Deanna Sellnow believes that pop culture is basically comprised of objects, events and actions that influence the behavior and beliefs in our everyday life. Pop culture in the last two decades has changed dramatically due to social media advancements. If you would have asked a child back in 2004, "What do you want to be when you grow?", you probably would have often heard professions such as athlete, doctor, rapper, astronaut, and maybe even the President. Kids often dream of careers that they are influenced from what they are exposed to. In 2023, almost one-third of children ages 8-12 in America had a dream job of being a "Youtuber." Currently people of all ages are striving for a profession in new media. In fact, one survey found that over half of the individuals surveyed, ages 13-38, had a desire to be an influencer. The now popularized professions known as "Influencer", "Youtuber" and "Streamer" have taken the world by storm, dramatically influencing Pop Culture's idea of an ideal career. People of all ages are now looking to base there career on their internet presence.
Known as 'Creator Camp', one specialized Summer camp in Texas aims to increase campers' digital fluency, teaching those passionate about social media to better use their skills for future success. In 2024, this camp attracted up to 1,300 "campers" across 11 locations. The number of their camps are expected to increase in the coming years, especially due to their feature on Shark Tank just a few months ago. The Summer camp was founded by Robbie Davidson and Jacky Chao. Davidson said in an interview with ABC13 Eyewitness news, "We noticed a growing issue right now with a bunch of iPad kids -- kids glued to their screens. So we thought, 'What if we can change kids' relationships with technology from consumption to creation?'" Children with goals to be influencers are seeking to entertain and influence the next generations, as well as those who came before them, just like the influencers of today. Pop Culture will continue to adapt surrounding social media, influencing the job market for many years to come.
The influencer day and age seems to be more popular then the kid jobs that I thought off as a child of being a veterinarian or other professions besides being an influencer. The influencer age of micro influencer or a macro influencer seems to bend the pop culture very little or a lot. The influence of others has to be in a large following. The smaller you are the less you make the bigger you are you have to due the side hustle of a business as well putting up the merch to do so. there's more than meets the eye of being an influencer now and kids just see the fun instead of the work.
ReplyDeleteCertainly the way we consume (and create!) media has changed in the last two decades. As someone who has worked in the entertainment industry for most of her life, I believe there are two sides to this coin.
ReplyDeleteOn one side, there is an insane amount of content available for folks to consume. Much of it is quick, short sound bites, and some would argue (correctly) that this has diminished our attention span. On top of that, much of the content is "dumbed down" or contains outright falsehoods. If you compare this with much of the content before the rise of influencers (and maybe before "reality TV" became popularized), much of today's content can seem trite, silly, even moronic in some cases. It is "Idiocracy" (the film in which "Ass" was the number one film in our dystopian future) on display.
On the other hand, the platforms which have given people the ability to create and share have allowed for a sort of level playing field, devoid of gatekeepers. In the past, if you were a creator, you needed someone to represent you, to advocate for you. You needed an agent or manager or for your content to be picked up by a major studio. Today, while those gatekeepers still exist, they aren't necessary for someone looking to create and share material.
And I would argue that much of the content that is produced today is just as good as the content that was previously "gate-kept" and only allowed to see the light of day if certain executives approved it. Afterall, there have been plenty of crappy films and television shows that have somehow been greenlit and made their way to production through big studios.
I think the proportions of crappy content to great content are perhaps very similar to what they were before the rise of influencers, it's just there is so much more content that is available for consumption.
While there are two sides to the influencer coin, I think this is a net positive, as most humans are creative in some way, and today we can share our creations without the gatekeeping that previously only allowed a select few to share.