CH240: Mainstream

As weird as my thought process goes, after watching Panic! at the disco doing a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, my mind went to thoughts on mainstreaming.

At first I was like, who is this band? Their cover is good. Then I thought, they must have been an obscure band before - that was able to catch the current and go mainstream from indie or underground.

Currently, going mainstream and viral has become mostly easier with technology. With so many social media platforms to be discovered in, talents are easier shared and discovered. How was it like before for musicians? Handing off tapes, constantly performing in pubs to be discovered by a talent scout?

This is beside the point I wanted to make. There is power in mainstream. Why would there be social media campaigns to change the thought and opinions of people, to raise awareness etc? Governments use it (social media) to affect the direction the stream flows. We've seen Russia try to influence the mainstream with their fabrications and cover ups with the downing of MH17. We've seen ISIS go mainstream with their  gore. Somehow, IMO they're very much like Al Qaeda but with a better representation on social media. They've ridden mainstream and were able to use social media as a platform for recruitment.

I find it pretentious when people denounce mainstream. Let's take another example from something fictional - True Blood. The vampires campaigned for mainstreaming with the introduction of the human blood aptly called True Blood. They presented themselves as safe because they've synthesized a product that will stave them off from feeding on humans.

Another example would be the gay identity. There are pride events in different cities to raise awareness on equality. Awareness is being raised on discrimination, unfair treatment, abuse and bullying, which otherwise would go on to be accepted and unspoken. People  fight for awareness to influence mainstream.

Mainstreaming is very much a western concept it seems. Western mindset feels more open. Different movements started from the west: Gay Pride, PETA, Wikileaks, Feminism, the different causes UN pushed (anti poverty, hunger), AIDS awareness, etc. (For ISIS, I believe, it's a westerner who manages their social media campaigns). I guess it's because America is the number one superpower which is why?

Mainstreaming is a thing I would say everyone aspires to ride on in one way or another. People looking for likes, riding the waves of popularity (fads: Philippines-  ihop, uniqlo, etc). Mainstreaming is a thing. Let's not deny it.