Social media has impacted the things that entertain us more than anything else, with TikTok trends relating to the music playing on the radio, and old movies reaching prevalence due to streaming services. The internet impacts every aspect of our lives, especially our entertainment. High schoolers have become the target audience for many new creations, with the majority of popular music and shows being made for young adults. Along with the internet, trends go quickly, so within a few weeks an entirely new art piece could be all the rage, with the previous trend completely forgotten about. It’s hard to slow it down, and ask yourself: What are you being entertained by?

A new HBO show has been attracting audiences of all ages, called the “Last of Us”. Starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, the “Last Of Us” is a television adaptation of a popular video game with the same name. With ten hour-long episodes, it is a quick watch, and easily bingeable. Following the characters Joel and Ellie as they survive and travel, after the outbreak of a deadly fungus that takes on human hosts. Both Pascal and Ramsey were critically acclaimed for their roles, and the accuracy to the original video game. Pedro Pascal also stars in Star Wars original series “The Mandalorian” on Disney+, with new episodes coming out weekly. 

If science fiction isn’t your thing, “Outer Banks”, a young adult television series, came out with its fourth season on Netflix. Beloved by teens, it centers around a treasure hunt for gold in Outer Banks, North Carolina. It has trended for two weeks on Netflix’s ‘Trending Now’ tab at number one. 

As for movies, interestingly enough, the popular 2010’s movie series “The Hunger Games” has seen a dramatic resurgence in popularity over the last month. Netflix added all four blockbuster movies to the streaming platform on March 1st, and since then, the “Hunger Games” has regained popularity, especially over TikTok. It centers around Katniss, played by Jennifer Lawrence, a young girl in a dystopia being sent to fight for her life in an arena with other children. The series originally reached success due to its intense world-building and social commentary. A spinoff movie, inspired by the book of the same title, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” will be coming out at some point during 2023, starring Rachel Zegler. 

The Oscar season brought many movies released in 2022 back into popularity. After “Everything Everywhere All At Once” swept the Oscars with seven wins, the most wins of 2023. A sci-fi, fantasy, charismatic movie stars Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress respectively. Regaining popularity, it seems to be deemed a modern classic, and a much watch for every movie lover. 

After COVID-19 canceled concerts for over two years, large-scale concerts and stadium tours are finally coming back. SZA released ‘SOS’, which saw over 10 weeks at the Top 200 Albums Billboard charts. Her world tour visited Detroit, and was sold out. In music, new artist Ice Spice has hit the charts with her debut single “Munch (Feeling U).” Thought to be a one hit wonder, a few weeks later she released “Boys a Liar” featuring up-and-coming artist Pink Pantheress. This reached number one on the Billboard charts, and trended on TikTok as a sound. 

In the spirit of tour season, Taylor Swift continues her tour with a three-hour setlist, and two hours of openers. After the release of her newest album, “Midnights”, she announced The Eras Tour, a US tour that promised to perform all different eras of her music, of her 10 albums. Though it was extremely hard to get tickets – thanks to widely-known issues at distributor Ticketmaster – there were two Detroit shows at Ford Field.

Lastly, Tyler the Creator released another album entitled “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST: The Estate Sale”. It takes an interesting release strategy, as it only consists of music that was written for his original album, “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST”. It features 16 previously unreleased songs, and though has reached critical acclaim, has yet to chart on Billboard.

Music, television, and movies are some of the most popular forms of art and media at this moment in time, being pushed and enjoyed by those on social media. TikTok influences many of the trends in entertainment today, some of the trends being promoted through advertisements, or simply public appeal. While the internet may seem like a vast expanse of information, it allows a place for everyone to have a chance at the big screen, like Ice Spice, whose debut song reached the Billboard charts. The internet entertains us most of all, but all other forms of art are still extremely impactful.