What Does Popular Culture Mean to Me?

            Popular culture is a part of every individual’s lives. We are surrounded constantly by popular culture. These forms of popular culture can present themselves as music, media, toys, art, literature and clothing, among other things. Thinking back on my childhood I can think of several things that both shaped my child hood and in some circumstances defined my generation. Thinking back I remember a closet full of tubs that were filled with Beanie Babies. I remember a mad dash to McDonalds whenever a new mini Beanie Baby was being introduced. In middle school if you were anyone important you had a tamagotchi. Popular cultures are those things, either activity, products or forms of art that are created to and driven at the tastes and desires of individuals.

            Popular culture plays a big part in my life. I love music. Music is the form of popular culture that I best relate to. Every circumstance or situation in life I can find a song the represents my feelings and that is relatable. Music is inspiring to me. Popular culture is my favorite category in trivia games. I typically know the answers, and of course these questions relate to those things that were generally important to me in some timeframe of my life. I enjoy learning about popular culture and what this involved for members of different generations. Understanding and learning about those things that influenced peoples’ lives in fascinating. In order to really know someone we may ask, what is your favorite song? What is your favorite type of food? What type of movies do you like? If you were stranded on a deserted island what is the one thing you would bring? These things and the feelings that are associated with them are what make us who we are.

            Popular culture affects many areas. As business owners, managers or employees it is important to understand popular culture. Understanding of pop culture can help us to be more relatable to individuals. It can help us to understand the best ways to market to our target audience. For instance, if you are a skateboard shop and you wanted to target individuals in your area for marketing, you may post a sign at a skateboard park, you may see individuals skating and listening to music on their headphones. You may consider that if they are listening to a Pandora, they could hear about you through ads on Pandora. Recognizing what individuals are using in pop culture can move your business forward. Being able to see and recognize the next big thing could help you to develop a business or service that compliments these things. Understanding of pop culture can make you relatable to your staff as well as your customers. Being able to be forward thinking in how we promote our employees, or reward them can make your business and staff successful. It could all be as easy as an I-tunes gift card.

             There are many things that represent past and present popular culture. These objects or artifacts are a representation of what was popular in pop culture. Speaking of the aforementioned things we could consider a Tamagotchi, or Beanie Baby as a pop culture artifact. With the popularity of a certain series of books involving a vampire and a young damsel, Twilight books are an artifact of our popular culture. Looking back, bell bottoms could be an artifact of the culture of the 1970’s. Those things that shape our generations and what brings hope and joy, and sometimes sadness are the very things that we will remember for the duration of our lifetime, and what others will look for to explain and enlighten them of what life was like for people of a certain timeframe.