The Importance of Counter Culture in 2020

Digital media has been a major component for giving birth to a specific type of culture that accurately defines what a counter-culture can bring about. There has been a massive increase in the number of active users of various websites and online media channels.  Movie-streaming and live-streaming applications have also seen a rise in subscriptions as studies show that eCommerce sales and subscription to numerous online streaming channels have witnessed more than 50 percent growth in recent times. Several producers have also shifted to the digital space rather than waiting on a release date for their movies.

Counter culture can be described as a culture whose values differ significantly from mainstream society, mainly, mainstream cultural practices. In ancient times, counter-cultural movements have focused on music, art, and literature. For example, romanticism was an intellectual, musical, literary, and artistic movement across Europe until 1900. This period emphasizes emotions and nature and led to prefer the medieval to classical beliefs. The culture also originated as a reaction to the components of modernity, the Industrial Revolution, and the aristocratic socio-political practices of the Age of Enlightenment. Moreover, this movement left a legacy in the fields of education, music, natural sciences, visual arts, literature, and many others. It significantly influenced the intellectual development of nationalism, conservatism, radicalism, and liberalism as ideologies during this period.

In the current era, with advanced communication and information systems such as Machine Learning, Data Sciences, and Artificial Intelligence, the digital world is entering a new phase in modern politics. Technology has become easily accessible and cheaper. More than ever, everyone is connected, and zillions of data and information are being shared and stored regularly. This technology has created an enormous impact on how literature, music, or art is being consumed or produced today. The current generation artists are moving towards digital painting such as Sketchbook, Photoshop, and many others, while contemporary artists are scouting various online options like e-retail, e-auctioning, and e-exhibitions for selling their artworks.

In today’s counter culture, there has been significant usage of digital media in modern architecture and sculpting. Visual arts have been extended for encompassing graphic illustrations and designs that are now being available in various online platforms. Filmmakers turning to animators and influencers are gaining popularity what is being lost by the out of job actors, especially during this current pandemic. There has also been a massive impact on how music is composed. Top music producers and recording labels are migrating to digital audio workstations by leaving their physical studio for all their works. Music festival organizers and musicians are using online streaming services for propagating their music. Literature is being spread to digital channels as bookstores are losing their business due to the lockdown. The counter-culture bought to our fingertips due to technological advancement directed us to understand where each section is connected through a multidimensional network of communication systems spread on a global scale. However, this culture also intensely identify against or with social arrangements that can trigger demonstrations and protests, thereby causing socio-economic and political repercussions.