There are some interesting, or at least amusing, higher-order phenomena that follow from that.
The possibility of claiming to like something ironically, while actually liking it in earnest, in order to avoid rejection (or at least mockery) from some group or subculture that one identifies with. I don’t hang out with a lot of people who are really countercultural or hipstery, but I’d probably still do that if I found myself honestly liking, for instance, a Miley Cyrus song. (Just an example. So far, I see little risk of that happening. :P)
The hypothetical class of people I’ve named “metahipsters”. Ordinary hipsters pride themselves on having liked something before it became (perceived as) mainstream or after it had faded from the mainstream, or because it remains (perceived as) non-mainstream, etc. The metahipster prides him/herself on having liked things unpopular, pre-/post-popular, or unacceptable among hipsters. (I’m trying to bring top hats back. If I succeed, there’ll probably be hipsters bragging about how they liked top hats before they got all mainstream, while I’ll get to brag about how I liked top hats before they got all popular with hipsters. I have no idea what this signals. Feel free to psychoanalyze me.)
Related to both of the previous two items: I actually have some friends who follow a typical hipster aesthetic, but claim to be doing that only ironically. I still find it a bit hard to wrap my mind around that.
There are some interesting, or at least amusing, higher-order phenomena that follow from that.
The possibility of claiming to like something ironically, while actually liking it in earnest, in order to avoid rejection (or at least mockery) from some group or subculture that one identifies with. I don’t hang out with a lot of people who are really countercultural or hipstery, but I’d probably still do that if I found myself honestly liking, for instance, a Miley Cyrus song. (Just an example. So far, I see little risk of that happening. :P)
The hypothetical class of people I’ve named “metahipsters”. Ordinary hipsters pride themselves on having liked something before it became (perceived as) mainstream or after it had faded from the mainstream, or because it remains (perceived as) non-mainstream, etc. The metahipster prides him/herself on having liked things unpopular, pre-/post-popular, or unacceptable among hipsters. (I’m trying to bring top hats back. If I succeed, there’ll probably be hipsters bragging about how they liked top hats before they got all mainstream, while I’ll get to brag about how I liked top hats before they got all popular with hipsters. I have no idea what this signals. Feel free to psychoanalyze me.)
Related to both of the previous two items: I actually have some friends who follow a typical hipster aesthetic, but claim to be doing that only ironically. I still find it a bit hard to wrap my mind around that.