Pop Culture: Good or Bad?

Pop Culture. Is pop culture good for you? Now, that’s a hard question to answer because just like many other things, there are pros and cons to pop culture. It is an extremely controversial topic. It can be so wildly helpful and harming at the same time for the human race or society as a whole. 

Pros. Growing up as a Gen Z child, pop culture was all around me. Most people are glued to their phones checking on the latest gossip/news, watching the most recent viral video, binge watching Netflix, etc. That’s where the pros of pop culture come in because most people no longer want to go get a newspaper, since world news are just there right at our fingertips. People can see worldwide issues all in one device and in my opinion, faster action can be done towards it. With the click of a button, your news can be shared a million miles away.

Pop culture doesn’t only have to do with the younger generation anymore, as older people are also on the space. It is a free space to speak your mind or spread awareness on an important topic. I think the difference now versus back then is that the younger generation is way more vocal about issues and making sure that the entire world is providing support.

Alexander O. Philippe says pop culture is a universal language that makes us dream and smile, to connect us across racial, political, and social divide (TED, 2013). Social justice issues such as BLM or Roe V. Wade being overturned wasn’t just something locally, but worldwide. These issues would not have protested so hard if it were not for pop culture. That is what is so amazing about it. 

 Cons. In reference to the pros, things on social media go absolutely wildfire, they can spread a new trend like no other. As that may be a good thing, it can also be a bad thing as well. Besides social activism, terrible trends go around as well. These trends were fire challenges, salt and ice challenges, penny and charger challenges, cinnamon challenges, etc. These trends could be extremely harmful, and some could be fatal. Things like that should not be all over social media, especially with a lot of young viewers out there. A teacher once told me that our brains as young kids are easy to be molded, it is easy to find an addiction or to be persuaded. These trends are not good because there a lot of kids who lie about their age to make an Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or any other social media platform account. They see these pop culture trends and decide they want to take part in it. Lots and lots of people cause themselves harm and many others harm by doing it. 

Phil Miller says that children are obsessed with celebrities, and they have a desire for recognition, a see me mentality (TED, 2015). A lot of children now and days, when you ask them what they want to be when they get older, respond with a YouTuber, Tiktoker, or an influencer. There is nothing wrong with having aspirations like those, but it goes to show you what an impact social media has on children. They do these bizarre challenges to get recognized or be famous, when it’ll cause more harm than good.