In 2018, I wrote an article titled ‘How social media ruined my life’. I had written about how I didn’t want to be affected by the numbers game it became—the likes count, the followers count—but the truth was, I had let it get to me, and I was ashamed. The feeling of shame probably stemmed from the adults around me at that time, telling me I wasn’t supposed to be on social media, that it was a bad influence for a young, malleable mind like mine. I respected people for not being plagued by these thoughts or those who stayed away from them entirely because I saw that as a sign of strength. While I still stand by those thoughts to a certain extent, I realised I no longer revere people who pride themselves on not using social media at all.
Social media has become our way of being aware about what is happening in society. From governance around the world, to what is in fashion for Spring 2023, being aware of the world we live in is so important. These specific topics aren’t something people look up on a daily basis, but what does happen on a daily basis, and is more ubiquitous, is people scrolling through all the social media platforms. One really does scroll through Twitter and Reddit like it is the newspaper each morning. In this new day and age, this is what it takes to be informed about current affairs, and there should be no shame in it. Being informed about current trends gives you insight into where public opinion lies and what the current cultural climate looks like. What was okay in the 1990s, let alone the 2010s, is no longer relevant. “Keep up” is a statement I’ve always found particularly rude, but perhaps the truth is we really do have to keep up with the current trends to make more informed decisions.
Popular culture, or pop culture, is anything that we perpetuate online. As it is more targeted to a younger audience, it is not taken seriously by the vast majority. It has been written off by so many of us because it is often just seen as just drama and noise online. This “noise”, however, was loud enough to have swayed public opinion and altered the direction we go in as a society in the most drastic ways. It has become loud enough to bring up important discussions. We inevitably consume pop culture just by having any sort of social media account online, so perhaps it is time to take it more seriously.
Celebrity trials are something we have become perhaps too familiar with. Gweneth Paltrow versus the Optometrist and Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard are cases we seem to know the inside and out. In the era of social media and pop culture, it didn’t matter what the jury decided, as people on TikTok had already declared one party as guilty and the other party as the public’s enemy number one. The trials taught me things about body language, to how a court proceeding even works. With the uproar on the internet following the former Try Guy Ned’s cheating scandal to Taylor Swift’s alleged break-up, I learnt about the extent of parasocial relationships or what that even means in today’s society and the relationships we have formed with people we only ever see through our screens. The calling out of beauty gurus and their bought-out reviews of products brought up how companies are willing to spend millions on sponsored content and how that influences the market. The Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber feud seemed like drama, but beyond that, the important conversation on how women must support each other was brought up, and we had a first-hand look at how society tries to put women up against each other and perpetuate the idea of a catfight. All these incidents may not have much in common; but they do share the same characteristic of being pop culture moments that made waves on every social media platform you can think of.
So, what has changed since I wrote that article back in 2018? Well, I’ve always been aware of the power social media holds, but the closer I looked at this power, the more I realised how it influenced much of what we did. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, and our opinions on political issues are all swayed by what we see and hear online. The things netizens were raving about or raging about all decided the direction in which society was headed. Whether you like it or not, it is time we go online and scroll through how the world works.