Popular Culture is Not the Devil

Throughout the twenty first century, technology is continuously being developed and constantly being advanced. The advancement of technological goods makes pop culture easily exposed and available to most individuals in our society. Although expanding information in mass amounts

In the first chapter of The Rhetorical Power of Pop Culture by Deanna Sellnow, the author defines popular culture and explains the importance of studying the subject. Sellnow begins with a short explanation of ethics to convey that the influence popular culture has is not always used ethically. Secondly, Sellnow compares the different contexts of culture, elitist and diversity, to explain what popular culture is not. Popular culture is compiled of everyday things that influence people through subtle messages such as what is appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad, and so on.

In the chapter “What is Popular Culture and Why Study It?” from the novel The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture, author Deanna Sellnow deliberates on the influential supremacy of popular culture in our current society. Sellnow wrote this passage to inform those affected by pop culture on a daily basis. Everyday individuals in first world countries are somehow impacted by pop culture. Pop culture’s influential power can often times mold our outlook on the world around us. It is important to realize when pop culture is trying to reevaluate your ethical beliefs so you can have a say in whether or not you want your morals to be altered.

Today popular culture has a substantial effect on our lives. It can affect what we wear, what music we listen to, or even how we behave. Many people decide what clothes to buy depending on what is in style or what celebrities are wearing. The same happens when people choose what movies to see or what music to download. While pop culture may seem harmless, it exposes people of all ages to sex, drugs, and violence. Children and teenagers all over the world are watching these shows or listening to these types of music. They take what they hear or see and develop bad habits or make poor decisions. Popular culture including movies, music, and franchises mostly has a negative effect on countries who import it.

Social media is also causing the deaths of many teens and adults because people want to stay with all the new things happening in the world. Social media tools are designed to distract us from mortality and up reminding us in a particularly vivid manner that life is a sequence of losses (Daily Telegraph). Snapchat advertises on one of its filters to not text and drive but people still do it. Many teens distract themselves with social media for others to know how they are living and what they have in life. It's clear that, for teenagers, spending too much time online can really deter social and educational development, the internet world is such that there is alway something new to do and to distract one from one's responsibilities (The Danger of Teen Internet Addiction). Getting addicted to something is very hard to break away from. The internet is a new drug to many teens and adults of society nowadays. Mark Zuckerberg created the social media app, Facebook, on February 4, 2004. It attracted many people to sign up and make an account. Another app created was Myspace on August 1st 2003. Social media has influenced how today's teens look upon life. Teenagers tend to think everything they see on social

In today’s society, media is present in our lives 24/7 allowing it to have a major influence on our culture in both positive and negative ways.

Sherry Turkle, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, acknowledges the effects media possesses in her book Growing Up Tethered. Today’s adolescents have an excessive want to feel connected, and not alone, which is why they turn to the connections they feel media provides. Roman, eighteen, so badly wants to stay connected that he will actively be on his phone while driving and doesn’t even care about all of the lives that could potentially be in danger just because he needs to read a new Facebook message. Kids will do everything in their power to not feel alone. Cell phones can stunt an adolescent’s maturity by providing too many opportunities to stay connected and never getting out on their own. Other kids use their cell phone

Steven Johnson argues that today’s popular culture has a higher quality than the classical one, it grows more sophisticated and more suitable for people’s intellect. He further elaborates the consequences the popular culture such as computer gaming, television programs, movies and

Everyone is surrounded by popular culture in our society today. It is everywhere. From watching TV, to reading magazines, being on social media, and just browsing the internet. Popular culture is the entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images, and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture. The question is popular culture good or bad?

What are the negative effects of social media on young teens and the future generations? Elise White, the author of “Does the Media Negatively Affect Teenagers?”, explains the negative effects of media on teenagers, and she includes Sex, Violence, Money, and Body Image, as the major factors. She also says, “If a Teenager is responsible for a violent act, society is convinced that media/Video games is the main cause.” (Elise White 1). Out of all these negative factors, society believes that Body Image is the one that effects the most. An average fashion model is thinner than ninety eight percent of women. Advertisements only work to publicize their brand/products, such as; toothpastes, makeup, clothes, and so on. Young teens are exposed to such unrealistic image and are encouraged to place more importance on their appearance than a healthy life. This advertising pays for all forms of media, including movies, magazines, websites and phone applications. These advertisements lead to low self esteem and insecurity among teenagers. It can also lead to emotional and mental issues like depression if they do not achieve so called “Perfect bodies”. In today’s society, owning something that everyone has or is trending like, makeup, branded clothes, and fancy gadgets is considered to be “Cool” and socially acceptable. Violence and Sex are the other important negative factors, as teenagers are influenced by the movies and video games they watch and play. Music videos these days portray a very violent and sexual image and meaning, which impacts the way many teenagers

Technology has taken control of most teenagers of today. Mostly every new inventions that has been invented teenagers have been using and have been controlled or obsessed with it. For example, the Xbox and the Playstation, teens have been playing those two systems since they have been released. They spend hours playing video games day and night and get to obsessed playing with it. Other electronics that have been invented and teens have been using all the time are ipads, the TV and portable video games as well have all been taken control by teens, adults and even kids now spend time play video games or watch tv till their eyes ache of pain. Finally, and probably the most successful and has taken control of many teens today the cell phones. More teenagers everyday are getting too addicted with their cell phones and they also they have been getting a negative influence on themselves. They receive bad influence on social media, places like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter etc. There are many reasons why social media is a negative influence but

The study of popular culture is useful in many ways. To be more specific, this course has reached its three intended main ideas: what it means to be American, how to be more consumption-conscious, and how to apply these studies in our own lives. Jim Cullen puts this in a less specific sense, arguing that the study of popular culture can “afford valuable clues – about collective fears, hopes, and debates” (Cullen, The Art of Democracy, 2). We use these clues to understand the world around us, as well as why we do what we do as Americans and as humans. I will be touching on themes that relate to this quotation by Cullen, escapism, exploitation, and globalization, as well as how these themes relate to the course goals.

Media influence is the force by which ideas are injected into people’s lives shaping the very culture of society. This influence is masqueraded through hidden media message, resulting in a change in its audience which can be positive or negative, abrupt or gradual, short term or long term. Although mass media’s influential effect can reach a wide ranged audience as an agent of socialization the responsibility to contain what it releases has not been of importance. “The media’s socially significant obligations are formally ignored.” (A.S. Zapesotskii, 2011, p 9). Media messages can be exerted through many different outlets such as TV shows, music, movies, commercials, news, magazines, games which are all gravitated to entertain audiences ultimately offering personal gratification that can sometimes blur the lines between reality and

Technology caused various of changes in this world. In the article, “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?” the author Jean M. Twenge discuss how technology has caused a different effect on teen. “I called them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones...” Many teens now are dependent on texting then having a group conversation as compared to generations we can see the differences. The generation after 2012, which Twenge calls iGen, rely more on smartphones than earlier generation. iGen use of social media, like Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook, began before they even started going to school. These kinds of uses have caused health issues, and teens are going out less to parks and using less outside resources. While it be safer that kids stay inside, they are more likely to go into depression. Smartphones have made teens less able to communicate, caused a higher risk to their health, and become too much in a iGens life.

Popular culture is generally believed to be comprised of a variety of elements. For example, popular culture covers the most contemporary and instant aspects of our lives. These aspects can often show the characteristics of rapid change, especially in today’s highly technological and informative world in which, people are highly influenced by the universal media. Certain standards of behaviour and common beliefs are reflected in pop culture. Because of its cohesion, pop culture both influences and reflects people’s daily life. Moreover, brands can reach iconic pop status. However, these aspects are not constant and may change rapidly. (Abbott and Sapsford, 1987).