It is no secret that social media was designed to bring us (the people) together -- but what has it actually done other than pull us apart?  While there is no denying the entertainment factor, and yes it does it’s job of transferring information -- America has become a nation of idiots -- we have “smart phones and dumb people.”  So what is this Pop Culture we hear so much about?  Pop Culture; noun; modern popular culture transmitted via mass media and aimed particularly at younger people.  Well… that’s the dictionary definition for it -- but it’s so much more than that.  Pop culture is ever changing and it’s very difficult to give it just one label.  Pop Culture might just be the hardest thing for us to define -- yet ironically, it is what defines us as a nation. 

It all traces back to facebook.  That’s where it all started.  I remember being in 6th grade, nervously approaching my dad to ask if I could get a facebook -- he said yes.  From that day forth I spent probably (at bare minimum) 30 minutes a day on facebook.  I documented my life -- vacations, pictures with friends, birthdays, what I did over the weekend -- and, like most other 6th graders -- I was thirsty for attention.  I could careless if nobody complimented my hair, makeup, or outfit at school; but a selfie on facebook? That had to be seen!  Social Media has turned into a competition.  Who has the best pictures? The most likes?  The interesting ideas? Oh, he’s the class clown?  Better follow him!  We have turned into a nation who literally fears a facebook stalker more than an actual stalker. 

The years following this facebook uprise allowed for the creation of even more social networks!  Now, at age seventeen, I no longer spend all my time on facebook.  I divide it between twitter, instagram, pinterest, facebook, tumblr, yik yak, and of course -- snapchat.  With each new social network, we distance ourselves just a little further from society.  Yes, we see everything our friends and family do!  We even get a decent amount of news and opinions from these networks.  They open our minds, but they close our eyes.  We no longer feel the need to rush over to our bestfriend’s house and tell them what happened, talk about that movie we saw, gossip about billy’s new girlfriend, make plans for spring break -- we do it all through the click of a mouse or the tap of an iphone. 

Social Media appeals to each individual person.  You see what you want to see.  Google something?  Only results that google thinks you will find interesting even show up.  Pop Culture changes because we change.  The internet knows us better than we know ourselves -- like the back of our hands!  But let’s be honest, who actually knows the back of their hand?  The internet knows us like our bestfriend, like our favorite food, like that one song that reminds us of the best night of our lives -- and with that they manipulate us.  We are continually being pulled in to this whirlwind of information aimed towards us (the consumers). 

I could not imagine my life without the internet, without pop culture, without social media -- and I’m not saying I want a life without it!  But I am sure that we would all be much more open minded and less socially awkward -- we would talk to eachother and listen to stories from our friends and parents and grandparents -- and just talk.  We would have physical conversations -- not those where we hide behind a screen or keyboard.  Pop Culture is interesting, Pop Culture is everchanging -- but Pop Culture is not culture.