By now I’m sure everyone has seen the Rebecca Black music video “Friday” at least once. (If you haven’t, watch below)
Although there are mixed reviews on the song itself, its instant popularity can’t be denied. The song “Friday” has definitely become a meme, which is an idea, behaviour, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.
The popularity of Rebecca Black’s song made me question how something so bad can become so popular. There are several elements which I think were necessary for the song to become so popular so fast.
1) The viral age:
Putting the song and music video immediately onto Youtube guaranteed that the song could be easily shared amongst people. I saw this song being talked about on all sorts of different social media and media sharing websites. In fact, the first time I actually saw the music video was in my news feed on facebook, where several of my friends were posting it on other people’s walls. In the case of this song, its popularity is largely due to the fact that it was released over the internet and that we live in such a technologically connected society. Had this song been released say, 30 years ago, it would likely never reach the levels of popularity that it is seeing now.
Putting the song and music video immediately onto Youtube guaranteed that the song could be easily shared amongst people. I saw this song being talked about on all sorts of different social media and media sharing websites. In fact, the first time I actually saw the music video was in my news feed on facebook, where several of my friends were posting it on other people’s walls. In the case of this song, its popularity is largely due to the fact that it was released over the internet and that we live in such a technologically connected society. Had this song been released say, 30 years ago, it would likely never reach the levels of popularity that it is seeing now.
2) The mystery:
When the song and music video was first released, there was no popular knowledge about Rebecca Black, the song itself, or the production company who made it. All of this mystery surrounding the song caused people to talk about it. The dialogue created by this music video is another factor that caused it to spread so quickly, as people were constantly talking about and questioning the song and songstress.
When the song and music video was first released, there was no popular knowledge about Rebecca Black, the song itself, or the production company who made it. All of this mystery surrounding the song caused people to talk about it. The dialogue created by this music video is another factor that caused it to spread so quickly, as people were constantly talking about and questioning the song and songstress.
3) The hoax factor:
And undoubtedly the most commonly discussed question has been whether the song, artist and video are all a hoax, or a parody. Many discussed that the song was not real and was intended as a parody to shed light on the current state of pop music aimed at “tweens” and teenagers.
And undoubtedly the most commonly discussed question has been whether the song, artist and video are all a hoax, or a parody. Many discussed that the song was not real and was intended as a parody to shed light on the current state of pop music aimed at “tweens” and teenagers.
This song demonstrates the effects of several ideas on social theory in our modern popular culture. And most clearly, it strengthens the old adage “All publicity is good publicity.”
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