Popular Culture Jaz

The documentary "Generation Like" is all about social media and how younger generations interact with it. One of the biggest ways is making money. YouTubers such as Tyler Oakley and Steven Fernandez post videos that get a lot of views, then brands sponsor them, which means the creators get paid to advertise the brand in their videos. It seems like the documentary sees this as a positive thing because Fernandez talks about his hope of getting his family out of poverty with this money.  Another way social media is used is creating your identity. Douglas Rushkoff says "you are what you like" meaning when you "like" or "share" something on social media, for example: a clothing brand, a movie franchise, or a band, it becomes apart of you. He compares this to hanging up posters in your room. Ceili is a big fan of the Hunger Games franchise. She posts a lot of content about the movies on multiple social media platforms. The franchise has become part of ...

 From the article "How Does the Internet Affect Our Thinking" we learn that spending a lot of time on the internet does a couple things to our brain. First we learned that the internet distracts us. Websites have many links, buttons to push, and pictures. We are constantly thinking about whether we should click the other things on the page, and cannot focus on the website we are reading. Second we learned the internet is very bad for our long-term memory. While on the internet we are constantly encountering new information. It is impossible to retain any of this information because there is so much. With all the information on the internet comes a lot of false news. In the video "How Can We Protect Truth in the Age of Misinformation" the speaker talks about possible solutions to false news. One of these solutions was transparency. Websites and social media platforms could reveal their algorithms so we know how they are controlling what we see, but this would leave u...

Timothy Caulfield  and John Comonitski both discuss the impact celebrities have on people. Comonitski focuses mostly on how YouTubers and social media influencers impact children. Caulfield talks a little about the impact of celebrities on children, but mostly focuses on the American population as a whole. They both point out that Americans, especially children, have a desire to become famous, and that fame looks easy to achieve.  A big difference in the videos are the main point each speaker is trying to make. Comonitski's main point is that we should monitor what YouTubers our children are watching. While some are great role models, they don't come from corporations with lawyers, so they have to hold themselves accountable, and are in charge of the content they are posting. Not all YouTubers are posting age-appropriate videos for children, and YouTube doesn't censor content like television does. Caulfield's main point is that many people think fame will solve their pr...

 We have talked about the three pillars of popular culture. I will be talking about the pillar "popular culture can connect us". Popular culture can connect us essentially means that popular culture such as: shows, movies, music, memes, etc. can bring people together even if they are very different, or far away from each other. In the video "Clear Eyes on the Full Heart of Popular Culture", the speaker talks about how popular culture can provide a common ground for those that normally wouldn't see eye to eye.  A positive example of this happening is with my sister and I. Growing up my sister, who is a year and a half younger than me, and I never got along. We fought about everything, and never voluntarily spent time together. Then a couple of years ago I downloaded the app TikTok. We started sending each other videos on the app, and we developed inside jokes because of it. We realized our senses of humor are pretty similar, and we hang out all the time now.  Pop...