What is popular culture, and what does it mean to you?
Popular culture is basically what is popular around you. Popular culture to you could be different to popular culture to someone in another area of the world or even an hour away from where you live. Something as simple as wearing sweat pants to high school could be popular in your school, but in a nearby school it could be looked at as ridiculous. So to put a definition on popular culture is not as simple as saying "it is .....". There are other variables at stake when defining popular culture, but the most generic definition of popular culture is "what is popular around you everyday".
Why is an understanding of popular culture relevant to you in a business environment and in your present and future career?
In many businesses it is essential for them to understand popular culture. They need to know what popular culture is, how it starts, and signs that it is coming to a close. The reasoning is that many businesses base their products on popular culture. By being able to recognize what is popular culture they can come up with new products that would appeal to consumers. They would also be able to recognize the warning signs of popular culture products coming to a halt. A good example of this is something that I can remember when I was in fifth grade. Everyone was sporting a snap bracelet. The fad was very short lived and I'm sure many businesses started manufacturing tons of these things and then the demand for them phased out. By understanding popular culture they may have been able to see that this was going to be a short lived popular culture product and not have wasted their resources.
I now work for the Ohio Department of Taxation so I can't really see popular culture being relevant in my work but I am going to college to get an associates in computer science. I believe that my decision to go into computers was influenced by popular culture since computers seem to be the new "in" thing.
What would you consider to be an example of a pop culture artifact? And why would you choose it?
I believe that the NFL itself is a popular culture artifact or more generally, American football. American football has been a part of popular culture since way back before I was born but I believe it is more popular now then it ever has been. There are many reasons why I would consider it to be an example of popular culture. One big reason is that it appeals to our senses. For many people Sunday's during football season are spent watching game after game of professional football. The thrill starting from the singing of the national anthem all the way through til the final whistle. Another new way that professional football has appealed to our senses is fantasy football. This brings a new element to watching football and getting excited about it. I used to just watch the Green Bay Packers and whatever random game is on television but now I will watch many games and get really excited about players on my fantasy team scoring a touchdown. Because of fantasy football I now set in front of my television (with NFL ticket, so I can watch all of the games) with my computer on so I can get live scoring updates of my fantasy team.
Another reason it is an example of popular culture is the exposure. During the fall its hard for you to walk into any public place and not see someone wearing a football t-shirt or jersey. Everyone that likes watching football also enjoys supporting their team. So even if you don't watch the games you still could be exposed to it just walking through the mall.
