

The Hype Cycle - garret
http://www.nplusonemag.com/?q=hype-cycle

======
__
"...the important thing is no longer what a song, movie, or book does to you.
The big question is its relationship to its reputation. So instead of
abandoning yourself to the artifact, you try to exploit inefficiencies in the
reputation market."

The investment metaphor is interesting. I often meet people who are clearly
trying very hard to like obscure bands. Perhaps they do this (consciously or
not) so that if the group becomes famous, they can retroactively claim
coolness; they can point to their early investment as evidence that were (and
supposedly still are) in tune with artistic trends.

But this theory predicts that people who make a point of liking obscure bands
will be happy as the band gains popularity. And that doesn't always match my
observations. These people often seem genuinely upset as their favorite
obscure bands become popular.

At least for this example, the investment metaphor doesn't seem to work. These
kinds of people appear to be after _social exclusivity_ , not growth.

~~~
dhs
The metaphor still works for me even with your example: I think of the people
who behave as you describe it as "investors" hoarding cash under their
mattresses. The important thing, for them, is to make sure that nobody else
can have their money (exclusivity), whereas growth is either not considered or
even rejected (since you have to at least partially relinquish control, by
giving your money to a bank, fund, whatever).

------
aston
This article's worth reading just for the stock market metaphor. And the Artic
Monkey references.

