Improvements in Communication Technology Have Caused Major

Improvements in communication technology have caused major differences in American society but such improvements have also served to expand the number of individuals that are affected by American society. Through new communication technology the breadth of influence enjoyed by American society is larger than at any point in history and as the level of such technology increases so likely will American influence.

One of the aspects of American culture that has been disseminated widely by improvements in communication technology and which has proven to be one of the most popular is pop culture. Although incorporating many different elements of American culture the essential ingredients of pop culture include the events, people, fads, and trends that capture the public imagination. It also includes cultural trends of the past that achieved enduring status. Examples of figures in pop culture in the America include different cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, political figures such as Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, college and professional athletes, movie stars, and rock stars. Pop culture also includes items such as Ipods and hula hoops. It includes passing phenomena such as Atari and lasting ones such as Facebook. In short, pop culture is anything that is occurs within American society that has the potential to be passed on to other cultures and societies.

Since the end of the Second World War the influence of American pop culture has enjoyed a phenomenal expansion (Cantor, 2003). America's position in the world as a world power, the fact that the American military has been positioned throughout the world since that time, the large influx of foreign students attending American schools and universities, and, most importantly, the ready availability of information via television, radio, and, the internet has made information about America readily available.

The attractiveness of American pop culture, both in America and throughout the world, is what such culture symbolizes. American pop culture glorifies the simple longings that exist in everyone (Peterson, 1996). These are the need to feel free, autonomous, and mobile. America was the first society to glorify the middle class and to demonstrate that the life-style of the middle class might be available to everyone. Through watching American movies and television, listening to American music, wearing American clothes, and playing with new American gadgets individuals began to acquire a feeling of freedom and prosperity. These images were transported to Americans in the rural South and the wide expanses of the American plains through newspapers, magazines, and television and now these same images are being transported to the most remote villages throughout the world through the internet and social media platforms.

One of the most difficult things to predict in pop culture is where it might next trend. Who have predicted the success and popularity of reality television for instance? Yet, such programming has virtually threatened the existence of traditional television programming. How did feather extensions become popular or flash mobs? That is part of the magic and fascination of pop culture. It becomes a phenomenon over night and disappears nearly as quickly. The internet and social media makes this possible. They have the power to create and the power to destroy.