Reddit, why is obscurity considered a Good Thing in "indie" circles?
Posted Aug 16, 2011, 4:08 AM UTC
212
People in these circles like to discover new things. When someone else has discovered it, they're disappointed. Its like Christopher Colombus and a contemporary sailing to the same point when discovering the "New World" for the first time.
3
This is a better analogy than I could ever possibly come up with. Kudos.
1
I would say because then if no one has heard of the band, they haven't "sold out" yet (supposedly). The concept of "selling out" and no longer just doing things for the art is looked down upon in many circles.
2
Because the way hipsters display their proverbial plumage is by knowing about something before the other guy.
1
My guess would be because the majority of people have terrible taste. They feel like if the majority of the population can't appreciate it, it must be for people with higher intelligence or better standards.
1
[deleted]
0
I would tell you why but you obviously never heard of it before.
-1
I think if you've heard about an "indie circle", it would immediately cease to exist.
-1
DOWNVOTES FOR EVERYONE
All the fucking answers here piss me off so much. Reddit's usage of the term hipster is pathetic.
Obscurity is considered a good thing in the same way that someone who is well-educated and has read a number of academic journals is considered intelligent. Someone who is well-versed in, say, beer, understands the complexities of the taste and how to distinguish different brews. He and his similar friends can discuss beer with each other having a mutual intelligence on the subject.
Likewise, people who enjoy indie rock like to stay educated on the genre. Those with broad knowledge on the subject can talk to each other and discuss their appreciations for certain bands and artists. This is the same as two scientists chatting about recent developments in glial cell research.
Reddit likes to make a big deal about people who like to name-drop obscure bands in order to inflate their ego, but in reality these people don't exist as much as you would think from cruising around this site. The reality is that those insulting the name-droppers are in fact inflating their own ego. It's basically just a circlejerk.
2¢
Thanks for the real answer. I guess I'd still ask: scientists (at least the ones I know or know of) don't name-drop obscure theories to inflate their egos – if they want to do that, they publish papers or something. It's obvious why this would make them look/feel good. Why does name-dropping obscure things make hipsters happy?
They want others to think that they are well-versed in some area; the same reason anyone name-drops. Hipsters are no different than that guy who you have a political argument with and decides to randomly mention a bunch of unrelated history authors that will make his position seem more validated and gain respect from his opponent.
It's a natural tendency that I think everyone has in them. It manifests itself in different ways, but overall people simply want to feel smarter (read: superior) than others.
TLDR
TL;DR people like to be educated