Technology Has Truly Put the "Pop" In "Pop Culture"
It can be argued that America's greatest export, both in terms of revenue and in terms of influence, is its popular culture. Americans have taken the cult of celebrity and fame to heights never before imagined in human history. Technology, particularly the information superhighway via the Internet, has taken cult of celebrity and therefore pop culture to supersonic speeds.Since pop culture hinges so heavily on information, the ready availability of real time information - whether through instantly downloadable illegal song tracks before the compact discs even hit the record store shelves, or news of a celebrity romantic breakup even before publicists take the podium - renders pop culture easily accessible to the masses. Indeed, technology puts the "pop" in "pop culture." In recent years, the production of "culture" - art, music, literature, video, and other forms of creative expression - has exploded. There are any number of reasons for this, including technology that has dramatically lowered production and distribution costs, higher discretionary income, greater communication among peoples of the world, and the erosion of traditional "gatekeeper" authorities. According to Nick Gillespie's research, "Despite an assumed ant
Popular culture is constantly changing and is specific to place and time. It forms currents and eddies, in the sense that a small group of people will have a strong interest in an area of which the mainstream popular culture is only partially aware. In order to truly explore the power of popular culture, technology has to provide a less specific lens, one that will translate the good and the bad; and find some way to translate the non-popular elements as well Items of popular culture most typically appeal to a broad spectrum of the public. Some argue that broad-appeal items dominate popular culture because profit-making companies that produce and sell items of popular culture attempt to maximize their profits by emphasizing broadly appealing items. And yet the situation is more complex. To take the example of popular music, it is not the case that the music industry can impose any product they wish. In fact, highly popular types of music have often first been elaborated in small, counter-cultural circles (punk rock or rap would be two examples). But perhaps most critically, in these post-9/11 days of terrorism and fear, America must use its hegemonic pop culture powers to disseminate a view of the country that does not further galvanize the world. The Arab world, for instance, sees through American pop culture only the materialism and
Some common words found in the essay are:
Nick Gillespie's, Wide Web, , Apple Corp, popular culture, pop culture, items popular culture, items popular, culture technology, cult celebrity, technology pop,
Approximate Word count = 910
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|