Breaking Down Popularity

Popularity: a theme all too common in high school hallways, towering music charts, and just about every other facet of life. Popularity, as according to Google, is to be “liked, admired, or enjoyed by many people or by a particular person or group.” To be popular is to be individualized and common at the same time; by bringing forth such a paradoxical idea, I invite you to analyze popularity with me--how things become popular, how we react to popular things, and what it really, truly means for someone or something to be popular.

First, a note: if popularity is defined as being liked or enjoyed by many people, doesn’t that mean almost everything and absolutely everyone is popular to an extent? Sure, various things have more followers than others, but everything still fits into the requirements. By the same token, if the only thing needed to be popular is to be admired by a particular person or group, then we most definitely are all popular and so are all of the things we love--our belongings, ideas, interests, and activities. However, I know and you know that this is not how popularity is looked at in our society; still, I want you to keep these definitions in mind.

To start off this discussion, let’s talk about how something or someone becomes popular. Popularity is to be widely, widely known and liked, to at least some capacity. When music becomes popular it’s because it contextualizes a feeling that the majority of us are familiar with in a way that is understandable, relatable, and exciting--taking a common feeling or concept and individualizing it, not only within the melodies and production of the song, but by making the listeners feel like their minds are being represented. Furthermore, since everyone interprets things in an entirely different way, a popular song needs to have the ability of easy, varying interpretation. When a person becomes popular--think actors and actresses, politicians, or even middle school hierarchies--it is because they often represent who we want to be as people. They have the clothes we want, the presentation we long for, or speak so eloquently that we admire them; then, when we collectively admire them, they achieve the popular status. I could easily go on and on about how we make things popular but I will leave the rest for you to ponder on.

Pop music, now distinguishable as its own category of upbeat, radio-station music, is just short for “popular music.” Pop culture is just popular culture. We all react to these things in different ways--some of us indulging in these things and some of us not; regardless, at least a large portion of us must like these things or they wouldn’t be popular. Often, people will specifically dislike these things because of the label they hold. Whether or not they genuinely do admire the thing itself, they will say they do not for the purpose of being different--and I’m calling myself out for this one too. However, this concept of being different was made popular by people who wanted to like things that aren’t popular to be different--popularity is within and without everything. Whatever way in which you live your life, it’s okay. If you like Taylor Swift and Starbucks or Doc Martens and indie bands, it’s all okay. If you like all of those things, it’s okay. It is unique to you and you have something in common with someone else who likes those things too--you truly have the best of all worlds.

You can like popular things and hate them. We are all cool and individualized because we are individuals and whatever we like is cool because we are humans on the Earth. Like what you like, everything is popular (including you, don’t forget), and because these structures were made up by us, we can knock them down or ignore them if we want to.