By Brian Chidueme |Staff Writer|
After the success of the recent 54th Grammy Awards, two trending topics on social networks caught many people by surprise.
Statuses and tweets such as “Chris Brown can beat me up any day,” and “Who is Paul McCartney?” bombarded Twitter and Facebook.
Both of these topics were in response to Paul McCartney’s well-received performance and Chris Brown winning ‘Best R&B Album’ for his 2011 album “F.A.M.E.”
At first glance, these two trending topics could have been taken as a joke, until users from around the world were outraged to see that these were actual tweets from real users.
Social content website Buzzfeed.com was able to grab a lengthy list of Twitter statuses from “I don’t know why Rihanna complained. Chris Brown could beat me anytime he wanted to,” to “Isn’t [Paul McCartney] the guy that invented Cheese Whiz?”
Many online users around the world expressed disgust and outrage towards the inflammatory messages.
The trending topics also painted a dark picture of today’s current generation. With social networks such as Facebook and Twitter now becoming the standard ways of communication and information, it seems as if today’s generation is one dominated and inspired by ignorance.
They give the impression that teenagers as young as 14 are glorifying domestic violence. Have they not learned about Rihanna’s pre-Grammy assault that happened only three years ago?
Statuses calling Paul McCartney an “old fart” or the “father of Jesse McCartney” also disrespect both the artist and a legacy to the Beatles in unique ways.
By ignoring The Beatles’ contributions to popular music, one is also ignoring the contributions of popular artists such as Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Katy Perry, and Kanye West.
Without the legacy and influence of The Beatles and without the hard work, determination, and significance of songs such as “Hey Jude,” and “Yellow Submarine,” music simply would not be the same today.
The trending topics also spark commentary on a generation now raised solely by the amount of “Likes” one has on Facebook. It’s shocking to witness a new generation of youth that would rather base one’s character or self-worth on a certain image over one’s importance.
By ignoring Paul McCartney’s influence towards the future innovation of what pop culture is today, the current generation is saying that conformity and ‘sticking to the status quo’ is what’s more important because it is ‘normal.’
By ignoring the past turmoils of Chris Brown and praising his abuse, the current generation is glorifying MTV as an even greater influence on the children of tomorrow over the contributions of great minds such as Barack Obama and John Lennon.
To disregard innovation is to disregard today.
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