Tinder

By Thomas Ferro & Sully Sullins

Over the years, our cultural values have shifted and changed countless times. Specifically, our values concerning relationships and dating. Our society has evolved from a culture that emphasizes the importance of marriage to an easy-going hook-up culture. The timeline of this evolution is simple to follow if we look at current dating websites and apps. The app Tinder exemplifies the huge switch in dating norms culture has undergone and influences society with its promise that a relationship is as simple as the swipe of a finger.

In the past, dating was highly formal. Courtship was the main means of starting a relationship with your crush. It included quite a few steps. A gentleman caller interested in a woman dated her for the sole purpose of future marriage. The first date became a special event and a required chaperone followed the couple everywhere they went on their outing. Once the woman had consented to the man courting her, she was said to be “spoken for.” Women started courting as soon as they came of age, which was typically around their early teen years. Women might have had negative things to say about the men they were courting, but the arrangements usually continued regardless of their input. The father and mother decided the daughters’ futures.

The definition of dating has gradually changed over the many years and become more informal. The growth of an entertainment culture (movies, music, dancing, theatre, etc.) may have caused this. Dating (or courting) was no longer something done in private, but in public spaces. In addition, the number of people you dated (or courted) before you got married has grown tremendously. Before, you typically married the first person you courted. Nowadays, people put no limit on their number of partners before marriage. A long-term relationship is also not valued as highly as it once was. Today’s couple may call it quits after a few months. This casual relationship ideal comes from the lack of desire for marriage. Men and women today feel marriage is equivalent to being “tied down” rather than loving someone so much that you want to spend the rest of your life with them. These feelings have translated into a society interested more in one-night stands than the sacred wedding night.

This present hook-up culture is the audience Tinder, a free dating app, attempts to reach. The app makes relationships a simple three-step process. Swipe to the right on someone’s profile, wait for them to swipe right on yours, and then the two of you can start chatting away. Unlike other dating sites, Tinder’s profiles only consist of a maximum of six pictures, as well as a short bio that you write yourself. You can also connect Tinder to your Facebook and your Instagram so that people can get somewhat of a better idea of who you are. Gaining permission from a girl’s father or establishing a friendship with the other person first have become passe in today’s society, and apps such as Tinder consider these improvements.

Yet, virtual introductions and matches come with dangerous long-term effects. Tinder may seem that it is building relationships and a few people may credit it with finding true and lasting romance, but what does the app say about our culture? If our social cues and only method of interacting with others emerge from our phones and computers, it is little wonder why modern-day relationships end up in the toilet. With the small amount of information Tinder allows you to provide on your profile, you are matching with people based on almost no information at all. The “hit-it-and-quit-it” tones of Tinder and other dating apps seem to explain why single-mother households and divorces are common in society. Tinder may also be an unintentional proponent of rape culture with its epidemic of unsolicited “dick pics.” It is true that Tinder has produced real, lasting relationships, but those are exceptions. Tinder, as a whole, is reinforcing a “hook-up” culture rather than a courtship culture.

Sarahah

By Mo Moellering & Ally Williams

Sarahah is an app that, once downloaded, allows the user to send and receive anonymous messages through the use of a link. The link can be posted anywhere, and there is even a special setting on snapchat that allows it to be be pulled up when anyone swipes up on someone else’s snapchat story. These messages cannot be responded to directly, so if the user wants to respond, he or she must post a screenshot to a general setting (like a snapchat story) for all to view. It was created by a Saudi Arabian developer called Zain al-Abidin Tawfiq. He intended for it to be used in the workplace as a means to provide constructive criticism to other employees and executives. Their missions statement for the app says Sarahah allows user to “get honest feedback from your coworkers and friends” and to “discover your strengths and areas for improvement”. After becoming popular in the middle east, it took off rapidly in the UK and USA. Teens have been using it consistently to find out what their peers think of them, in addition to leaving messages for others. Some of the messages are positive: “You’re so great!” and “I love your hair!” Lots of people feel insecure and worry that people don’t like them, and this offers a chance for reassurance. If people feel as though they need an ego-boost, this could provide just that. After receiving such positive comments, users posted screenshots all over twitter and snapchat. Teens in our culture want to make sure that everyone else knows how great of a person they are, so they share it with the world. However, the app is known for the negativity brought about by many messages. While its creators intended it to be for constructive criticism and self-improvement, it has been taken in a different direction. People have received messages telling them to “drink bleach,” and that “no one likes you.” Cyberbullying is a problem more at the middle school and high school level, and this app makes it so much easier. It has horrible consequences, as it can lead to depression and even suicide. The fact that people can remain anonymous is the most crucial aspect of this app. Our culture loves to be mean, but usually will only do it from behind a computer screen. (Most) people would never say such things to someone in person, but because no one will ever know it was them, they take advantage of the opportunity. While people know of what can happen if they download the app, they do it anyways. If it seems as though everyone is using it and posting their responses, other people feel the need to fit in. Essentially, they jump on the “bandwagon” and join the trend. Our peers’ opinions are so important to us, so people go to extreme measures to make sure they are fit in, so as to not damage their image. 

Similar apps, such as Yik Yak, went viral for the same reasons. The human desire to be well-liked by peers, to boost one’s ego, to have impunity in our actions, and to fit in all fuel the raging fire behind Sarahah’s popularity. With the dawn of social media, an entire generation has learned to communicate primarily through screens rather than face to face. Social media has also allowed us to “filter” what image of ourselves that we put out into the world. This subsequently means our view of others is also skewed. The feeling of having to live up to such high standards can be very harmful to long term self confidence, especially a problem for younger users. All of these factors are very telling of the culture we live in. Obviously, this is a desire to know what others really think about it, even at the risk of abuse. It also shows that we do not trust others to tell us the truth in real life. While none of this is to say that social media is bad, but simply there are issues that need to be acknowledged and addressed when necessary.

Power Ranger Culture

By Adam Hayes & Markus Hayes

Entertainment for us growing up consisted of long novels, animated video games, and children’s TV shows. Before watching the adventure based shows like SpongeBob Squarepants, Adventure Time or the Fairly Odd Parents, there was the concept of good versus evil. We both wanted to be the Danny Phantom, the Avatar, the Percy Jackson, the Harry Potter and, especially, the Power Ranger of the world. Quite frankly, I think we can speak for most children in that we all wanted to be the good guy fighting evil. Our favorite television show growing up was Power Rangers. As children and even till now, we’ve always been fascinated by how Saban Entertainment could expand our imaginations through the Power Rangers. Now that we are older, however, we’ve began to see a deeper connotation to the Power Rangers Universe. There are cons to the concept of who are the defenders of earth, but the overall message we got from them was important: anybody can be a hero. No matter your race, gender, age, or sexual orientation, you still have the chance to be good in this world. Power Rangers are a group of usually 5, but sometimes 3, teenagers defending earth against some type of threat that tries to take over the planet. Each Power Ranger is a different color according to their personality traits or strengths. The red ranger, usually the main character, is a teenager surprisingly good at fighting and shows leadership traits. However, the first wave of Power Rangers raised an eyebrow to the public when the casted black ranger was an African American teen, and the yellow ranger was Asian. To fix this misconception, future installments of the Power Rangers provided multiple race backgrounds to fit the different roles associated with the ranger’s individual status. While the red ranger is more often Caucasian than not, Saban has had 3 African American red rangers, and even one Samoan red ranger. What my brother and I have also noticed is that the roles of the African American rangers relied heavily on the stereotypical black man, an outsider’s job, or even the most athletic teenager. For example, the African American red ranger from Power Rangers SPD was a superhuman, yet he was portrayed as a thief that lived on the streets. The black ranger who was “coincidentally” black in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, had the uncanny ability to sneak into places and steal things. This idea of anybody can be a hero is again shown in Power Rangers Turbo. This new breed of rangers had a twist; instead of 5 teenagers, there were 4 teenagers and a kid. The kid, however, morphed into an adult sized warrior when linked with his suit’s powers. Saban’s goal here was to establish that even children younger than teens can be the heroes of this world too. Again, Saban challenges of our culture’s stereotypes through gender. In one of the later series, Power Rangers Super Samurai, the male red ranger is no longer holding the position, and gives way to the first female red ranger. This is Saban’s way of incorporating women into a leadership role. Finally, in this year’s reboot of Power Rangers the Movie, they’ve introduced the first lesbian Power Ranger. Now this had nothing to do with a stereotype, or a suit-color/race clash, but it had all to do with that the team of Power Rangers accepted her for who she was. At the end of the day, she was a hero just as much as the other rangers. Power Rangers showed us more than to do the right thing and correct morals. Growing up and living life allowed us to see passed the racial barriers, sexual orientation and gender issues. We finally found the whole picture Saban was pitching at us all along: anyone can be a hero.

Social Media

By Connor Mendenhall & Cal Pohrte

What is social media? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “Social media are forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos).” When seen at the level of a straight definition, social media is seen as this genius thing perfect for the 21st century, and that is because it is. Social media is an incredible thing. However, there are some things that are not incredible that come with social media. So, where is the healthy balance?

Picture this: 1997. The internet is now pretty much a thing, it’s slow, but it’s a thing. All of a sudden there is this website that everyone is talking about called, sixdegrees.com. The first social media website ever. The website simply followed the six degrees of separation theory, which is the idea that all living things and everything else in the world are six or fewer steps away from each other. This was the start of it all. In the same year you have AOL Messenger come out (Basically, Facebook Messenger but for email), two years later you have Yahoo! And MSN Messenger, and the list just keeps going and progressing.

We think about MySpace being this ancient artifact when in actuality it was launched only a year before the biggest of them all, Facebook. Let us talk about Facebook and how it changed the game. First off, just think to yourself how much the app or website of Facebook has changed just in the last year. It is incredible. So now let us imagine what Facebook was like thirteen years ago. Well, one, the name is not Facebook, it is Thefacebook. Two, its original intent was to be somewhat of a directory for Harvard. What it became however, was the start of the true travesty of social media.

There are many bad things we can associate to social media. Stalking, cyberbullying, things are put out for everyone to see that you do not necessarily want them to see. Now with Facebook live, there have even been murders captured in real time on social media. Has social media gone out of control. I would say that the logical answer is: of course. It is crazy how something that was as simple as a directory for Harvard would turn into the mecca website for every teenage kid and frankly grandparents. I mean, 75% of the time all you see on social media is negative stuff about people’s lives, political debates by uninformed humans (because ironically, they’re getting their news from Facebook), and food recipes. So, why do people obsess over social media?

I believe most humans are just attracted to drama and success which is a lot of what is put on social media. You either see someone’s gold medal or their child’s gold medal and it is immediately juxtaposed when you scroll down to something extremely political that stirs up a huge crowd, and people are obsessed with following this. Why? Why are humans obsessed with drama and success and seeing it? Because we as humans want to be successful and live vicariously through others and when things are a bit too dramatic, we can relate and extend the conversation.

Social media is an important topic to talk about when it comes to pop culture, because it literally is pop culture. I honestly don’t know what life would be without social media and the ability to keep up with friends, family, celebrities I am interested in. Although social media has its tendency to get out of hand, I cannot imagine life going backwards from it.

Fidget Spinners

By Zach Coffman & Mike Miller

After looking at fidget spinners it is clear to see that they have a significant impact on pop culture in the fact that they have become so popular in the last year or so.  The product has created an image of representation in the fact that the type of fidget spinner you may have can give off a demonstration of what your values are as a person. They also bring up the controversy of whether or not the product is actually helpful for those who have a disability and its possibility of being a distraction to other students.  The biggest point however is how the argument of effective or not. Is between actual experts scientists, teachers, and paraprofessionals, or  parents who do not know what they are talking about . When it is said that way most people will immediately go, “Ok. Why is this even a debate? Who is listening to the parents?” The answer to that question and the real problem is other parents this then turns the parents against the experts because an “expert” online told them otherwise. This challenge of people with little to no education in the topics that they are advocating for is the big problem that fidget spinners represent. And it is clear that  this is not an isolated incident. Another example of parents not trusting those who are trained to do their jobs is teachers. Ten years ago if a teacher called home it meant that the child was probably in trouble. Now it can mean that the parents will start yelling at the teacher about how it is their fault that the parent’s kid is failing not the kid’s. This shift in morals of experts being challengeable and a lack of respect for education and experience is the true importance of fidget spinners.