This paper proceeds in three parts. First, it theorizes the shift from mass culture to niche-driven participatory culture. Second, it analyzes two contemporary case studies that illustrate this shift. Third, it evaluates the social consequences, particularly regarding identity formation and collective memory.
More radically, Jean Baudrillard’s (1981) simulacra offers a lens to understand how contemporary entertainment no longer represents reality but precedes and defines it. When a period drama like Bridgerton invents a racially integrated Regency England, it does not misrepresent history; it produces a new, hyperreal referent that future period pieces will imitate. Entertainment content, in this view, becomes a self-referential system: popular media reports on the success of Squid Game , leading to Halloween costumes, TikTok dances, and real-world “Red Light, Green Light” challenges, which in turn become news stories. The original content and its media echo merge. xxx-av-20148
Conversely, the same algorithms create filter bubbles. In the broadcast era, shows like M A S H* or The Cosby Show functioned as shared national texts. Today, two people may have no overlapping entertainment experiences. This weakens the kind of common reference points that enable public discourse. This paper proceeds in three parts
The participatory, hyperreal nature of contemporary entertainment has contradictory effects. identities are performed algorithmically
Entertainment content and popular media are no longer distinct categories but two phases of the same cultural process. In the post-network era, content generates media discourse, which generates more content. While this convergence has empowered audiences and diversified representation, it has also produced a hyperreal environment where nostalgia is manufactured, identities are performed algorithmically, and collective attention spans shrink. The stage of popular media has never been more crowded—or more unstable. Future research should examine how regulatory frameworks, AI-generated content, and labor practices (e.g., writers’ strikes over streaming residuals) will further reshape this landscape.