There has been a shift in consumerism. People will mostly buy something not for its utility value but for the ideas associated with it and the identity they find in it. Identity is now defined by one’s taste and consumed products, and no longer by his social status.
This is closely linked to the importance communication technologies and especially the media have taken. Advertisements for example do not sell a mere product; they sell an idea, a style, a way of life, and in this manner may impose (if not completely, at least in part) what these identities should be, mainly for economic reasons.
I believe some of these “standards” set by the media bring more harm than anything else. Media defines concepts such as beauty, elegance, coolness, intelligence, femininity, masculinity, happiness, success, etc… and everyone has pressure to fit in these definitions. Even counter-cultures will be affected by it in a way or another.
I am wondering, however, how long this can last. As it was mentioned, post-modernism is very reflexive and these things are already being pointed out by many people. On top of that, the rise of the internet enables basically anyone to be connected to any other part of the world, where values can be the opposite from ours. Anyone can have a point of view on anything and let the world know. While this can bring a lot of confusion and drown people under the amount of information available, it can also blur out the definitions brought by the conventional mass media.
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