The Science Behind A Hipster

Hipsters are everywhere. They might be reading this blog. They might be writing this blog (spoiler alert: they are not). A study has been done to determine why hipsters are smelly the way they are (via Gizmodo). THE STUDY WAS DONE BY HARVARD – what.the.hell.

The study looked at the Facebook pages of 200 college students (um, small sample size, Harvard) over a four year period. They found that the students tended to bond with people who already had similar music tastes to them, rather than those who passed on tastes to one another. Basically, you hang with other people who like the obscure bands you do, rather than like the bands that your friends already do.

Kevin Lewis, the study’s lead researcher, said, “The meaning of an indie/alternative taste rests not just in the taste itself—but also in being the only one among one’s friendship circle that expresses it. If I like The Decemberists, and suddenly my friends start liking them too, suddenly I’m no longer socially distinctive. So this taste loses much of its appeal and I will run off in search of some new band to express my “hip” identity.”

But isn’t there pride in finding that band that no one else likes, and sharing it with others? I suppose there is, and they aren’t hipsters and don’t wear thin rimmed ironic glasses..