My Own Relationship to Pop Culture Essay

Every individual grew up in a particular culture that defines and shapes a person’s beliefs, attitudes and values. We are born in a culture instilled by our parents and by the people around us. Not all people have the same culture that defines his personality. This refers to cultural diversity, which explains the differences in beliefs, traditions and practices of individuals. Due to the rapid advancement of technology and the trend of globalization, they brought about transformation to the existing culture, thus, the emergence of pop culture. Popular culture is the totality of the ideas, behaviors, attitudes and perspectives that are seem deviant to the mainstream cultural norm. This type of culture is heavily influenced by mass media, especially on the latter part of the 20th century as proliferated by the culture’s vernacular language, popular culture permeates the everyday lives of the society. Popular Culture Popular culture has been defined in various aspects ranging from common culture to folk culture to mass culture. After the war in America, popular culture was associated with commercial culture reinforced with the various types of mass media which include movies, television, radio, internet, advertisements, and the various forms of art (University of California, n. d. ). â€Å"Popular culture is all those elements of life which are not narrowly intellectual or creatively elitist and which are generally though not necessarily disseminated through the mass media. † (US Fed News Service, Including US State News, 2006). Every individual participates in the pop culture, no matter how old-fashioned they may seem. Their participation largely depends on the role that they play in the society. Popular culture is manifested in various areas of life and society such as clothing, cooking, music, film and literature. It is an elusive culture that often contrasts with the elitist, high culture that is adhered by most ruling social groups. Popular culture is also coined as mass culture which is easily accessible to everyone. Popular culture is a channel for self-expression and manifestation of style and identity as it is a collection of ideas, principles, perspectives and attitudes that are shared by everyone. An idea or a behavior can be a part of pop culture if it is commercialized through mass media and consumed by a lot of people. That is the reason that youth follow fads and trends that are highly advertised or popularized. Through the expression of style and identity, it shapes and reshapes the existing culture of the society. In the contemporary global society like ours, media industries are also going internationally or globally which makes people from other locality perceive the different facets of another culture. When many media audiences perceive a particular idea or principle and many follow or believe in that premise, popular culture emerged. Thus, popular culture became a good place for cultural diversity, as characterized by diverse cultural traditions and practices, with the help of the global media industries that are able to reach a larger and more diverse audiences residing in different places. The globalization of popular culture opens opportunities to other countries in aspects of proliferating different ideals, principles and perspectives that are important in the global society today. Pop Culture and Communication One of the important parts of a culture is communication for it encompasses the person’s ability to communicate and the method used for communication or conveying the messages. Communication is the process by which we convey messages and meanings in order to share an understanding. Communication requires various skills such as listening, observing and speaking. Communication is a process that plays an important role in various areas such as home, school and community. Cooperation and coordination occurs through communication (â€Å"Communication†). The process of communication is largely affected by the inception of pop culture. The invention and development of modern technologies utilized for communication is the main contribution of pop culture in the field of communication. Pop culture is very pervasive and always present in the society. This no longer a new phenomenon, however, the influence of popular culture had been magnified due to the intensity of the visual modes of communication. Today, the impact of pop culture goes deeper in our simple communication activities like conversation and writing. â€Å"Popular culture also influenced the focus of our discourse. † It shows that today’s conversations focus on rhetoric and on the feelings rather on the concrete facts and information (Best and Lynch). Various tools and gadgets are available in the market used to communicate other people all around the world. We currently lived in a digital society, equipped with various technologies. One of these technologies is the inception of mobile phones that made it easier for a person to contact other people. Mobile phones are products of modern technologies that are convenient because of its portability, economical attribute and other interesting and exciting features. Now, mobile phones are not only for communication but also for fun and entertainment. Most mobile phones are equipped of various features such as MP3 Players, Bluetooth to transfer files and cameras. The internet also transformed our long distance communication and made us feel that distance is no longer a barrier in communication. Computer-mediated communication is a popular form of communication which refers to interpersonal correspondence utilizing computers and the internet. There are various messaging system that can be done using the computer and the internet. There are the electronic mail and instant messaging system that enables a person to communicate faster with others. Most of the social networking accounts are equipped with messaging system to convey personal and public messages. Our mass media has also been transformed by modern technologies which go hand in hand with popular culture. Mass communication is the process of conveying messages and information to a large and diverse audience. Mass media, on the other hand, are the channels of communication where messages intended for large audiences are being conveyed. Because of the inception of various modern technologies, there are more channels or venues for conveying of news and information to a wide, diverse audience. The internet is also a great addition to the latest trend of mass media. The internet is a channel to which it can reach people even in far places with just one click. The contemporary mass media is also more personalized as we can instantly give comments and feedbacks to the news and information rendered to us. This feature is not present in the conventional form of mass media due to the absence of technology that enable people to do such thing. We all use this aspect of popular culture and we all have a personal relationship to it. I personally, utilized and enjoy this aspect of popular culture. The different modern technologies and gadgets used for communication are beneficial to people as it makes correspondence easier. We all perform the process of communication in various ways and methods. We all interact in a culture so it is important to communicate with each other. The inception of the various modern technologies brings more people close together and helps them avoid conflict and misunderstanding. These modern technologies are the beneficial in establishing and strengthening relationships which is also important in a culture. It made our communication and interaction with each other easier and more convenient. Conclusion Everyone is raised in a particular culture with its own set of cultural beliefs, practices and traditions. These precepts of culture define the acquired attributes of a person. A person learns some of his values, behavior and attitude towards something through the embedded culture in his own environment. Culture plays an important role of shaping and reshaping the attitudes and behavior of a person. The current trend of globalization and the rapid advancement of technology, reinforced by the strong influence of mass media gave way to the emergence of the popular culture. Popular culture is a collection of beliefs and principles that is heavily marketed by the mass media. Popular culture is the modern philosophy that embodies the current state of today’s society. One of the important facets of culture is communication which plays an important role in the interaction and establishment of relationships of the members of the society. Popular culture transformed our way of communication in various ways that render benefits to the people by making it easier and more convenient to communicate with others. Popular culture reinforced with the invention and development of different communication technologies altered the way we communicate with other members of our culture even outside of own culture. This develops a new way of achieving harmonious and productive relationships with other people. Works Cited â€Å"Communication. † Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. n. d. 24 April 2009 . Best, Linda and Christopher Lynch. â€Å"Impact of Popular Culture on Communication Skills: A Commentary with Insights for Writing Instruction. † Research & Training in Developmental Education (2006). University of California. Pop Culture. n. d. 24 April 2009 . US Fed News Service, Including US State News. â€Å"Popular Culture Book Chronicles Field’s Coming of Age. † HighBeam Research. 2006. 2 4 April 2009 .