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4 CommentsOkay, the title is a bit misleading since I'm sure there are trendsetters that really are geeks. What I am referring to here is how people often think that if a site is going to make it big it will be because it's main user base contains the geek "trendsetting" crowd. For example, read Steve Rubel's Three Reasons Why Twitter Will Be Sold Soon.
However, there's an important thought to consider. Many of the the most active people on Twitter are serious influencers.
A lot of the head honchos on the web seem to have this misconception that being big in the Web 2.0, geek crowd means that you are ahead of the pack. When I read this I put some serious thought into what site has made it big to the mainstream all because geeks were "serious influencers"? I couldn't think of a single one.
Now again, don't get me wrong, I know some geeks that really are serious influencers (just look at Tyme), but so often we get caught up in thinking we are it because we are engrossed in the web. Trendsetters to me are the ones who have a pulse on the total market, not just the Techcrunch one that influences a couple million.
danoph
Written Jul. 30, 2007 / Report /
I think if people find something useful, they won't care if they are a geek. It just so happens that sometimes geeky people discover great new tools sooner! Maybe they can understand the technology better and the future of it all.
As long as they can communicate to others that the website or service will be useful to everyone and not just geeks! I have trouble with that sometimes.
Michael
Written Aug. 4, 2007 / Report /
Yeah yeah I know what you mean. This is a good post but I have nothing to add.
Gnorb
Written Aug. 4, 2007 / Report /
But a trendsetter, as a group, DOESN'T need to have its finger on the pulse of things. A trend predictor, yes. A trend setter is merely the person (or more accurately, the group) which other groups seem to look towards.
Take for example Wired's fascination with Japanese teen girls. Aside from the fact that many of them are sickeningly cute, and ignoring the fact that Wired's probably full of tentacle-porn loving Japanophiles, the fact is that this particular group has been a good one to watch (no pun intended) in the case of which consumer-level technologies will take off, especially in the cases of disruptor technologies, such as camera phones.
Japanese teen girls are "trendsetters" in the same way that "influential geeks" are trendsetters: individually they may or may not be looking at the whole market and saying "hey, this is going to take off". However, when as a group they're attracted to a technology, chances are more than a few are thinking that and even more importantly, trendspotters have taken note. The funny part is that without them taking note, trends wouldn't likely be set this way, yet these people by their very actions have instituted a sort of manifest desitny where if enough of them say "it's a tred" then suddenly something becomes a trend, even if it isn't quite yet. This is akin to tring to play the stock market as a billionaire. Sure, you can ride the patterns and numbers, but when you get so big your actions begin to weigh heavily on how the patterns and numbers move then you start having a direct impact in what you're investing in.
Michael
Written Aug. 4, 2007 / Report /
I think that that is a bad example Gnorb. And on a private note, I certainly do hope that America does not end up with the same Hikikomori problem that Japan does. I mean, I love my people but sometimes we can do things that aren't healthy.
I think that to be a trend setter, one has to be more popular than the other. And while that's awful for logical stuff it's awesome for designing clothing...not that I would know anything about that.