Meta: Pop culture is one of the biggest movements in our modern society. How is it changed and shaped when interacting with the internet? Find out more here.
If there is one place that is truly affected by pop culture as it shifts and changes daily, it is the internet. The smallest pieces of entertainment can pass us by in an instant in real life, but they can really be brought forward into prominent places through the right moment to become a lasting part of internet society. Let’s take a look at how this can happen.
What is Pop Culture?
Pop culture is actually short for popular culture. When popular is used in this way, it refers to the general population as a whole, and not just what is considered to be in fashion. As a result, it is dictated by the changing tastes of the general population. Pop culture phenomenons are frequently adopted by the population as a whole, whether this is on a national level or an international one.
There are many aspects of pop culture that can be used to create national identities. For example, films like James Bond are appealing on an international level and are enjoyed by audiences all around the world. However, there is a characteristic Britishness about them – even when they are in some far-flung setting – and it has helped to instil James Bond as one of the great icons of British pop culture.
Lots of Sources
Pop culture is extremely far-reaching, and it means that there are lots of sources that could produce something that the internet takes and runs with. While the creators of Baby Yoda from the Star Wars series, The Mandalorian, must have had some idea about how popular the character would be, there is little doubt that they would have been able to predict the sheer outpour of love for the character.
With so many film and TV shows, literature, and music pouring onto the market each and every day, it is little wonder that we can see the adoption of pop culture from these sources. You can see it imprinted across all corners of the internet – just take a look at some of the casinos at the Finnish Veikkauskertoimet and you will be able to find games that pull from music and concepts straight from pop culture.
Fan Driven
One of the most important aspects of pop culture is that it remains completely fan-driven. While entertainment companies can try to put forward aspects that they think fans might like, it can be pretty obvious when something is being pushed. Most of the time, this will instead be rejected and might even be ridiculed. Instead, the natural adoption of this culture comes from the audience and smaller creators.
When something is described as popular culture, it really is rooted deep within fan culture and in a way self-expression. There are aspects that reach a general audience, while there are others that will never make it out of their individual communities. The internet allows like-minded people to come together to discuss and pay homage to some of their favourite things – be it on a public platform like Twitter or in a more specialised locale like a subreddit. As a result, this gives a chance for a singular piece of pop culture to be shared over and over until all members of that particular community have seen it. The more public a forum is, the higher the chance it will be shown elsewhere too.
Always Changing
Such is the rate of information uploading to the internet that things can change very rapidly. What could be a beloved piece of pop culture could be seen as old news in just a couple of days. One of the easiest places to see this is in meme formats. The internet meme has been around for years, but the “original” memes take a much different format to the ones we see now.
The introduction of video platforms like Vine and now TikTok has also added new formats and new styles of pop culture. They have been part of the most recent shift, and it will be interesting to see where the next comes from. The saying “fifteen minutes of fame” comes from a saying from Andy Warhol back in 1968, but it is very apt for the rate of change we see on the internet nowadays. While some people are able to hold onto their internet fame in some way to become bona fide social media personalities, there are many more who will never achieve any notoriety beyond their initial exposure. Pop culture is forever changing, and the internet changes with it.
Studying pop culture in any way is fascinating, and it can really show how we as a society can react to different events on multiple levels. Pop culture already looks very different compared to how it did even a few years ago. It is a fascinating area that is always worth study and analysis.
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