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Nadinerc's avatar

Would you say that pop culture is generational? As a boomer, I am finding that things are happening so quickly I often feel in the dark. For example, we’re watching American Idol. Most of the songs these young people are singing are unfamiliar to me, as are the artists. I used to be on top of “popular music” but not anymore. Fashion is cyclical. Bell bottoms are in; bell bottoms are out. That I can keep up with. Technology is another. I pride myself with being current with technology, but I don’t understand all of social media and this “hashtag” thing although many have tried to explain it to me. In this age things happen fast and quickly becomes a thing. Thank you for the great article.

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John E. Price, PhD's avatar

Sure, the specific examples are generational (except when they're not, as we'll see later), but the concept of a Thing called Popular Culture that we can discuss and digest is socio-cultural. If anything, Popular Culture is "generational" in the sense that it only exists after the invention of mass communication/production/consumption (radio, factories, etc.)

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