Popular Culture and Electronic Media
Rich Creavy
Soc/105
Keisha Dean, instructor
Popular Culture and Electronic Media
Electronic media has a significant influence on the development of social trends. Recorded music, radio, television, and motion pictures are mediums through which information (or at least the information the gatekeepers allow us to see or hear) is communicated to the public in real time. For an unpopular government, this can be a problem because dissent can spread more quickly than when it was confined to print media. For new musicians, products, personalities, and projects, the quickness with which electronic media transfers the above is invaluable! It allows the public to have access to a library of knowledge and entertainment that was never before possible. A great example of electronic media’s influence on social trends is the story of the young performer, Justin Bieber. Master Bieber’s family had videotaped a school performance of him singing for relatives who could not make it. The family posted the video on YouTube, it became insanely popular, and Usher, the R and B singer, helped launch the career of the teenage pop star who now sells hundreds of thousands of records (Spencer, 2010).
One trend propagated by electronic media is shopping from home. In the 80s and 90s, one could shop at home by watching QVC where products for sale were demonstrated and pushed. Orders were taken by phone via a 1-800 number. This has of course led to the current trend of shopping from home over the Internet. The largest online retailer is Amazon.com, and as of 2004, they had yearly sales of $6.9 billion (ZDNet, 2005). Amazon.com’s sales have grown dramatically since that figure was published. The downside to this is the closure of many locally owned businesses that cannot compete with a major retailer like Amazon.com and the fact that most Internet sales are not taxed which leads to less revenue for government services.
People can also make money from... [continues]
Rich Creavy
Soc/105
Keisha Dean, instructor
Popular Culture and Electronic Media
Electronic media has a significant influence on the development of social trends. Recorded music, radio, television, and motion pictures are mediums through which information (or at least the information the gatekeepers allow us to see or hear) is communicated to the public in real time. For an unpopular government, this can be a problem because dissent can spread more quickly than when it was confined to print media. For new musicians, products, personalities, and projects, the quickness with which electronic media transfers the above is invaluable! It allows the public to have access to a library of knowledge and entertainment that was never before possible. A great example of electronic media’s influence on social trends is the story of the young performer, Justin Bieber. Master Bieber’s family had videotaped a school performance of him singing for relatives who could not make it. The family posted the video on YouTube, it became insanely popular, and Usher, the R and B singer, helped launch the career of the teenage pop star who now sells hundreds of thousands of records (Spencer, 2010).
One trend propagated by electronic media is shopping from home. In the 80s and 90s, one could shop at home by watching QVC where products for sale were demonstrated and pushed. Orders were taken by phone via a 1-800 number. This has of course led to the current trend of shopping from home over the Internet. The largest online retailer is Amazon.com, and as of 2004, they had yearly sales of $6.9 billion (ZDNet, 2005). Amazon.com’s sales have grown dramatically since that figure was published. The downside to this is the closure of many locally owned businesses that cannot compete with a major retailer like Amazon.com and the fact that most Internet sales are not taxed which leads to less revenue for government services.
People can also make money from... [continues]
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