What is Pop Culture?
By: Cynniah Mack, Cosmo Thames, and Destiny Johnson
Pop Culture is the arts, artifacts, entertainment, fads, beliefs and values that are shared by a large segment in society. Our pop culture is from the late 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. Our school (Palmer High School) is where we’ll focus primarily. The people being interviewed will be Palmer students. We (the people writing this article) are fascinated in finding out what brings the students of Palmer together. We’ll deliver this into three segments by gathering information on what pop culture means to Gen Z. Each interviewer (Cynniah Mack, Cosmo Thames, and Destiny Johnson) will be discussing each topic.
Pop culture can come in different forms such as music, social media, sports, video games, and TV shows/movies. Everyone has their own niches and genres of entertainment they like to consume. Pop culture is mostly considered light hearted or interests that bring people joy or passion.
Throughout the article we’ll focus on:
- Music
- TV shows/Movies
- Social Media
The questions we have pertaining to music are: Cynniah Mack
- What makes music important to you?
- What times do you listen to music?
- How does it make you feel?
The questions we have related to TV shows/Movies are: Cosmo Thames
- What makes you want to keep watching a show?
- Why are you into the genre of shows you consume?
The thoughts we have on social media are: Destiny Johnson
- What’s so consuming about social media?
- What would you change about social media?
- How does social media impact your life?
Destiny has reported on Social media for the topic of Pop Culture for Gen z and has gained feedback from interviews:
Messiah, 14, Freshman was asked what is so consuming about social media and he has stated that social media is consuming because of “celebrities.” He was then asked what he would change about social media and replied with “bullying.” Finally he was asked How social media impacts his life and he revealed “Less sleep.”
I then Interviewed Ana, 15, Sophomore and asked the same 3 questions. How is social media consuming and she replied with the “Variety of content” secondly, I asked What she would change about social media and she stated “Inappropriate content.” Lastly, I asked How social media impacts her life and she revealed “ It is addicting and causes less time for further important activities.”
Lastly, I interviewed Taytum, 17, Junior and repeated the following 3 questions. How social media is consuming and she stated “The constant Comparison” next, I asked What she would change about social media and she replied “Body negativity” Lastly, I asked How social media impacts her life and she revealed “The connections she gains from social media.”
Cosmo has reported on Tv Shows/Movies for the topic of pop culture and has informative information about it from these interviews:
I also asked the same people questions relating to their relationship with TV Shows and Movies. Messiah responded to the question “What makes you want to keep watching a movie and/or show?” he responded with the answer of suspense. He was also asked “Why are you into the genre of movies/shows you are?” and he says “it correlates with the certain hobbies I’m into.”
I also asked Ana the same two questions and her responses were very similar to Messiah. People tend to be into TV Shows and Movies because of how it makes them feel. It correlates to their emotions in some way and the way they act towards a trailer of a show/movie or even the sound track of them.
Cynniah interviewed people for the Music topic of pop culture and this is what they said:
I asked Ana, age 15, and a sophomore the question “What makes music important to you?” she responded with: “It calms me down.”. For the second question, I asked “What times do you listen to music?” she responded with: “All the time.” Lastly I asked, “How does music make you feel” and Ana replied with “Makes me feel good.”
The second person I interviewed was Jaxon, age 14, and a freshman. For the first question he answered: “It helps me during tough times.” For the second question he said: “Everyday.” For the last question he responded with “Helps me get through life.”
In conclusion, we have discovered that pop culture revolves around teenagers’ little things in life such as music, TV shows/Movies, and social media. This is what makes our generation unique.
