. The show included an increase in characters, multiple plots, and open-ended conclusions to lure people in to anticipate the next episode, whereas previous shows contained one or two main characters with one plot and an ending…some may consider it boring. Viewers need to have shows that require focusing because it exercises parts of the brain “that map social networks, that fill missing information, that connect multiple narrative threads” (Johnson, p.292). This is the result of culture becoming smarter.

Pop culture has impacted us in beneficial ways. Although we may not always agree with it, it still provides ways to interact with others positively. Pop culture can bring awareness to societal problems, and at times it can provide solutions or create pressure for change. Our culture as a whole is becoming more intelligent because of it.

 Reference

Gladwell, M. (n.d). Small changes. Retrieved from blackboard pdf.

Johnson, S. (n.d). Watching tv makes you smarter. Retrieved from blackboard pdf.

Tedx Talks (2013, July 15). Why pop culture. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_3UYncNwz4