why is one direction so popular?

[The Truth Hurts]

It's starting to p1ss me off.. I can't escape these 5 clowns.

They're talked about on FB, Tumblr, Twitter, Youtube. I see their faces on Billboards, magazine covers, girls in school won't SHUT UP about them. I see them on Youtube ADVERTISEMENTS when I wanna listen to my favorite music I have to watch a 30 second clips of their "songs".

what is so great about them that we haven't seen before with The Jonas Brothers and all that other crap. They're treated like the second coming of Christ.
Is it just me..? are they actually great or something.

[Adam]

nothing. its all trash pop culture designed to rot the brains and dumb down society!

[Purple Haze]

Don't worry,there 15 mins of fame won't last forever.

[The Sad Panda]

It doesn't matter if they can't sing very well. They're cute and they're British. They're almost irrisistible to American girls. I think I'm one of the few teenaged girls in this country that really doesn't care about them at all. Don't worry, I don't think their popularity will last much longer.

[Jules]

The only reason they're popular is because horny 12 year old girls who buy into everything can't get enough of them, i suppose. They're not great, they actually suck.

[kate]

I totally agree. I would not hate them as much as i do if these fangirls just lay off. They're really starting to piss me off awell. I mean, its dreadful music. I mean the music they make is Absolutely horrible!
Girls in my school play their godawful music all the time. So i bring headphones and listen to music i like.
Most Teenage girls just love them for their looks. Don't worry, some other horrible boy band will come in a couple months. Then they will be obsessing over them. They're just like every other boy band in the past.
Have a good day!

Something that really pissed me off today:
So i logged in on facebook, and some fangirl shared a photo of one of the people from one direction holding an electric guitar. Then she wrote as a caption: "aw look at that cute little rockstar! Best guitarist ever!" uuurrrg that pissed me right off!! Probably can't even play two notes.

[Rico Suavé]

I'm guessing it's because of screaming teenage girls. But just like you I can't stand them! They suck so badly forreal! It's not just you, they are horrible.

[Paradox]

I've been wondering this myself so I'm going to go on a big analysis thing now. Bear with me. The Jonas Brothers never made it over where I am (Britain, specifically England) so I can't help with that

I think the first part would have to be that they come out of a talent show. These talent shows are genius- they trick the viewer into feeling involved with the participants. Through voting for them week by week, not only do the creators get money the votees get to feel "responsible" for the people's being on that show. If they go out the viewers are filled with moral outrage- "But they're AMAZING! We've been through SO MUCH together!". And when One Direction won (I'm not sure if they did..) the general viewer felt as though this was down to them. They also felt like they'd been involved, they'd watched this band be CREATED. This is much the same as the affection you feel to a band you've known for a long time, since before they got famous perhaps. You may not like their music anymore but you feel connected to them somehow.

Secondly you mention that you see them everywhere, this is a big part of it. The "band" are on almost every social networking site. Not only does this generate publicity (how many people assume they must be good because everything's telling them they are? Especially impressionable teenagers), it again makes people feel involved with them. I don't know if they operate their twitter accounts themselves but how many fans tweet them in the hope of the reply? If they get a reply then they feel "noticed", suddenly the band "knows them" and so they love them even more.

I've heard of something called a "twitcam"? I haven't a clue what this is but I assume it's when the kids go on camera to talk to anyone who wants to watch. This is pretty much a stroke of genius. Now the fans feel like they're talking to the band personally. Of course this can go either way. Some people buy into those gossip magazines and finding out everything about celebrities private lives. Other people hate this. Most teenagers (as far as I know) seem to like the personal feeling this gives them of "knowing" their idols. Notice as well the "we love our fans" "I would totally date a fan" etc.

Finally, the looks. Personally I don't see it but the kids are all quite "clean" and generically attractive, they're also styled by professionals to look nonthreatening and "normal", again reinforcing the personal relationship idea with the fans. (Compare one of the One Direction lads with Liam Gallagher or something). Their music shows the fanbase they're hoping for, some lyrics include "Your friends, look good, you look better" "You don't know you're beautiful, that's what makes you beautiful".

Simply put, they're aiming for impressionable young girls with self esteem issues, they want singers who they feel like they know who don't scare them and make them feel wanted.

[Raee]

Now its 1D on Beiber's spot..lol

[Izzy]

I really agree with you, I'm pretty tired of them. They copy so many good old bands and then it's the good old bands who get blamed for copying them... wtf?? I figured out it must be all the publicity that people make about them, publicity that is made only to win a lot of money... so briefly it's just a massive bunch of bollocks and crap. I hate them.