15 Great Examples of “Just Because It’s Popular Doesn’t Mean It’s Good”

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Just because something’s popular doesn’t mean it’s good, fun, or valuable. We often scratch our heads over popular things and wonder what all the fuss is about. Following are several popular things that a lot of people just don’t see that much appeal to.

Mean Pranks

Man wearing sneakers with tied together laces, closeup. April fool's day.
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Most of us enjoy harmless pranks, but mean-spirited ones that humiliate or injure people aren’t funny. Even more troubling is that thousands of people get a kick watching videos of them.

Prime Hydration Beverages

A view of several cans of Prime energy drink, on display at a local grocery store.
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Suddenly, these have caught on. One knock on them is they’re way more expensive than competing products. Another is that even if you like the taste, it’s low in sodium and sugar and high in potassium, which is about the opposite of what you need from a rehydration drink.

Reality TV

Amazed couple watching tv program sitting on a couch at home
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It was interesting at first, but then it seemed to be everywhere, replacing quality programming with actual actors and scripts. After watching it for a bit, you can almost feel yourself starting to get dumber.

Cable TV

Happy Senior Spouses Watching TV Pointing Television Remote Control Sitting And Hugging On Sofa At Home. Mature Couple Enjoying Favorite Movie Together On Weekend. Retired Family Leisure
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Cable had so much promise, but the companies blew it with poor customer service and monopoly-like pricing. Most people just wanted a handful of channels but had to pay for dozens or even hundreds they would never watch.

Streaming Services

African American Woman Lying Down On Sofa At Home, Choosing Movie On Internet Streaming Service. Over The Shoulders.
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Streaming was going to be the antidote to cable, and at first, it was. Now, though, you’re starting to see bundled services and more and more ads. It’s like the new cable.

Excessively Bright Headlights

Angel eyes xenon headlight glowing optics lens
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Those intensely bright headlights that sometimes blind you aren’t all from people leaving their high beams on. Many new cars have bright lights that also seem to be pointed right at people’s eyes.

Social Media

Social media are trending and both business as consumer are using it for information sharing and networking. Showing social media icons on smartphone.
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It can be fun, but there’s a strong case that it’s a net ill for society. Think of all the misinformation, trolling, bullying, hate speech, stalking, grooming, and other bad things people use the platforms for.

Influencers

social media influencer personality creating content. man shooting video of himself using camera on tripod.
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Speaking of social media, what is it with influencers? These people make good money plugging products they hope their followers will buy. Everyone says that they don’t like influencers, but how is it that they have so many followers?

Starbucks

14 Jul 2022 Asian female hand in her 30s holding a cup of hot coffee, Starbucks coffee shop, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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Is the coffee really that good for the price, or has Starbucks just become one of the things the cool kids do? Plus, their snacks and sandwiches are pretty awful, and they’re not cheap, either.

Credit Cards

Financial owe, hand of asian woman sitting, holding credit card, stressed by calculate expense from invoice or bill, no money to pay, mortgage or loan. Debt, bankruptcy or bankrupt.
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Free money! Now I can furnish my house with all kinds of great stuff! That’s what a lot of people seem to think. Then, they end up with huge debts, and they throw thousands of dollars away due to interest.

Vaping

Vaping Device
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If there’s anything nice to say about it, it’s that it’s less obnoxious and unhealthy than actual smoking is, and the smell doesn’t linger as long. Still, it’s pretty annoying to have to share someone’s vape when you don’t want to.

Fake Eyelashes

Close-up of false eyelashes being put on woman's eye.
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It’s a free country, and you can like fake eyelashes if you want to. However, to almost everyone else, they’re ridiculous because they’re so obviously fake.

Reboots

Young woman angry standing at street
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Some people grumble about sequels and prequels for movies that didn’t need them, but reboots are even worse. Nothing in movies says “money grab,” like taking a perfectly good franchise and reinventing it just for ticket sales.

The Kardashians

Kim Kardashian at the 2017 LACMA Art + Film Gala Honoring Mark Bradford And George Lucas held at the LACMA in Los Angeles, USA on November 4, 2017.
Image Credit: Tinseltown/Shutterstock.

They’re kind of like influencers. You may not know anyone who follows them, but somehow millions do. What exactly is the appeal?

Videos of People’s Kids Having Accidents

Small girl ride on a bicycle - crash - car accident
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A show called America’s Funniest Home Videos launched a trend of people sharing videos of their kids tripping, falling, and having other mishaps with the world. Especially disturbing is knowing that, in some cases, parents set these things up to occur.

15 Behaviors That Are a Dead Giveaways Someone Is Poorly Educated

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We all like to think we are always acting at our most intelligent and rational. Yet, ignorance from a lack of education can sneak up on us or be on full display in others.

Awareness is key to preventing and correcting some of our worst ideas and behavior. Here are 15 signs of ignorance and poor education to look out for.

15 Behaviors That Are a Dead Giveaways Someone Is Poorly Educated

15 Things People Mistakenly Think Are Real but Aren’t

American singer Taylor Swift performs at her '1989' World Tour concert in Shanghai, China, 10 November 2015.
Image Credit: ChinaImages /DepositPhotos.

 

People believe all kinds of ridiculous things, and they believe some true-sounding things that are actually false as well. Some of these things have been repeated for ages and will probably never go away.

Others have sprung up more recently and spread fast, thanks to the internet. While you probably can’t convince the people who repeat such misinformation that they’re wrong, you can at least know the truth when they try to push it on you!

15 Things People Mistakenly Think Are Real but Aren’t 

The 20 Most Successful Singers Of All Time

Eminem, Marshall Bruce Mathers III at the 50 Cent Star Ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 30, 2019 in Los Angeles, CA
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It’s easy to judge the success of an artist based on how many Grammys they’ve won or by how much money they’ve made. A better look at success, however, is to see how many singles they’ve released relative to the number of Grammys they’ve won.

According to BonusInsider, these artists are the most successful based on these metrics.

The 20 Most Successful Singers Of All Time 

Author: Robert Sihler

Bio:

Robert Sihler is an educator, freelance writer, and rock climbing guide and instructor living with his family in Driftwood, Texas. In his spare time, he enjoys reading fiction, streaming films, completing crossword puzzles, and rock climbing. When he goes on vacation, he likes to visit the mountains of the West and climb remote, obscure peaks that have seen few or no prior ascents.

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