Pop culture has only been a thing since mass media. The Internet accelerated the existing fragmentations in pop culture that were really always there, but beca

Pop culture has only been a thing since mass media. The Internet accelerated the existing fragmentations in pop culture that were really always there, but became prominent in the late 80's/early 90's. The fact that music from anywhere, anytime was downloadable (despite the industry's attempts to stop it), combined with the fact you could chat with anyone from anywhere that had an Internet connection, was the beginning of the end of a mass pop culture. It was the beginning of "bottom up" control of the media. This morphed into streaming and social media, which continues. So the 90's is it. The only cultural phenomenon comparable in the 00's and 10's are game-centered. So there may be a bit of mass nostalgia about that popping up after the oncoming 90's retro wave. What would cause a return to pop culture is heavy regulation turning the Internet back into the TV of the 50's through 90's, which is not impossible. However I feel further saturation of current US political discourse into social channels is going to make what used to be pop culture and mainstream media an impossible thing for anything other than political discourse in the US. The countercultures and social bubbles are going to turn into essentially "Internet gated communities" that only come out into the mainstream to fight.