Calvin Seng’s Blog

Okay, like I said before, mass media is shaping us, whether you realised or not, it DOES. So, how does media mediate? Through technology is the correct answer. Nevertheless, we’re using technology, meanwhile culture is shaping us through technology. Culture–Technology–Us, are all related. Hence, it’s possible to reshape the culture using technology.

It’s just the matter of time. Sooner or later, what we are up to right now, will move into newer things and culture. However, this culture will be still being categorized as “Pop Culture”.

From what I could see now, and based on what I had been experiencing since I was a kid, since the day I was exposed to radio, and also since the day I was exposed to television, the culture that has been evolving from time to time is Popular Culture, or rather known as Pop Culture. 

Here’s a short description about Pop Culture from wikipedia : -

“Popular culture (commonly abbreviated as pop culture) is the totality of distinct memes, ideas, perspectives and attitudes that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture. Heavily influenced by mass media (at least from the early 20th century onward) and perpetuated by that culture’s vernacular language, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of the society. Popular culture is often viewed as being trivial and “dumbed-down” in order to find consensual acceptance throughout the mainstream. As a result of this perception, it comes under heavy criticism from various scientific and non-mainstream sources (most notably religious groups and countercultural groups) which deem it superficial, consumerist, sensationalist and corrupted.

It is manifest in preferences and acceptance or rejection of features in such various subjects as cooking, clothing, consumption, and the many facets of entertainment such as sports, music, film and literature. Popular culture often contrasts with a more exclusive, even elitist “high culture”, that is, the culture of ruling social groups. The earliest use of “popular” in English was during the fifteenth century in law and politics, meaning “low”, “base”, “vulgar”, and “of the common people”; from the late eighteenth century it began to mean “widespread” and gain in positive connotation. (Williams 1985). “Culture” has been used since the 1950s to refer to various subgroups of society, with emphasis on cultural differences.”‘

In fact, people recently are being shaped from the mass media, that gradually transforming one culture to the other, up-to-date culture. I think it’s a good thing to being up-to-date. However, excessively, and too fond of the culture might not be something good. It’s still best for people to be  moderate all the time.

I was late to school about 20 minutes. It was because I have to throw the clothes my roommate and I had been collecting for almost one week into the washing machine. The lecture had started, but my friends told me that it was going to end soon. In fact it was. Then Mr. Radzi came in and told us about his disappointment regarding our positive feedback, but negative feedback to him. However, those feedbacks should be taken by him for further improvements. 

Our job on that day was to hand in our assignment. After the submission, we all went to have our brunch before attending the Maths class.