10 Pop Culture Trends That Defined the Decade
"This was the decade when everyone became a celebrity. Well, almost everyone."
Greig Dymond writes:
The past 10 years didn't invent the concept of celebrity; they just broadened the definition of the term to a ridiculous extent. More people than ever have achieved some minor level of notoriety. As the film The Truman Show shrewdly predicted back in 1998, voyeurism and technology are the twin engines that propelled this shift.
Just ask Richard Heene, now-famous (and infamous) father of the "balloon boy." His story — a twisted amalgam of reality TV, fame-whoring, all-news channel coverage and breathless tweets — couldn't have happened in quite the same way 10 years ago. The lines between entertainment, personal narrative and news have become irrevocably blurred.
Here are 10 pop culture trends that shaped the decade:
1. Reality TV
2. YouTube and the art of the viral video
3. Celebrity gawking, 21st-century style
4. The iPod killed the CD star
5. Newspapers in jeopardy
6. Auto-Tune
7. Twitter, Facebook and the explosion of social media
8. The rise of U.S. cable dramas
9. Guitar Hero/Rock Band
10. The rise of "fake news"
Read more 10 pop culture trends that defined the decade
"This was the decade when everyone became a celebrity. Well, almost everyone."
