YouTube: The Ultimate Pop Culture Tool

In today's society we are more connected then ever before. The internet and technology have provided us with systems and tools that can keep us in touch with each other and allow us to share information faster then any other time in history. But it's no longer just telephone calls and e-mails. Since the introduction of streaming online video people all over the world have been wasting their time at work, in the classroom, and at home on the ultimate pop culture tool of them all: YouTube.

There is truly no better way in the world to see glimpses of all aspects of pop culture then to watch videos on sites like youtube. You can watch videos on almost any single topic that interests you whether it be sports, politics, music whatever. Funny videos and dramatic documentaries alike can be found with a few strokes of a keyboard. I say this because i myself know this all too well as i have probably wasted more then a thousand hours of my life just browsing through videos on youtube. But the point is that being able to watch these videos can actually have a huge affect on peoples lives. Politicians are now even using it to campaign and put up ad's trying to sway the minds of viewers to their ways of thinking.

But the great thing about youtube is that it is not only limited to big important politicians and huge broadcasting companies like the standard news and entertainment that we see today. Anyone can use youtube and post videos about any topic under the sun. Granted there are some pretty shitty videos out there of people just siting in front on the computer doing stupid stuff. But there are also a lot of hilarious and useful videos out there to. It is the ultimate way to stay connected with what's going on in the world and what people are doing and thinking. That within itself is what makes youtube the ultimate pop culture tool.

Pop Culture & Politics

We often think of politics and pop culture as two very different subjects. After all, it doesn't appear as though politicians like John McCain or Barrack Obama have very much in common with celebrities like Brad Pitt or Jessica Alba. In truth it's likely that the latter two people named probably live very different lifestyles then McCain and Obama. But they all do share one thing in common: they are all huge pop culture icons. Some ad's released by the McCain campaign even feature pictures of Obama stating "He's the biggest celebrity in the world" and other such claims before slandering him.
So in a way politicians are just celebrities with jobs that actually matter to peoples lives. After all,not all older people know many current celebrities if they even follow any. Whereas younger people tend to be more aware of both politicians as well as celebrities. So the audience for politicians is much larger then audiences for celebrities. Take my grandma for example, there's no doubt that she knows who Obama and McCain are, but I'm pretty sure she would have o idea what i was talking about if i asked her who Jessica Alba was.

Can Pop Culture Bring Parents & Kids together?

If someone had asked me three years ago whether or not i thought pop culture could make my parents and I closer, i would have told them they were crazy. I had always thought of my parents as too old and too mature to really relate to me in terms anything that was entertainment related. Whether it be music, magazines or movies i had never even really considered the fact that my parents might like the same things as me. But a funny thing happened once i got into my senior year of high school. I had a lot of free time on my hands because i wasn't taking very hard classes, and I never really had that much homework to do. So instead of sitting at my desk all night I could finally just hang out in the living room and watch movies or tv.

I can distinctly remember one night when I decided to watch Wedding Crashers, my dad came into the room and asked me what i was watching. I told him, "it's called Wedding Crashers up you probably wouldn't like it". But he sat down anyway and before long we were both cracking up. I almost couldn't believe it at first because i thought there was no way he would find some of the dirty jokes and such funny. But there we were in the living room laughing our asses off watching a movie together. This was amazing to me because normally the only time we sat down in the living room to watch tv together it was always sports or the history channel. I guess i had to grow up a little before my dad found it ok to joke around with me about stuff that my mom would find appalling, but it eventually became a regular thing that we did together. So even if you think your parents are old as hell it might not hurt to remember the fact that they were just as young and immature as you once. You might have a lot more in common then you know.