High vs. Pop

High and pop culture differentiate on many socioeconomic levels. Hollister vs. A&F vs Ruehl. The W Hotel vs. Holiday Inn. Classical music vs. popular music. Premium channels vs. Basic cable, etc. High culture is what is deemed accessible and interesting to the elite; the upper-middle-class; the affluent; those with extravagant tastes, highbrow, etc. Pop culture, on the other hand, is aimed at individuals with a lower economic status and who are typically less educated and culturally aware. I will liken the boundary that separates high and pop culture to the Myspace/ Facebook paradigm and how class/ education can affect culture. Not so long ago was Facebook inaccessible to non-college educated individuals. One needed to have a college-confirmed e-mail contact by a college/university in order to acquire a Facebook account. With Myspace however, one could set up an account regardless of your educational level, whether or not one graduated college or whether or not one even graduated high school. Thus, Facebook, before it became accessible to everyone, represented the college-educated, young adult demographic whereas Myspace catered to those who were not college-educated and are younger and less experienced. One could further this assessment by giving examples of how college-educated individuals surpass non-college-educated individuals on many levels such as the number of books and scholarly articles that they read. Another example would be to consider that many colleges nowadays offer study-abroad opportunities which translates into those individuals getting a taste of different cultures, thus enhancing their own cultural tastes.