Is Pop Culture Good for you?

 Jasmine R. 

Professor Rosen

Contemporary Literacies

What is pop culture? Pop culture can be defined in a plethora of ways. Pop culture can be defined as a trend, support system, platforms, ideas, and a tool. Some people may be anti-pop culture, while others may be for pop culture. I believe that pop culture has its advantages and disadvantages. According to the Ted Talk with Phil Miller, he described pop culture to be when a group of people come together with a common idea. When a message is spread and brought to light many people may agree on that message or idea. One of the main factors in pop culture is social media. One of the words we ranked from the article was tool. In this case social media is considered a tool of pop culture. Social media is a platform that is used to spread awareness for certain causes or issues that are occurring in society. For example, to spread awareness for the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the ice bucket challenge was born. This cause spread through all social media platforms and had millions of people all over the world participating in it. Social media can be an advantage because it will spread awareness and get the message across to millions of people that will support. Many charities utilize social media to gain supporters. As a result, one of the reasons we are aware of many things that are occurring in society or around the world is because of social platforms and media.

On the contrary, social media can be a disadvantage because it is more to supporting than just a like, share, comment, or follow. For example, in the article Small Changes by Gladwell, stated that "social media can't provide what social change has always required". This was one of the phrases that our group ranked number one because of the significance within the phrase. This phrase means that social media is not enough to resolve issues occurring in society such as racism, inequality, and police brutality. Next was "social media has reinvented social activism". This phrase was also highly ranked by our group because it is an example of how pop culture may not be good for us. Social media is used to get the message out and obtain a huge following, not to completely come up with a resolution. However, it does not reflect on the actual action that needs to be taken in order for social change. They led peaceful rallies and protest to stand up for what was right, social change, and equality.

We elaborated on the fact that historical activists such as Dr. King and Malcolm X had no access to social media, and how they led by example and not just through a screen. 

To conclude, I believe that pop culture can be good for us but to a certain extent. Given the tool of social media and its power to spread a message or bring thousands together through one post. In addition, it is essential to not completely rely on social media to make a change but to utilize other aspects of activism such as leadership and action in order to develop change.