On The Micro - Culture In The Turn Of The Times

Nowadays, our life is surrounded by a lot of nouns which are prefixed by MICRO, such as micro-blog, micro-message, micro-news, micro-video, micro-comics and so on. This kind of nouns which is originated in micro-blog and the philosophy of MICRO is called Micro-culture. Micro-fiction, micro-video, micro-message and micro-charity are more popular among all the micro-cultures. In a way, they can represent the fashion trend of micro-culture. Micro-culture is not only a kind of fast fashion, but also the life style of the public. The word MICRO tells the difference between CULTURE and MICRO-CULTURE from their names. It’s an aesthetic taste which is influenced by the post-modernist trend of thought. And as a member of the media-culture, the popularity of micro-culture is closely connected to the mass media. In the age of electronic media, web 2.0, smart phone and the mobile technology have developed well. The birth of we-media and the propagation method of fragmentation made the micro-culture popular. However, as a kind of pop culture, the micro-culture still has some problems. For example, the audience of the micro-culture is living in an information cocoon which was made by themselves without consciousness. Groups are based on the same interests which causes the Echo chamber effect. The micro-culture is based on the mass media, so it has some characteristics of the traditional public sphere. The number of people who participates in the public affairs is rising. And the standard of participation is lowering. On the other side, the micro-culture loses the space which the traditional public sphere demanded. The boundary between the public affairs and the private affairs is almost vanishing. So, be rebuilt or be deconstructed, this is still a question of the public sphere. And still, there’s another question about the micro-culture which need be thought. According to the aesthetic taste, the micro-culture is born with the utility. Is micro-culture a real culture? Obviously, it isn’t satisfied with the precise definition of CULTURE. From fake to reality, the micro-culture has a long way. This thesis takes the micro-culture as the object to clarify its definition, and analyze the reason of its popularity. At last, this thesis will reflect the problems of the micro-culture as a cultural practice.