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Recommended: Effects of modern technology on society

We live in a society where we are constantly developing technology and where information can be found everywhere around us. From the average graphic novel to the latest track on iTunes, are the different types of media that shape our society into what it is today. The technological age has brought our Western society into a new generation of how information is obtained, shared, and accessed. Music, a prominent type of media in our Western society, has greatly shifted as well. With the changes in fashion, views towards minority groups and women, and the depiction of class divides, are just some of the factors that affect how society runs. The creation of music has incorporated all of our society's history into an auditory phenomenon. As a result, the significant changes in hip hop culture in the past decade has resulted in positive changes of the attitudes towards social class, Western values, and the overall definition of our Western society. Throughout the essay, we will examine the shifts in hip hop music trends and develop the connections between these trends with social theory. Several theorists, Emile Durkheim, Erving Goffman and Karl Marx, has explained how their theories work and how their theories reflect on our society. With the diverse changes within music as a result of politics and other external factors, it has contributed to how we analyze why our current society follows these trends. As well, we will also relate the applications of these theories into the development of hip hop culture in the last decade. Emile Durkheim's work on social facts defines everything that shapes individuals are based on media influences and other constructs. On the other hand, Goffman explains his theory on symbolic interaction which e... ... middle of paper ... ... how individuals have a front stage and a back stage. The connection between Goffman and hip hop culture is that individuals often conform to trends that make them accepting into society. Hip Hop culture has evolved around an urban life, but not viewed as poor and lazy unlike previous Hip Hop culture identities. Individuals may not be fully represented if they conform to societal norms, which could conflict with their individualistic norms and values. By doing this, we can understand that the trends set by the influences in media results in individuals conforming to the norm. These norms and values, however, is shaped based on our society's authority figures. The creation of these "ideal" roles eliminate and overshadow the flaws in society. These flaws continue to exist, but our Western society does not portray these flaws through music and other sources of media.

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