The Power of Social

  Social media exists in a new realm of pop culture that relies on an active and participating audience. Participatory culture relies on the idea that content creators are not necessarily the sole owners of their content, and should almost always expect a creation from the hands of the audience – fan fiction, lip dubs, fan art, and more are examples of this. Participatory culture, “…a concept [that] allows us to acknowledge the complex interactions between fans and producers, especially as media industries have had to embrace more participatory strategies in order to court and maintain relations with their fans at a time when a logic of ‘engagement’ shapes many of their policies and promotions. (Textual Poachers, xxii)”

So, basically, in a non-academic fancy explanation, people's fanfiction over Twilight (read: Fifty Shades of Grey...yes, really) becomes an item of the participatory media. Someone is interacting with a text and uses bits and pieces (sometimes, literally only a character's name) and making it their own. For years during the early film year, filmmakers and film critics have urged audiences to be engaged with their medium. Then Twitter came along and blew everything out of the water.

            It’s quite easy study this concept under the scope of media and the entertainment industry, but it’s just as active in political activism, causes, organizations, and brands. For example, the White House’s website allows for petitions and calls to actions be organized on their website and then spread via social media. This is an interesting and modern turn at the Freedom of assembly amendment. It has its modern roots in social media activism and protests.

            In late 2016, sparks of protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline – a 1,172-mile-long, $3.4 billion pipeline that transfers crude oil to Illinois – garnered massive media attention for the pipeline was being built on sacred, Native American territory, breaking treaties made in the 1800s regarding the protection of the land from outsiders. For several weeks, protesters and those from the reservation have been camping out, directly in the way of construction. Several arrests had been made, and several protests turned violent. However, on October 31^st, 2016, protesters encouraged those supporting from afar, to “check in” to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, once a rumor circulated that the Morton County Sheriff’s Department were using Facebook check-ins to target protesters and disrupt prater camps. By more people checking in on Facebook, it represented not only a form of solidarity with those in North Dakota, but also helps disrupt a potential police attack. The movement spread throughout social media and almost 30,000 people checked in on Facebook.

Social media is a leading trend in news reporting and traditional media is adopting and adapting to how things are down.

In the realm of social media, which exists in the land of pop culture,  it's entirely unprecedented in regards to what to expect and how to expect it. In 2016, we have to include political and social movements as popular culture because they've become so embedded into our daily lives.

It is incredibly important to understand that pop culture DOES NOT equal "bad" content such as reality television. Popular is what embodies our current culture and what we find "trending" and "relevant." They don't need to be equal to each other, they don't even need to be defined in importance in a fake hierarchy of "more morally sound" versus the other. It's all under the umbrella term of what we, communally, are able to talk about.

It's from Kim Kardashian to #BlackLivesMatter.