I don’t know who anyone is, anymore

[Nobiggerthanyourhand]

Does anybody else not understand popular culture?

I do a bit of MN and I look at the Daily Mail online (please stay with me), and sometimes I watch programmes like Strictly and Masterchef and … I don’t know who any one is.

Molly-Mae
Tommy Fury
Zara McDermott
Sam
Pete from strictly with the tattoos
someone called Maud who he might have been in a relationship with

What can I do to understand this better? How do these people become so important?

I know vaguely who most of those people on your list are but if I didn't, I don't think I'd be "ignorant."

The fact is, I think crap reality TV shows like Love Island and MAFS etc have promoted vacuous, thick people with little talent. And I don't buy into promoting those people or holding them up as something aspirational young people today. I say that as someone in my 30s so I don't feel particularly old.

It's fine to not know who people are, if it bothers you and you want to know then Google them. But don't imply that people that choose not to learn about the latest Love Island series are ignorant.

I don’t know any of those names either. I am reasonably awake most of the time, so am going to assume these are people from tv or social media that I don’t watch and don’t wish to. Google them op if you care, or be blissfully ignorant like me, lol. Couldn’t name all the Kardashians either and the sky hasn’t fallen it yet..

I don't know who they are.
I don't suppose many people under 35 know who Pam Ayres is. Different generations have different influences (that's influences not influencers!)

I have no idea who any of them are either. But does it matter?
They are hardly important people who you need to know about.Knowing it not knowing who they are has no impact on my life

They're the new crop of slebs. Famous for nothing that I'm interested in.

I don't have a clue who any of them are, but then even back in the 90s I wasn't into pop music and therefore couldn't tell one boy band from another. They all blended into one giant amorphous, earnest, floppy-haired crooning blob. I don't think it's a new thing, sometimes you'll happen to be 'into' the same stuff as the majority, sometimes not.

Being ignorant might be not knowing who the Prime Minister is or the US president. Not knowing who some random person on TV or on the internet is, is perfectly OK.

A few of them I recognise from Strictly. Having no further context about them has little impact on my life.

I honestly wouldn't worry about it OP. Knowing who they are will not enrich your life in anyway. If you cone across them,a quick Google will tell you what you want to know.

I've never seen love Island, I'm a celeb, strictly. So I'm pretty much in the dark about all "current" celebrities. It doesn't bother me one bit.

You named 6 people, I hardly think that’s ’not knowing who anyone is, anymore’. If you know their names you’ll know well enough how to Google them.

These people have become ‘famous’ in the same way a lot of people become famous these days - social media, reality TV. If you don’t use or watch obviously you’ll have to Google them to see who they are. I don’t really get the point of your post or what you want to ‘understand’?

I’ve concluded celeb culture doesn’t interest me. I love music and films but not the fish lipped/orange/fluorescent teeth celeb world.

They’re not important. You’ve got older and the young generation have new cultural icons. It’s as simple as that. If you wanted to though, you could be really sad and keep up with all of that by watching all the shows and doing the things that late teens and early 20-year-olds do - of course you risk looking like a wally.

Tbh, it's most time efficient to ignore SM and carry on as you have been, and then just punch their names into Google as the urge to know arises .....and not worry about it all

Not knowing who these people are doesn't make you ignorant, they aren't going to change the world.

It's more worthwhile to goggle people who have.
Malala
Nelson Mandela
Gandhi
Elisha Kane
Empress Myeongseong
Nicholas Winton

Those things just aren’t as important as this is to me.

Yes. Is there a point where you have teenagers and you get in the loop again.

Nobody will think you're ignorant if you don't know who reality tv knackers are 😆. Mind this makes a refreshing change from the superior, 'Who are these people? I'm far too cultured to know anything about these low brow types,' attitude often implied on here.

Family, friends, current affairs and work aren't as important as Love Island contestants?
Err, okay then!

Watching Strictly is a great way to find out who all the randoms are. No need to know more than that, as they aren’t relevant to you.

No. At least, not with mine. They couldn’t be less interested in that stuff. They know their key people of interest, and they don’t pop up on tv.
One follows finance pages- closest he got to media frenzy was the GameStop thing.
The other does the tech forums and Reddit.

I have 3 teens. Not one of them is interested Love Island or any sort of reality show thank god. They love sport, comedy shows and action films.

I find that info doesn’t stick though, as they have no defining features. They are mostly identikit people famous for being on reality tv. I used to enjoy a bit of celeb gossip, back when people were famous for something tangible but I had to opt out about ten years ago. I honestly couldn’t tell a Kardashian from a Jenner, let alone the newest batch of Love Island sorts.

Well, I watch Strictly but not Love Island, MAFS etc so at the start of each season I don't know who most of them are. So I google them, maybe chat to others, gradually find out. Some I take to, some I don't. Same if I see them mentioned on here or at work. They certainly aren't all vacuous and thick though, even on reality shows it takes a certain amount of personality, talent, hard work to become well known. I might not become a fan, but I do try and keep up a little bit. I get irritated with people who airily dismiss the whole class of younger celebs as not being worth knowing about. It is possible to be acquainted with the lives of both Nelson Mandela and Tommy Fury. One has changed the world and the other hasn't. But it doesn't mean he's not worth knowing about at all.

I wouldn't worry at all. We all can't possibly know, or care, who everyone in the public eye is. On the Traitors last night very few of them appeared to have heard of Johnny Cash, which astounded me, but then I've not heard of half the musicians my dd goes to see.

Why do you care?