Popularity itself became the ultimate measure of cultural value

Evidence

The online mob defending Folklore, however, demonstrated that the first wave of poptimism was no longer enough. This was an era of ultrapoptimism, which posited that popularity itself was the ultimate measure of value. For ultrapoptimists, platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and Twitter represented perfect cultural democracies: a level playing field where the best music could naturally rise to the top. Author Kaitlyn Tiffany wrote in her book on One Direction fandom, “We know that our political system is horribly broken, and so maybe we develop a sense that our true representatives are not those elevated to power at the ballot box, but the ones we have elected far more democratically.” By this logic, Taylor Swift’s popularity was proof of her superiority, and critics who challenged that narrative became enemies of the people. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 529

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘ultrapoptimism’ as the claim that popularity itself measures value, distinct from first-wave poptimism.
• XREF: Connects to Lipovetsky’s hyper-recognition thesis cited in Marx’s framework and to Bourdieu-style taste-as-status dynamics from earlier chapters.