This week we looked at the theories behind popular culture and the internet, how popular culture shapes the internet and the cultural messages we produce within society as a result of the internet. The internet is one of the biggest and most controversial changes in the 21st century and is used more and more as technology improves. For example in the past year alone, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, society has shifted their lives online including employment, education, entertainment and communication. This can be seen in the image below, through the increase within recent years in the average daily time spent online amongst UK adults (Murphy, 2020.) However, we focused on how this has effected popular culture today.
Post Industrial societies vs. Post-Traditional World
Bell (1974) suggests that advanced industrial societies in the 21st century are characterised by the ‘centrality of theoretical knowledge as the source for innovation and policy formation for the society. This idea is highlighted by the revolution in communication technology and the shift from manufacturing to service industries. However, this theory is technology deterministic and assumes that technological development is separate from human agency. Post industrial society emphasises change and ignores continuities. Whereas, theorists such as Anthony Giddens suggests that we inhabit a ‘post-traditional world’ in which we can challenge everything (Cohen, 1998.) Negroponte supports this theory of a post-traditional world by suggesting that it is a ‘information superhighway’ which will empower and strengthen us as humans (Kenway, 1998.) Furthermore, Bauman suggest that certainty was the driving force of modernity and now the post-traditional world is breaking that down. This allows us to have a freedom of choice which allows us to break down as individuals and become more fluid and diverse with our identity (Bauman, 1999.) An example of this is the European Space Agency (ESA) looking to recruit women as astronauts for the first time in 11 years to increase diversity (Rodrigues, 2021.)
Reality?
21st century mass media and the internet has developed so far that it governs and shapes all other forms of social relationships and messages. Postmodernism suggest that popular culture and media images dominate our sense of reality and how we see ourselves and the world we are in. An example of this is, like discussed previously in this portfolio, is young women seeing their favourite reality tv stars having cosmetic surgery and questioning their beauty standards and then they believe they too need surgery to achieve those standards of beauty. This theory of the impact of the internet and globalisation on popular culture and the formation of normative cultural values is discussed by Coates (2020.) Coates explains that since the Covid-19 pandemic began the world stopped all its regular forms of popular culture such as movie theatres, performances, music concerts and sporting events and moved its entire life online. Furthermore, he explains that the effects of this have been extremely detrimental to the original providers of our popular culture and has allowed for online streaming and popular culture providers to boom with the nature of ‘stay at home’. He identifies that it will be interesting to see whether this pandemic has changed popular culture forever or whether we will return to our ‘normal’ forms.
Overall, during the last year it has become increasingly more obvious that popular culture has shifted when society had to move their entire working and personal lives online. From the beginning of the pandemic employment, education, communication and entertainment was moved online and society had to find a new way of living. This has allowed us to do even the simplest things such as seeing news updates on social media sites and seeing other opinions on it or see our favourite actors saving peoples lives on Corona virus ward on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. Overall, the results of the pandemic have meant that people share and experience more online and this has changed popular culture forever (AFP Relaxnews, 2020.)
References;
AFP Relaxnews. (2020) How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Affecting Popular Culture. Augustman, 24th November. Available Online:https://www.augustman.com/my/culture/film-tv/how-the-covid-19-pandemic-is-affecting-popular-culture/ [Accessed 22/04/2021.]
Bauman, Z. (1999) In search of politics. California: Stanford University Press.
Bell, D. (1974) An Exchange on Post- Industrial Society. The New York Review, 24th January. Available Online:https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1974/01/24/an-exchange-on-post-industrial-society/ [Accessed 22/04/2021.]
Coates, T. (2020) As Pandemic Strikes, Pop Culture Migrates to Streaming Sites. WIRED, 16th March. Available Online:https://www.wired.com/story/coronavirus-streaming-pop-culture/ [Accessed 22/04/2021.]
Cohen I. J. (1998) Anthony Giddens. In: Stones R. Key Sociological Thinkers. London: Palgrave.
Kenway, J. (1996) The information superhighway and post-modernity: The social promise and the social price. Comparative Education, 32(2), pp.217-232.
Murphy, D. (2020) Uk Internet Use and Video Calls Soar During Lockdown- Ofcom Report. Mobile Marketing, 24th June. Available Online: https://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/uk-internet-use-and-video-calls-soar-during-lockdown-ofcom-report%5BAccessed 22/04/2021.]
Rodrigues, S. (2021) Why the Next Generation of Astronauts will be Female, Older and Disabled. Yahoo News, 10th February. Available Online: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/why-next-generation-astronaut-female-091526470.html%5BAccessed 22/04/2021.]
Popular Culture 