Sunday, May 22, 2011

Blog 2: Facebook Analysis

On the very first day of class, we were asked if we thought Facebook is popular culture. The majority of the class (including myself) voted yes, 2 people were undecided, and 1 person voted no. Now, the reason I thought Facebook to be considered popular culture is because I thought it was mainstream. If you look up the definition of "mainstream" on dictionary.com, you get:


 the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend: themainstream of American culture.


Facebook is the dominant trend since almost everyone and their mom has one. I have one, and all of my co-workers have me added (keep in mind that I have two jobs. That's A LOT of people.) Even my technophobic parents have jumped on the band wagon. During the class discussion, someone said Facebook doesn't only cater to the mainstream audience. In the first day of class, this made sense to me, and I quietly fell into the "undecided" group. But now, after giving this some thought, I had an epiphany. Maybe I'm giving it waaaay too much thought, or maybe I am in need of some much required rest after a long sleepless night... but... doesn't having a Facebook make someone a part of the mainstream audience? Since the mainstream = the majority. So if the majority has a Facebook, then shouldn't Facebook be considered mainstream? This is just a speculation I've come up with, and I'm open to all views and discussions. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, since I am still learning much about the subject of popular culture and its components.
Another reason I voted yes was because Facebook is a tool to spread popular culture, and as such, also considered a part of popular culture. I didn't think at the time that this could be used as a reason to say Facebook isn't popular culture. I guess I was thinking of two specific definitions from our textbook, Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. According to John Storey, "A third way of defining popular culture is as 'mass culture'" (Storey 8). The mass culture definition of popular culture caters to the commercial side of things, and Facebook does have a commercial side. Whether it's pages you've liked trying to get you to buy their new product, or one of those annoying addicting Facebook games that would be soooo much more enjoyable if you spent real money on Facebook credits. The picture on the left depicts the sort of commercialism I'm referring to. The last definition that solidifies my decision is Storey's fourth definition that "popular culture is the culture that originates from 'the people'" (Storey 9).


Facebook shapes popular culture by allowing the fans to be closer with the icons they love. Whether it's a person, a trendy product, a show, a movie, etc. The fans can openly express their likes with other fans and such on the page belonging to or representing the pop culture figure. They can even get updates of what's to come and what's in the works.
By simply liking certain pages, you get updates that keep you informed in the pop culture world.
Popular culture has shaped Facebook already by making it a mainstream title. Facebook was popular in its early stages, but now that it involves movies, shows, on phone apps, celebrities, etc.




Works Cited

Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. 5th. Longman, 2008.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mainstream
http://www.facebook.com/ - Images

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Blog 1: Introduction

What is popular culture? How would someone even begin to define such a vague subject? In fact, John Story came up with six definitions for the term, but I'll only list a couple. 

His first definition was that "popular culture is simply culture that is widely favored or well liked by many people" (Storey 5). The most logical way to know if something is "popular"is to check how well something sells in the marketing industry. "We could examine sales of CDs and DVDs. We could also examine attendance records at concerts, sporting events, and festivals. We could also scrutinize market research figures on audience preferences for different television programmes" (Storey 6). So to sum it up, the consumer is the one who decides what is popular by their demand.




"A second way of defining popular culture is to suggest that it is the culture that is left over after we have decided what is high culture. Popular culture, in this definition, is a residual category, there to accommodate texts and practices that fail to meet the required standards to qualify as high culture" (Storey 6). High culture is seen as sophisticated and in good taste, whereas popular culture is seen as a "mass-produced commercial culture" (Storey 6). On the right, I have illustrated a picture that personifies the two categories. Given the description of the differences between the two, this is how I envision popular culture and high culture to look like.



Personally, I agree with these two definitions. The people are the ones who dictate whenever something is considered popular. Popular culture is fueled by the people. We could look at marketing sales to see hard facts of what sells, but most people already know what's considered popular just by talking to other people and through the media. I also believe the category popular culture was formed because it does not qualify as high culture, but unlike John Storey's harsh viewpoint, I don't think the existence of popular culture is a waste when compared to high culture (at least that's the feeling I got as I read his work.) High culture may be sophisticated and pleasing, but it can also be boring. Especially to the mainstream audience of today.

Popular culture is very important in this day and age, especially since we're constantly surrounded by it thanks to the media, ipods, ipads, cell phones, and computers. The internet is also an essential tool in spreading popular culture and keeping it alive. I also feel that popular culture has become associated within the American culture since we're always surrounded by it somehow. This is why it is important to study this subject. I hope to have a better understanding of the term "popular culture", since the subject is still pretty vague to me.


Now there's the question of why I chose to take this class over the summer. Aside from the fact that it fulfills the English lit. requirement, the Survey of Popular Culture class seemed like the only English lit. class that seemed interesting to me. I took a literature class last summer that was about mystery books, and it was boring. This class in contrast is AMAZING, and fit my expectations perfectly.

Works Cited


Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. 5th. Longman, 2008.