@jessicav2031
1 month ago
I'm into 3d printing. 10 years ago it was a dynamic community where everyone 
was experimenting and even commercial printers were really, uh, hobbyish. At 
some point something changed. Now the only thing anyone ever talks about is the 
latest AMAZING NEW PRINTER YOU SHOULD BUY NOW. The field was crushed by an 
absolute flood of 'sponsored' content, affiliate links, creators getting free 
stuff, and most likely, companies selling things at a loss to drive out the 
competition. Can we just not have anything good anymore? 
@connors3356
4 weeks ago
i today just went to the reprap festival and the maker room was full of people 
just selling stuff off thingiverse they had printed. nothing really new or 
interesting it was just a bunch of people with bambu’s trying to sell 
multicolor pikachi prints and articulated dragons and stuff. it bummed me out a 
bit because i feel thats not in the spirit of the maker scene but what do i 
know, i just hang out with wolves all day
@somewitch
4 weeks ago
Fountain pens. I was stream of consciousness journaling for my mental health 
(still so), my hand was cramping, some reading suggested a fountain pen would 
help (it did). Went to the local store that sells fountain pens, tried to ask 
pragmatic questions about use cases, it swiftly became clear that they were not 
using tools for writing, they were collectors of nostalgia. Wanted black ink. 
Got pressured into buying something sparkly that's very pretty but constantly 
clogs my nib. Not exactly what you want for stream of consciousness. Have since 
gotten into pretty ink colors and multiple pens (with some angst about consumer 
habits that curtails my actual purchasing), but will always resent that initial 
experience of knowing what I wanted and "upgrading" to something that was 
actively detrimental to my stated use case. 
@ISureDont
4 weeks ago
Music production has gotten absolutely terrible for this. The plugin market is 
an absolute hellscape at this point with a lot of active deception. It’s all 
so expensive and there’s a bunch of people throwing thousands of dollars at 
it instead of sitting down and working on making music. This idea that if you 
get this thing it’ll make everything sound amazing is a hoax. It takes work, 
time and effort. Consumer culture is awful and I do my best to buy everything I 
can second hand and not give any money to companies that don’t deserve it 
@hrnekbezucha
4 weeks ago
I find this fascinating. Been noticing for a few years that production and 
consumption is getting faster and faster. People get really into something, 
order it, talk about how excited they are, and by the time they get it, they 
don't care any more, and need to get something else. We share the excitement 
with others, that's basically what marketing became now. It's collective. I'm 
not pointing fingers, that's how we're conditioned by the system we live in. 
The question is, how far can it go on accelerating like this? Every cycle of 
want-order-buy gets shorter. Eventually, the production won't be able to keep 
up with the ever-changing demand for things nobody actually wants or needs. 
@NoMoreCrumbs
4 weeks ago
In vinyl collecting it's very common to be told that your turntable is bad 
because it will wear out the records in 1500 plays instead of in 10000. It only 
matters if you have very expensive records, but the community loves its 
consumer caste system 
@Bukkie661
3 weeks ago
Nah, it has to do with RCA classification, which states that a vinyl records 
must be able to carry needle-weights of 1gramme to 6grammes for everyday use. 
These are of course engineer-estimates, so at the top-end add 2grammes. 
Basically, if your needle-weight is anywhere between 1 to 6 grammes, you're 
good. Vinyl records MUST be compliant with the RCA classification.
Somehow, that got translated to needles must be as light as possible, so you 
got the weird clowns that run needle-weights at sub-1 gramme and as a result 
can't move around when they play a record (skipping and scratching). As far as 
I know, the recommended weight is (I believe) 2.5 grammes there abouts, but 
yeah, engineer-estimates again.
You have record-players that all have the same mechanism and all have a 5.4 
gramme needle-weight. Well within the RCA classification. Cheap and expensive 
records are whatever, really. There are but few vinyl presses left and they all 
use the same resources. So yeah...
Old records? You have to go far back in time to find vinyls that are from 
before the RCA classification. (Most old timey vinyls were destroyed in the 
eighties when the CD became the defacto standard.) The RCA classification is 
older than that I am... I'm 62.
Saffire or diamond needles is another thing. You could make a case for signal 
clarity, but for vinyl longevity? The clown who came up with that should be 
shot.
For the sake of argument one could say that lighter is better, but the less 
weight on the needle raises changes of needle-skipping if the cat sneezes in 
the other room (Legendarily sensitive: Technica. -.-), resulting in scratches 
and ticks faster than running with a heavier needle-weight. With the RCA 
classification in mind, vinyl preservation as a reason is moot (Your record can 
handle it.) as you don't play the same record everyday all of the time. I have 
a bunch of records and most I haven't played in years. They're fine.
My advise? If you ever get an audio-snob in your house and they start clowning 
on your record-player- kick 'em out. They're fools. 
@CeciliaReads
3 weeks ago (edited)
I’m in the American Girl Doll community. It’s literally a community of 
people who love the dolls and media from a single company. Granted, most buy 
mainly secondhand and try to limit their consumption. We post a lot of repair 
jobs, discussions on the books and media, upcoming releases, etc. There are 
some that consume too much but most are chill. Sadly, the company has noticed 
this community of collectors and have started to market to us. Rereleasing 
dolls that have been discontinued for a decade, limited edition collabs, and 
historical doll merch aimed at adults. It’s a mix of nostalgia marketing and 
hobby consumerism 
@pogoesque_
4 weeks ago
Being a fan of anime and manga, the culture around collecting is crazyyyy. Like 
it's so normalized to buy every volume of the manga, and buy every figure and 
merch item of the series for no reason other than it being from that series. 
It's almost like a competition to prove who's the "biggest fan" instead of 
buying things you actually use, or because you genuinely want to support that 
work. It's been so hard for me to scale back my collecting of manga 
specifically since it's so easy to get swept up in the completionism and 
needing to have every single volume. 
@carbon5261
3 weeks ago
Espresso is like this. Almost everybody is just looking for someone else to 
convince them to spend money on a new grinder or a ball to put in the freezer 
or a self-levelling spring loaded tamper or a smart scale or a contraption that 
drives needles into your coffee grounds to make little channels for water to 
infiltrate and that's without even getting into the quagmire of buying a whole 
new espresso machine. Well this one heats up faster. This one has a more 
consistent temperature at the group head. This one has two boilers so you can 
steam milk at the same time you're brewing. This one lets you specify a 
pressure profile. This one lets you specify a flow rate profile. Obviously your 
machine isn't good enough. 
@timeless.ephemeri
1 month ago
it's really interesting to look into these kinds of communities from the 
outside. i often find myself diving into them in order to find out what's best 
for me. headphones, keyboards, razors, etc. they do tend to be pretty good 
resources for learning about a particular thing and getting opinions and 
comparisons on different products. you also have to navigate around a lot of 
elitism and snake oil though. i've always just been happy to have the one nice 
thing that will last me a long time and suits my tastes.
it's really easy to see how people fall into the trap. people crave community 
(and with how hyperindividualistic and atomized things are getting, that's 
getting harder to fulfill), so they just end up buying and fixating over the 
shiny new thing so they have things to talk about and an excuse to stay in the 
community. 
@henryfleischer404
1 month ago
Yeah, I've seen this in the larger Japanese model kit community too. Well, what 
I've seen of it from the US. Buying kits is always going to be part of the 
community, but people talk about needing a lot of fancy tools that are just not 
needed, and there's a lot of artificial scarcity particularly with 
Gunpla(Gundam kits made by Bandai). Gotta buy the new thing before it goes out 
of stock, and you need super precise nippers and a glass file. I use a small 
subset of the tools my dad uses for putting together Warhammer miniatures- some 
worn-out nippers, and an exacto knife. Occasionally a sanding stick or pliers.
Also, in the PC gaming community. Gotta get the latest hardware, anything older 
is outdated the moment the new part comes out. Doesn't matter if it's good 
enough, you need that new part. Although, I actually feel that it's gotten 
better recently, as graphics cards have become incredibly overpriced and people 
have gotten a bit wise to it. 
@lowwastehighmelanin
1 month ago
I feel you on mechanical keyboards. My sister and I were always super into them 
(for practical reasons we both type really hard for different reasons) and then 
they grew into a commodity and the parts got expensive...and Drop got bought by 
Corsair and now everything is terrible.
Same with photography. it breaks my heart. It used to be about enjoying the 
process, images with interesting composition and unexpected results and 
now...ugh.
I'm also into goth subculture and lolita fashion but as a subculture and 
lifestyle. A five second search of this on YouTube will show you how buying 
stuff driven these two things became. The former was always about music. The 
latter was a feminist movement moving in opposition to the male gaze. Both were 
very DIY and now if you make your own stuff you're a poser/cringe/cheuggy/ita 
(yes we have our own word for it)
I'm a practicing Buddhist. The consumer stuff genuinely is against my beliefs. 
It's extremely frustrating. I like stuff, I just don't always want to buy new 
stuff. I'm content with the stuff I have already. Why isn't that enough? 
@differentbutsimilar7893
3 weeks ago (edited)
The internet ruins all of my favorite hobbies. It's nice to have a community to 
go to where you can share in your interests and meet likeminded people. I have 
a hard time calling the online shadows of them 'communities' anymore. They're 
terrible places to find human connection, though you won't notice once you're 
hooked into all of the FOMO incentives, and the identities they assign to 
ownership of this or that thing. You will lose yourself, as everyone inside 
them does. And because of that, you can never fully connect as people and share 
in a source of love and inspiration. No, to stay with those communities, you 
have to move with their narratives. And their narratives move with what's being 
sold to them. And after awhile, the kind of interaction that breeds just feels 
hollow and tiresome.
To me, this just makes them stressful places mired in exhausting and frankly 
meaningless arguments and strange identity constructs. I do my hobbies to relax 
and feel personal growth and fulfillment. What about these communities is 
actually conducive to that, if you stay long term? To me, it really is just a 
mire, a crater to keep you stuck in hobby purgatory. And to reach nirvana, you 
must go where the internet hobby plebs dare not.
To me, a community is your home. That's where your strongest connections to 
people and the world around you are. These communities are less homes to me and 
more dens... meager shelters you can step out from the rain under. But the 
moment that rain lets up, you must leave the den, before the jaguars come.
The critical mistake everyone in them makes is letting too many outside 
elements define what their hobbies are to them, defeating the whole purpose of 
having them in the first place, IMHO. Worse still, the natural dynamic is to 
enforce those ideas on one another, robbing each other of any kind of 
individualized joy. It's no wonder people burn out and switch so much. If the 
majority of your hobby times is talking to other people about your hobby, 
you've lost the plot. And it's probably making you unhappy, though you might 
not notice, and pump that frustration mainline through your community. It's 
almost like all of that stuff is designed to rob a person of any sense of peace 
or intimacy. Turn your dearest pasttimes into a market, where all participants 
are judged by their possessions. Sounds chill, right? Totally doesn't reach 
into the utmost intimate parts of people's lives in order to give them 
insecurities that will further drive consumption habits, yes?
Like... man. Show me where the 'cool' hobby communities are. I'll tell you to 
check back in 2-3 years and see if they're still as cool. There's a progression 
with things online where the more attention it gets, the more the sell comes 
in, and the more expensive it all becomes. And then people turn on eachother, 
like black friday hoards. Yet, you also need a steady influx of newcomers to 
sustain any online community, big or small. So there are two options: you have 
the cool, niche places that never reach a scale sufficient to see full 
longevity, and so eventually fizzle... and you have the ones that do climb over 
some level of mainstream scale in the attention they get, but as a matter of 
systemic consequence, become shells of themselves upon the passing of that very 
inflection. 
@wynngwynn
4 weeks ago (edited)
The art community is basically just reviews/hauls.  I have to filter through so 
many of them to find actual art/painting videos. Like some of these 'artists' 
spend way more time just showing off products than they do painting.  Funniest 
thing is I commented about "The Frugal Crafter" having a literal whole dresser 
drawer filled with pencils and she made a whole salty video just about my 
comment lol.  All I said was something to the effect of "The frugal crafter? 
You literally have a drawer filled to the brim with pencils". And I guess she 
took it personally lol.  But in all seriousness nobody needs thousands of 
pencils like that and all her videos are just material reviews/free stuff from 
art companies etc. She hardly EVER paints anymore.  I also see other people 
commenting that they buy the stuff but haven't used it yet, or they're also 
trying to work through all the other paint palettes they've bought. Most of 
these youtubers have drawers of watercolor palettes from different companies. I 
make my own paint but before that I would have my one palette and fill my own 
with tubes of winsor newton. Now I just refill with my own paint (it's cheaper 
long run to just make your own pigments aren't too expensive if you think of it 
that way).  Unless your paint is not working for you there's really no reason 
to buy TONS of brands just to try them out. If you want to test stuff buy dot 
cards (cheap and you get to see what it looks like in person).  Find something 
that works for you or colors that work for you and buy those then just don't 
buy more shit?  You really only need like 12-18 colors to be able to mix pretty 
much anything you want. 
@eminempreg
4 weeks ago
I think what makes this worse is a lot of artists think its the material and 
not the artist that makes the art. I was so guilty of this, and I still am. You 
see it on a small scale with people posting their digital art and people ask 
"whats the brush" a million times. And while yeah, a different brush can spruce 
up your work. its not gonna automatically make it as good as the person who 
inspired you. Not take to physical supplies. Mechanical pencils, lining pens, 
copics, posca markers, jellyrolly pens, acrylic, goauche, etc etc. Not saying 
its bad to experiment, have fun try new formats. but like you said it really 
feels like some people view artists by how much art supplies they own and not 
how they use them. We've all seen those super realistic paintings done on 
mspaint or in just pencil. we need to learn that you can do amazing things with 
just a sharpie you dont need that very specific japanese exclusive sumi ink 
lining pen!
@PLKinka
3 weeks ago
 @eminempreg  I’m an art hoarder right now because I finally can, but I used 
to be on the opposite side of spectrum coming from the poor family and that 
might be a reason I dropped the uni. I put more work but didn’t even get half 
of the effect and was told multiple times I need to stop using such dull colors 
or my aquafortas aren’t crisp enough and they tear. Years later I learned I 
could just buy 2x more expensive paints or papers and would be cruising, 
because my skills were enough. So now I have no uni and no art career because I 
cheapened out over ten years ago and live as a sickly kept woman. I now always 
implore my own students to either borrow my stuff or buy things of good enough 
quality, so they would know what is actually the feel you should get out of the 
technique, so they would not have to suffer as I did. I can create something 
with materials that are literally fighting with me every step of the road 
though, so that’s nice. 
@biancasenisi3900
10 days ago
I'm in the ball jointed doll community and it is heavily purchase driven. There 
are frequent limited doll releases so the fomo is strong. Plus many companies 
offer layaways, enticing buyers to spread themselves thin on many separate 
layaways over excessively long payment periods(sometimes 6-12 months). A lot of 
selling is also done between collectors, as people sell off their impulse buys 
to get the next limited doll. 
I noticed myself falling into this trap of buying stuff to feel connected with 
my hobby when I was too busy to play with my dolls. Seems counter intuitive, 
but when you're stuck working long hours and scroll Instagram on your break to 
look at doll photos, longingly wishing you were playing with dolls instead of 
miserable at your job, it's really easy to seek that dopamine hit by buying 
something and looking forward to it arriving in the mail, only to lack the time 
to enjoy it once it arrives and the cycle continues.
I'm fortunate that I enjoy the crafting and customization element of the hobby, 
so I've made it my goal to learn to craft everything for my dolls, from their 
clothes, to wigs, to eyes, to painting their faces. It keeps me connected to 
why I collect them in the first place and keeps me from falling back into the 
consumerism trap.
@coolchameleon21
3 weeks ago
i feel like the rave/festival community is very guilty of this. there’s so 
much pressure to buy brand new outfits and accessories for each day of every 
festival you attend. showing off your festival outfits on social media for 
clout has been a thing for a long time now. it’s seen as “uncool” and 
almost taboo to rewear outfits or even to make outfits out of stuff you already 
own. you’re expected to buy brand new, cutesy matching sets for each event. 
plus all the jewelry, shoes, accessories, bags, kandi, etc. not to mention the 
price of festival tickets have gotten absolutely OUTRAGEOUS. you also have to 
pay for flights, ubers/parking, accommodations, food, etc. it’s not uncommon 
for people to drop thousands of dollars on a weekend. just ridiculous. i barely 
go to festivals anymore, it no longer seems like it’s about the music 
@jepp6419
13 days ago
I’m recently getting into backpacking and this such and issue is. The amount 
of things that can be marketable (sleeping bags, boots, stoves, bags) and the 
recent trend of ultralight justa allows companies to have the newest lightest 
technology in your pants or whatever. There’s also this obsession with these 
expensive name brands and just new shiny things. Everyone says this is the one 
thing every person needs. It just makes it so difficult as a beginner to figure 
what you really need and how much you should invest. It’s also just so ironic 
to have the people who supposedly <3 the planet the most participate in such 
unsustainable practices. 
@waterbottle556
3 weeks ago
Audiophile community is rotten. All anyone talks about it buying a new 
inexpensive 200-300 dollar pair of headphones, with a 200 amp to match 
(headphone amps nowadays are mostly snake oil). Its baffling how so many people 
insist you need to spend money on these things that will not improve your 
experience. And while there is at least some actual difference between 
different headphones and speakers, the readiness of reviewing and talking about 
1000+ dollar stuff just conditions you at some point to value actually 
reasonably priced things less
@once.upon.a.time.
3 weeks ago
I've been into Magic:The Gathering for about a year and a half now, and I could 
relate heavily to the things you were talking about. There is a huge culture of 
buying packs, opening them up, and then that's it. They just go into a box 
somewhere to collect dust and never get used. You might as well be playing 
slots. When i first got into it, I was working two jobs to pay off my debt and 
I quickly found myself destroying all the progress I had made. I did form some 
wonderful friendships and I can't say i regret my decisions, but it's been more 
than a little difficult to disentangle myself since all my friends are into it 
too.  Luckily we've pivoted somewhat to DnD so i can start over with the 
knowledge I've gained from this channel and elsewhere and make better financial 
choices for myself.
@petrichorpse
3 weeks ago
The fragrance community is like this, moreso even with the niche/indie 
frangrance community since the pricing is lower and people can buy more. I've 
seen pictures where people fill entire dressers, cabinets, just drawers full of 
fragrance and it's like... there's no way you can use all of that?
@pixeljunker8613
3 weeks ago
The Gunpla community is another good example. People spending massive amounts 
of money on kits they will never build. Paint, airbrush kits, supplies for said 
airbrush, tools for modeling you will never use because you're scared to mess 
up the models you do build. There is so much to sink your money into.
@youweremymuse
3 weeks ago
People have made guitar a consumption community and it drives me insane. I 
firmly believe that one 250$ guitar and a quality amp (if its electric) can 
serve you for your entire life. But whenever I meet another guitarist the 
conversation is never about music. Its about what pedals I own, what brand I 
like, etc. I find it hard to connect with other players bc I only own one 
guitar and I bought it bc I liked the color. Guitar is a hobby that can be 
incredibly cheap and provide a lifetime of joy but many people think the hobby 
is about collecting 50 different guitars and playing the same 10 songs on them 
over and over.
@l.aerosmusic
6 days ago
Coming from the youtube Modular Synthesizer community, this is something I've 
totally felt and has contributed to some of my most creatively bankrupt 
periods. As much as I still love modular synthesizers, having something you 
make music with but constantly being told "this product will make your synth do 
something that it cannot currently do, thus opening new creative avenues that 
you don't have access to right now" or some variation of that idea really makes 
you feel like its not worth working on music until you've bought things which 
is a horrible feeling and doesn't result in a fun time making music.
@coffeewithadashofsarcasm7822
2 weeks ago
Bro Im in the calico critter collecting, and it's crazy how much money people 
will spend. I have a fairly large collection, and one day I got board and made 
an excel sheet I had spent ~500$ in just the year on calico critters. That was 
the slap I needed to enjoy the ones I already have instead of buying buying 
buying. Especially for just a toy that sits on my shelf. I used to be active on 
discord and reddit, but the consumer culture, hauls, and just negativity on new 
sets that people will complain about and still buy the new sets became just too 
much. Since Cutting back on my interaction online I've bought less and spend 
more time with my collection instead of online.
@gildedpeahen876
2 weeks ago
people often ask me if i am lolita/kawaii, but i find both of those communities 
to be very "buy to belong" as you so aptly put it.  i choose not to categorize 
myself or associate myself with any specific fashion communities.  i think for 
any aesthetic, you can thrift or just put together outfits with what you 
already own or add small accessories to get a look without the pressure from 
online communities to essentially buy entire new wardrobes, one off outfits 
that cant be combined with anything, and simply hoard clothing.  i also go thru 
my closet at the end of every season and donate.  if i can go an entire winter 
without wearing a certain sweater, i don't need it.
@IVIaskerade
7 days ago
See, this is why I like warhammer. It makes it easy to tell who the tourists 
are because sure, you can buy something - but to actually assemble, paint, and 
play with it speaks to a deeper dedication to the craft which unites us as 
hobbyists, and it is that very dedication that tourists lack because they're 
just searching for simple validation.
@rachelh3510
2 weeks ago
Thank you for this video, i think we need to start having these discussions 
more in our communities. At the end of the day, who is this over consumption 
really serving? I remember growing up, sequels for books would be released 2-3 
years, and now it feels so much shorter. Maybe a handful of months? A year? 
Everything is being released faster and it's feeding into instant 
gratification, training us to see a long wait as a bad thing. Theres also 
pressure to buy stuff more frequently as well, getting hooked onto the dopamine 
rush of buying something
@daniellebalouise9596
1 month ago
So much of life is sensory. As an autistic, sensory is my wheelhouse. The 
influence of simple things like colorways or shapes makes me wonder what kind 
of sensory input neurotypical folk like, cuz the variety of choice available in 
something that takes my fancy interplays with my stim needs so synergistically, 
that I wonder why regular normie people get swept into hyper-consumerism along 
with me. Are we all just hardwired to WANT the things that will be gone next 
month, even if we didn't really want it?
Like if something is on discount, it's so easy to sweep me into, "Ok, I'll buy 
all of them!". But I also think this ties into poverty mindsets. The fear of 
not being able to replace something later or get what you need later because 
you can never get on the right side of the tracks with money. Which then 
further ties into hoarding and the compounding effects of capitalism on 
everyone who is not rich, especially the poor. But maybe that's a me problem, 
because I see everything as interconnected. One thing leads to another, and no 
one's got time to hear what sums up to being a conspiracy theory of why x 
affected y, but it's like, why your lightbulb is evidence of planned 
obsolescence and why paying for essentials is clearly a planned scam that no 
one even questions anymore, which is why you are looking at me weird right now 
because this started with a breakdancing dead beat dad?
Things like tiktok amaze me, because all I see on there is loads and loads of 
unprocessed trauma, jumping out like electricity created between my skin and my 
blanket.
I find most of the "communities" I find myself in these days are purely about 
being a brand loyal consumer. Even we brand stans ultimately end up complaining 
about the quality and direction of the company, because money corrupts. We know 
we can't conceptualize large numbers as humans - so when a person gets up to 
such insanely high wealth that their mind can't even conceptualize it except by 
putting it next to more insane numbers, they lose the meaning of a DOLLAR, and 
feel like they need to squeeze more juice out of the stone, then complain about 
how the poors are ruining everything, while all they're doing is looking at the 
results of their extremely bastardized chase of the money. They literally 
cannot understand why poors are so stupid, because their stratosphere is so 
rarified and removed from basic reality.
Everyone thinks, as a whole, that we just have to live miserable lives and 
grind for everything. It's absolutely insane that since the hunter/gatherer 
days, we've come this far, and instead of feeding, housing, and giving everyone 
the basics they need and the freedom to be in communities that make them thrive 
and live a life of great appreciation and joy, some of the worst among us have 
created a boxed jail of eternal struggle, creating a society of sisyphus's,  
where we don't have to defend against sabre toothed tigers and gathering the 
fruits and vegs and storing somehow to make sure we don't run out of food 
supply, cuz everything has a direct labor cost-equation - not a 15 minute trip 
to the grocery store to get it in a box.
WE COULD BE LIVING LARGE, BUT INSTEAD WE'VE TRADED OUR SANITY AND HEALTH FOR 
ETERNAL STRUGGLE, CUZ SOME NUMBNUTS THOUGHT, "HEY, I CAN MANIPULATE THIS PERSON 
INTO DOING WORK FOR ME AND MAKE FAR MORE MONEY THAN THE DIRECT OUTPUT FROM ME".
I could go on.
Suggest reading "Normal Sucks". I didn't make it past 50~ pages, I think, 
bathroom reading, misplaced it, but think about it regularly - but it gave me 
some of the groundwork of what "normal" is and how it came to be. And I'm 
pretty "based" or whatever (leftist version - WOKE), but the book felt kind of 
like a drop into reality. I knew social engineering existed, but I always felt 
like it was a conspiracy theory. I guess the biggest misnomer to social 
engineering is the idea that one person or a group of individuals, CABALS, are 
deciding what will happen. It's just like, really rich individuals, who also 
happen to hobnob with the other really rich influential people (different 
stratosphere, you see - that rarified air, you see).
And with that, I'll abruptly end my comment.
@selmiespot
10 days ago
the whole EDC community is super guilty of this, which is ironic considering 
emphasis on quality and longevity that the community seems to value so much. it 
quickly goes from cheap and practical tools you can keep on you to expensive 
artisan-made gadgets made with hand-machined titanium and zero tolerances. and 
at that point, those items start being worth too much value to even practically 
carry on a daily basis.
@thepedanticcreature680
3 weeks ago
For me, the biggest eye-opener for this in terms of audio gear was when I met 
up with some local guys to test each other's headphones. One of them had two 
$4000 headphones that I had been fantasizing about. Not realistically getting 
them myself (except maybe used) but just being fascinated by the thought of 
them because going from consumer grade headphones to decent hifi headphones had 
already been such a leap.
Turns out that I did not even like either of those headphones, just as you said 
was likely to happen. That basically reminded me of the reality of the matter, 
even if I do still plan on some additions to my options/collection.
@theoutsider01
6 days ago
maybe a decade ago, I found this community on Reddit that was obsessed with 
safety razors and straight razors. I can't remember the subreddit name now, but 
it was the definition of consumption community. Every post would be about the 
"new" razor, shaving brush, or the strop they bought. These razors were almost 
always more than 150USD too. Anything else, not worth the time spent on looking 
at apparently. I stuck around for a few months before the novelty wore off. The 
only reason I didn't get into it because I was dead broke and couldn't even 
think about spending that much of money on a razor. I did switch to using a 
safety razor, but it was a cheap 15USD one I bought off Target when I visited 
US once.
Mechanical keyboard community is the other one that reminds of the razor 
community. They tend to be not as plastic as, say, the short term tiktok 
thermos buying frenzies, but still, it's just consumption based belonging.
@merty5713
3 weeks ago
This happened to me in aquarium hobby. It is always like, you need a second or 
third tank, you need a stronger filter, better filter medium, you need C02 
injection, you need to change your fertilized because it doesn't have enough 
iron, you are putting too much iron and you need to filter out the iron, did 
you ever check the redux, buy an electronic redux and tds meter... It is a 
bottomless pit.
@gabriellegriffin3772
3 weeks ago
I’ve thought this about online alt/goth communities for awhile. There are 
several fast fashion companies that specifically make goth clothing and it’s 
become such a marketing bubble.
@wastelanderone
3 weeks ago
You say sports but my rock climbing/cave diving flatmate is CONSTANTLY buying 
new gear, my ex-boyfriend was a cyclist and it was also constant acquisition of 
stuff. Almost anything can do this. Even vegetable gardening which after 
initial investment can be almost completely self-sustaining!!
@jeckert547
11 days ago (edited)
Yeah… you should see the pocket knife community. Everyone wants to carry a 
good pocket knife, but when asked what they use it for, the top answer is 
opening boxes. And yet many are on a quest to buy the best knife with the best 
steel, best build quality, best ergonomics. Lots are over $100, $200, some are 
$500. You’ll often see people in the knife community say their “wife hates 
it” or something. And the mentality of “which knife should I buy? BOTH!” 
Sometimes there’s a self awareness though. If you buy one good pocket knife, 
and it cuts, it’s practically the only one you need. But knife review YouTube 
channels exist, and every video is called “THIS IS AMAZING.” Because it 
gets clicks, but that also leads to people wanting everything.
@ggsgus
17 hours ago (edited)
Photography/video is absolutely a consumer community (at least the majority, 
specially online) more than an art community. It's insanely common for other 
"photographers" to only talk about what gear they have or want, rather than 
what actual photo/video projects they are working on.
@blooskies
3 weeks ago
Had to step back from the nail polish community for reasons mentioned in this 
video. What started as self care quickly spiraled into compulsive bidding and 
re-selling, and it was not healthy.
@corolla94
3 weeks ago
Something I noticed: every consumption community got the new Chinese company
that's "okay, I guess," especially ones with a vintage focus due to Western
companies pulling out due to historical reasons. Off the top of my head: tube
amps, mechanical keyboards, fountain pens, IEMs.
@G0ggl1n
2 weeks ago
something that fits in this category but really feels like it shouldn't is 
witchcraft and paganism. Despite being largely nature focused there is a HUGE 
consumer culture surrounding those communities. A lot of beginners are tricked 
into wasting money on tons of useless metaphysical junk before they even know 
what path they want to follow. There's this vibe in a lot of the online witch 
circles that everything you do has to be ultra aesthetically pleasing in order 
to be effective or even considered "actual witchcraft". Incredibly wild to me 
how easy it is for things to be corrupted by capitalism even when it seems to 
be utterly incompatible.
@apurwaasuramana5202
4 weeks ago
this is very true with a lot of the spaces im apart of but i always make sure
to take a look at used stuff before going straight to buying things new. for
cars and bikes i cant afford new ones and usually a lot of used parts are out
there. for model building i always loving going to this store that collects
old model from peoples collection that where never built. But i can take a
look around my room and see alot of new things that i spent way too much money
on.
@caraamethyst6956
2 weeks ago
Definitely feel this in the fiber arts community. There’s always new yarn or 
new patterns to buy. I didn’t even realize the unpaid marketing until a 
larger platform said they would no longer be mentioning the yarn they used to 
make a piece because it was just marketing for that company. It made me notice 
that everyone puts the exact yarn and tags the brand in all their posts. But 
then people feel others are gatekeeping if they don’t share what yarn they 
used. Made me feel kinda icky and I had to pretty much stop using social media 
in that area.
Same with reading. The online book community is so saturated with book hauls of 
like 50+ books and they’re throwaway books that most people won’t even read 
more than once. So why buy it? Especially when there are more affordable and 
sustainable ways to be a reader, like utilizing our free libraries. I don’t 
want to sound pretentious either, but I almost exclusively buy books secondhand 
these days. Personally I just love the thrill of the find, as opposed to the 
same same of a big box store.
@wellesradio
9 days ago
Board game community. I literally just purchased a cheap game ($22) I don’t 
necessarily want just to be a a completist. 4 minutes into this video I 
realized the spiral this could lead down (I don’t own that many games). I was 
once addicted to buying music, and I look back at that with some shame. I just 
canceled the order. Thank you.
@kevinb_45
4 weeks ago
As a member of the car and photography, which overlap in many ways. This is 
entirely true. Spend, spend, spend is the narrative. Any community built around 
an existing product will have some aspects of ‘free marketing’ but those 
lines are so often blurred now that it’s hard to take consumer advice as 
being genuine. Thankfully, I’m someone who has to know everything about 
something they’re purchasing, especially expensive things (suspension, 
lenses, etc.), so I haven’t been prone to impulse purchases or feel the need 
to buy things when in actuality I don’t need it.
That being said, social media does create a fomo aspect when I don’t have the 
spare cash to do the things I actually want to do. I’ve learned to take 
breaks and recognize when I feel bad about these things.
@mysterioso2006
3 weeks ago
i think ive somehow accidentally found a way to keep hobby-hopping but without 
spending tons of money. last year i randomly got obsessed with warhammer. so, i 
do what i always do when that happens: poke thru random ebay listings about the 
thing, read the wiki and watch enthusiast videos about the thing, find aspects 
about it that fascinate me. i guess i hoard knowledge about random stuff as 
opposed to hoarding random CRAP from random stuff.
@huehnerfressenponies
12 days ago
I find this phenomenon particularly interesting when it supersedes the original 
purpose of the product, or the hobby is originally explicitly anti-mainstream. 
I looked at the Tarot subreddit recently and it seems to be 80% people who just 
collect expensive, pretty decks of cards. The playing card subreddit has people 
who own hundreds of decks of cards and will continually back kickstarters for 
new ones - and won’t ever even play with them because they would lose their 
resale value.
@leroy4191
8 days ago
I haven't seen anyone else talk about the watch community in the comments, so 
I'll give it a go. On the various forums and subreddits I feel like there's a 
lot of "I just got this in the mail" and "what should I buy next"? The first 
one, to me, is a constant stimuli for the next "new" release of a particular 
brand (which can be up in the four figures) or they talk about how they are 
going to wear the new watch forever and pass it down to their grandchildren 
(which is another common theme in these spaces). The thing is, I've followed 
various posters when they buy something more often than not they just sell the 
watch they were  seemingly so obsessed with. The "what's next" aspect is mind 
boggling because to me it's essentially asking other people to spend your money 
for you. I could go on, but thats kind of my experience of these communities. 
I've been on a "no-buy" month and part of the rules for the month is to stop 
interacting with these type of communities and honestly I feel great. The urge 
to buy a new watch has drastically reduced (I'd be lying if I said it isn't 
still there) but removing the constant new stimuli has made me appreciate the 
things I already have.
It's tough because the communities can be helpful but at the same time it can 
be a bad thing to constantly expose yourself to new things like that since it 
might lead to feelings of inadequacy. I think the statement "You can't want 
what you don't know exists!" sums it up perfectly. Great video!
@K4g4m1
8 days ago
Not only can I tolerate this image quality, I actually like it. It gives your 
video a nostalgic feeling. Especially before the color correction. That's just 
my perspective as someone who knows nothing about how to film or photograph. 
Now I hope you will forgive me because I wanted to share some thoughts that was 
inspired by your video and this comment turned out to be embarrassingly long:
To the subject of your video, I agree. Hyperconsumerism is rampant. I think 
that this situation did not come about by chance or collective action (i.e 
through the personal failings of individual community members) but that it was 
intentionally engineered to be this way by the companies/industries in order to 
increase profit. What follows is my supposition.
The tool they used to achieve this state of affairs was the influencer. The 
name influencer is somewhat misleading because it suggests that they are 
generally influential. Not so if you consider the power dynamic between an 
influencer and their audience/the general public versus the influencer and a 
large company or industry. Clearly in the second comparison, the company or 
industry will hold most if not all of the power and the influencer will need to 
accommodate them. That is why the companies/industry values flow downstream to 
the community through the influencer.
If some influencer did not want to cooperate with this scheme, could they not 
be easily replaced? There are always many creators within a field and if a 
company can't make a deal with the biggest person within a hobby then maybe 
they can go to the next person and find that they are more malleable and better 
for the company to work with. And so I think companies can foster and encourage 
these kind of values to increase steadily in a community over time until they 
become dominant. Even if they should meet some resistance from influencers.
Not to mention that it is in fact very difficult to turn down large sums of 
money. We are probably more susceptible to this than we would like to admit. 
Consider it as a thought experiment: How much money would a company have to 
offer you to make you shill a product?
I would like to say that no amount of money could make me compromise my values 
but it is easy to take such a stand, secure in the knowledge that no money will 
be offered and so nothing was lost anyway. The more honest answer is probably 
that I do have a price after all, no matter how principled I like to think of 
myself. And so it would be for influencers too.
Not to mention that we are living in a highly consumerist society in the first 
place so these for-profit values of the companies are highly compatible with 
the general values of an overwhelming majority of the population. And 
significantly, pushback against these values can be interpreted as an attack 
against personal values of community members or influencers rather than an 
attempt to push back against hyperconsumerism.
So it seems like a difficult thing to try to change. There is a whole lot of 
money, profit and livelihoods that are riding on this status quo.
If you made it this far then I thank you for reading and considering my 
thoughts. Hope you found it interesting.
@electricfishfan7159
3 weeks ago
I’m having fun playing PS2 games with my girlfriend. I’ve impulse-bought 
more
in a short time than I have in many years, but it’s so we can have a nice
little catalogue to experience together. She bought me her favorites, brought
over her Silent Hill collection, I bought her Metal Gear. What’s ironic is
that I’d just gotten rid of my fat PS2 and all my childhood games a year ago
because I foresaw having no one to play them with, and I was saddened having a
retro collection that sits there doing nothing but bringing to mind this sort
of online credential competition of being a “committed” gamer with physical
media. I’m committed to the experiences that items can offer me, not committed
to the items themselves.
@shaurz
5 days ago
Retro gaming/computing is a weird one, because the products being marketed 
haven't been produced for decades, so as it becomes increasingly popular over 
time due to "YouTube marketing" the prices keep going up as more people compete 
over a dwindling supply of old junk.
@nomadicam
5 days ago
Oh my God. This is why everyone keeps commenting on my keyboard. I got it 
because the spacebar on my MacBook crapped the bed and that pink mechanical 
keyboard was the cheapest one i could find on Amazon but it looks very much 
like the one you showed in this video. Several "cool" kids have told me how 
cool my keyboard is, and now i know why.
@Nacanaca12
12 days ago
I've gotten into historical costuming in the past few years and this consumer 
mindset has really hit me hard. You need the right dress with the right 
patterning from the right fabrics with the right undergarments or else you 
might be deemed unworthy. You need one outfit from every time period, and if 
your dress is from 1902 but the meetup theme's cutoff is 1901? Too bad. Just 
make another dress. Buy another dress. No, a formal dress, not a day dress. 
Don't you want to sit with us?
It's made me feel so underdressed that I don't even try to attend events 
anymore, I just lurk on forums and hand other people my research when they ask 
what to wear to the next ball. I might never go to a ball. Might as well give 
someone else my dreams to live out. All I want to do is geek out about garment 
construction methods...
@Chungleas
5 days ago
Cycling (all flavours) is very much caught up in this. The community doing free 
marketing is also very much a thing, to the extent that I have had bikes that 
are maybe ten years old sneeringly referred to as "retro" before, there's 
"seasons" and "collections" for the associated clothing and kit and when 
companies deliberately make new products that aren't backwards compatible, 
consumers will themselves refer to it as "innovation" rather than recognise 
forced obsolescence for what it is.
@photografo9240
3 weeks ago
This is partially the reason why I tend not to engage with most online 
communities of my hobbies. When I'm starting out I go searching for the best 
bang-for-buck absolute essential stuff and then I just do my own thing and try 
and find a handful of good creators to follow for tutorials.
You briefly mentioned TCGs and I think that your experience in that space 
depends wildly on who you hang out irl and which corner of the youtube you end 
up in because, while yes, consumption is encouraged (you have to buy cards, 
whether singles or packs), everyone I game with uses or is ok with proxies so 
pressure to spend a lot on cardboard is low, in my experience.
@milestailprower
3 weeks ago
I think encouraging consumption of new stuff is different than consumption of 
old stuff.
With mechanical keyboards mentioned, I have a small collection of some I got 
from thrift stores. I have some new ones I got at a weird clearance store I got 
for dirt cheap (UPS packages that can't be delivered end up there). I give them 
to friends and family - and I do swap keyboards for different tasks (gaming vs 
typing and general use). That being said, there are some I really don't use 
that I should sell or give away.
I have noticed an increased encouragement of used parts consumption from PC 
building communities. With Moore's Law slowing down, buying the newest thing 
isn't what it used to be.
There still can be clutter generated from buying too much used stuff, but it 
tends to be less harmful fiscally and environmentally.
There's also a problem where these communities make you feel like you "need" 
the newest thing, or you "need" premium equipment to start a hobby when you 
reallt don't.
I built a PC for an older friend from a PC at the thrift store that was 
destined for the e-waste bin. His old system was really slow, so using old (but 
slightly newer) parts was fine. He didn't need the newest flashy PC.
It's more sustainable for someone to buy a bunch of used stuff, find what 
works, then sell what is collecting dust. However, it's easy to hoard onto what 
you already have, and if items are too cheap (<$20), then it's often not worth 
the time to sell.
There are other elements outside of these communities that lead to more 
consumption than what we need. Windows 11 "requires" TPM 2.0 system, in spite 
of plenty of decent systems not having it - and people have been able to edit 
the Windows 11 installer to bypass that "requirement." Also, look at phones 
with no headphone jack to encourage sales of first-party wireless earbuds. I 
hope right to repair keeps moving forward, as devices intended for disposal 
(rather than repair) lead to excess consumption.
Communities like these have an inherent bias, and like you said - they cater to 
an audience of endless interest and infinite money. If I never had a cup of 
tea, and I started looking up info from tea communities, I might be buying 
overpriced tea of 20 different varieties plus a bunch of unnecessary equipment. 
Not only is it a waste of money, but it's a waste of energy, attention, and 
space. Oh, and the extra consumption has ethical and environmental costs.
@MoonLitChild
7 days ago (edited)
This is why I avoid the sewing community on Youtube unless its tutorials. I 
finally bought my first new bit of sewing gear in like, two years? (A new 
presser foot for my super-basic Brother sewing machine that essentially turns 
it into a serger.) I know I have an impulse buying issue with fabric; I "joked" 
in college that my two priorities were fabric and food, in that order. It 
wasn't a great place to be, however much I was in love with the theater 
costuming I was doing at the time, and have continued since. Since then, I've 
been very conscientious about avoiding interaction with the buy-to-belong 
communities, not by getting out of the hobby entirely, but by not engaging with 
that kind of content. I admit it's easier for me because I'm a young millennial 
and can't do a lot of short form content, but it's harder for the younger 
generations who grew up with it.
@ORLY911
3 weeks ago
In the plastic model community there's definitely a push to own a good 
airbrush, they are expensive and require a ventilated workstation which is a 
pretty high up front cost, and of course you have people arguing to get the 
best possible one. Mean while over here I'm just hand painting with an 
improvised work station thats worked for me for 10 years.
@commiec0n721
3 weeks ago
I think hobby communities should be actively trying to drag themselves away 
from purchasing. Community spaces should be filled with people giving away 
their used hobby stuff. If someone can go into a forum and very quickly find 
people who are willing to send them a used but good condition camera for 
example, that dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for new people, 
especially those with less money. Additionally, connecting on and offline hobby 
spaces is essential to breaking the hold marketing has. People will stick with 
things they like far longer if they form long lasting friendships while doing 
it. That can definitely happen online, but it's best to have both. And again, 
the entry barrier is lowered by ppl being able to use forums to find others who 
will literally be there physically to help them do whatever the hobby is.
A lot of these hobby communities are large enough that if they consciously 
decided to, they could fund, support, and hold accountable online or brick and 
mortar cooperatives to produce and sell what they need at or near cost.  Doing 
so would give these communities way more control over their hobby by making 
them less subject to big companies advertising the next new thing or jacking up 
prices. I know for Warhammer at least, a conscious effort to create a better 
alternative to Games Workshop combined with giving new players used armies 
would dramatically improve the hobby.
The less y'all have to purchase, the more y'all will be able to enjoy the hobby.
@SoftNoxMedia
2 weeks ago (edited)
Very relatable experience. From my first passions of Yoyoing and skateboarding 
to photography, luckily I fell into groups that focused more on the craft and 
really taught me to appreciate the tool for all its worth.
My frist skate friend that tuaght me how to casper told me "your trucks aren't 
that great, and your wheels are a little sticky, but they're what you got, so 
learn all you can. Ride that board until it shatters then throw some tape on 
it, break it again and get something a little different till you know what you 
like."
Which has followed me into photography- my gear isn't the latest but man it 
does the job
@agentmirv
7 days ago
Speed cubes for me at one time. Luckily i stuck to the budget ones, but I still 
have a large shoebox full of them. I bought a new one like two years ago to 
replace the one that broke, but haven’t gone back to shopping for them 
regularly like I used to.
@valdir7426
3 weeks ago (edited)
I'm a musician and before 2020 I was totally unaware of new music gear; only 
buying what's stricly necessary and using decade old hardware. So in 2020 I got 
into the music hardware/software youtube/reddit and so on ecosystem; and 
started buying stuff I wasn't sure I needed. I'm not an impulse buyer so I 
didn't go too crazy but still this was something I would neve have allowed 
myselft to do before. I'm making money out of my art so I don't regret it but 
at one point I was ready to spend considerably more than I deemed reasonable 
before. I've now settled on what I don't need and what is an interesting tool 
to grow my practice or what I definitely need; but anyway my point is it's 
crazy how as you say everything is about making you buy shit you don't need. 
This is particularly crazy in the modular space (yes I own a tiny modular 
system); where I see people; sometimes beginners; spend several thousand bucks 
on a whim; not knowing even exactly what they're getting into. I've learned 
quite a few things along the way and I'm glad I tried some new stuff but this 
can get really ugly really fast. Also interestingly in the eurorack / niche 
music making space; ethical concerns are different as you're dealing with tiny 
manufacturers with 10 employees, and so you feel like you're doing something 
ethical by buying stuff from them (instead of the big bad giant conglomerates). 
You still have to be careful to focus on your craft and not just "buying a 
lifestyle" like you would by buying into the apple ecosystem or whatever. And 
this is a bit unsettling to see how very respectable musicians with a unique 
approach can turn in an instant into influencers who are straight up sponsored 
by brands to sell you shit (curated shit but still). Everybody has to eat; 
music doesn't pay much; I'm not mad at them but still, unsetllting. and tiny 
brands completely rely on that.
@AmpluexCompressa
3 weeks ago
I got deep into mechanical keyboards. I have six complete builds, and at most I 
have use for three--personal setup, office setup, and work from home setup. 
Guitar pedals too, but before my collection broke 20 I decided that I should 
really stick with the stuff that works. I wanted a delay, so I got a multi-mode 
delay that does everything I want. I wanted a metal distortion, so I got one 
with a crap ton of knobs so I can dial in whatever sound I want. I'm going to 
try to keep up the philosophy of just getting a good version of a thing and not 
going collector mode on it.
It's not easy when you're constantly bombarded with shit you can buy with a 
couple clicks, but I'm working on it
@nataliet4293
4 weeks ago
Seeing what happens inside cross stitch i would call them compulsion 
communities. You can just buy the dmc chest of thread with all the colors and a 
color card. You can just buy the latest pattern. You can even buy the most 
lovely evenweave. But. Can you make the back of your work look like perfect 
railroad track? Looooooser
@KashirinVictor
6 days ago
Two words: modular synthesizers. Continuous stream of new modules with new or 
more advanced features; discussion forums and reviews on YouTube feeding 
unquenchable GAS. And, of course, really high cost of staying in.
I suspect majority of connoisseurs don’t even compose, play and record music 
with their systems, fiddling and jamming with them at best.
How do I know? …
@apophis2504
3 weeks ago
For drawing if you struggle with funds just a ballpoint pen and scratch paper 
is all you need. I primarily do digital art but for the longest time when I had 
no funds I basically relied on the most basic of tools and prob made my best 
work with it. Plus taking out the tool of the equation allows one to fully 
focus on the process of creating art.
@dredsirius
10 days ago
I say yes, i love Warhammer / Miniature Painting Hobby. It helped me through 
the Pandemic to keep me as sain as possible, but yeah the amount of stuff that 
we get every month is so much that you cant keep up to date with 1 thing when 
there are 5 more already released. It could be rules, games, minis, paints, 
tools, etc.
@chriss3404
3 weeks ago (edited)
YES! I had a feeling while I was a part of the PC enthusiast community that the 
only way to actually be in the hobby was to be constantly buying computer parts 
and creating more and more elaborate PC builds. I finally got sick of it one 
day and I just wish that I had gotten out sooner.
There was always a certain guilt about not being able to afford the components 
that I was hearing about through videos that made me very uncomfortable because 
*I knew that I should not feel guilty for not buying things that I didn't need*.
Years later and I'm still happily using a computer with parts from around 2014.
Staying with the old parts forced me to switch to Linux to keep my system 
running smoothly and eventually those Linux skills blossomed into the 
beginnings of a software development career at a major company.
Looking back, buying endlessly and staying in that community was the real thing 
holding me back, never my hardware, because my real enthusiasm was in creating 
software.
I think the best way to exit a consumption community is to remember why you 
came there in the first place.
@harrisonfisher7744
3 weeks ago
I love Film Photography. But it is borderline toxic in terms of purchases as it 
is dependent on film, development and possibly the biggest spend which is 
vintage cameras and lenses.
Reviews only really fit certain price demographics and opinions and the ease of 
purchasing of cameras  like nikons, canons and pentax, and to an extent leicas 
that were expensive and 'pro' years ago, in which you can buy now for a 
fraction of what they once were online has just lead to a huge collection 
culture within the hobby.
I've definitely fell into this trap before in terms of spending etc.  However 
it seems to be every hobby - like its the same with hifi equipment too.
@Groovebot3k
3 weeks ago
I am a board game enthusiast and a journeyman game designer, and I have frankly 
reached a place where I feel like many board games - some of which I love and 
cherish - are overproduced and underplayed for the amount of effort put into 
their production.
In my opinion, it is a necessity for the survivability of the hobby (not to 
mention the planet) to advocate for print & play options for all board games... 
a way for them to reach the table and get played with most any group without 
necessitating a hundred dollars of paper and plastic for what will usually 
amount to a single evening of play, and in the extreme case, perhaps the 
crafting and customization of these games can become a part of the hobby itself.
@fritzophrenia3146
13 days ago
That's actually something I've really enjoyed about playing the banjo (don't 
laugh). I've been playing for about 5 years now, and other than strings and 
general maintenance/cleaning products, which I estimate I've spent about $150 
over the course of those 5 years, I've only made about 4 major purchases; most 
of which were direct upgrades to my instrument, and there was generally like a 
year and a half between those purchases. So idk, if you want something that 
doesn't take a lot of money to maintain, pick up a gently used mandolin from 
facebook marketplace or something
@mcbiscuits8015
3 weeks ago
Magic the gathering is consumption hell, but online magic with free digital 
cards is keeping the fun alive for me
@ThomSonnyYeah
8 days ago
Modular Synthesisers. It’s a huge huge trap because it is endless. The search 
for the perfect sound will never end. Maybe this module will do it? But now I 
have it maybe I’ll add this and that will do it? It’s counter productive.
@bastianolea
12 days ago
You mention sports as a community that’s not focused on consumption, but it 
really depends on the sport. I’m into cycling, and it’s very common to see 
cyclists talking to newcomers about the “need” to spend hundred of dollars 
in gear even before they do their first serious ride, or newcomers that already 
come with all the new and shiny things but have absolutely no experience in the 
sport, it’s like they are collectors of expensive things looking to get a 
purpose behind their investment.
@khango6138
3 weeks ago (edited)
The community that I'm most involved in is birdwatching, and jt js kinda half 
and half in this. On one hand, a large part of the community focuses on the 
birds themselves, they just get their basic equipment like scopes, maybe a good 
camera, hiking gears, then they just go on merrily observing birds for 
enjoyment or citizen science. Then there's the other, consumerist side. Folks 
need to get the latest and greatest binoculars, cameras and lenses, and even 
chasing for food photos can drive people to disturb birds and disrupt their 
natural habitats and behaviours just to grab that "perfect" photograph, bokeh 
and all. I can understand the consumerist impulse. Once in a while i catch 
myself wishing I have better cameras to get better photos and then maybe people 
will like my posts more and....,  you get the idea. Most of the time though, i 
can pull myself out and realise that as long as my minimal gear gets me good 
views of the birds i love, even the common, most overlooked birds can show 
unexpected beauty and new behaviours, and as long as i use the experience to 
connect to the natural world, to gain an understanding of the ecosystems i get 
to inhabit and visit, that's all enough. Maybe ill get a new camera one day, 
but for now i dont really see the need. Those new cameras do look hella 
attractive hence the draw for people to spend and spend and.... miss the point
@corgis6801
2 weeks ago
This has been a terrible issue with the film photography community.  The amount 
of content and time spent discussing types of film, cameras and lens is just 
insane even though in many cases they don't make all that much of a difference. 
 Content about how to compose images, print negatives or edit photos is so thin 
in comparison to the endless videos talking about the same type of camera for 
the hundredth time.  On social media so many groups list the exact film type 
and camera they used to take the photos and people flock together to see photos 
taken on certain film.  As a beginner you can't even tell what camera model (if 
your using film even pros can't tell) somebody used to take the photo so it's 
just exhausting to deal with so much fluff that I can't care about anymore.
I just wish there were more groups out there that spent more time discussing 
the art side of photography instead of vomiting up Wikipedia pages discussing a 
specific camera model then trying to pitch why you need this one overpriced 
camera.
@jk6971
2 days ago
My earliest experience/realisation with this stuff was when I was getting into 
music production as a young teen. The forums I would go on had a lot of older 
people who dropped huge sums of money on high-end or vintage synths, hardware, 
mics, monitors and such. I was put off by it, and decided I was going to 
embrace that my music was digital computer music, made with free (and sometimes 
stolen)  digital software and make that the focal point. Don't get me wrong, I 
do see some value in the stuff they coveted, but the level of fetishisation was 
insane. Some of the friends I made along the way who had the same approach as 
me made fantastic music and some of the fetishists made... well music that 
simply wasn't anything special. They had huge egos too.
@IrkedLurker
11 days ago
It’s like eating bruised fruit. Some people will eat the fruit entirely. Some 
people will cut out the bruise and only eat the good flesh. Other will look and 
say that’s a bad piece of fruit I won’t eat it at all.
@AlexHider
10 hours ago
The internet both completely democratized access to information on every 
feasible hobby (something that was previously inherently hidden inside the 
minds of the practitioners) and inflated the amount and variety of stuff TM 
needed to practice it. It’s insane. I’ve been sewing for so long, but the 
amount of Things I purchased for it over the years eclipses anything deemed 
strictly necessary to make a garment. And you can justify it, sure, but why the 
FUCK do I have something called the pressing ham. Why.
@ORLY911
3 weeks ago (edited)
I like to collect action figures and models,  but I just buy what I like, 
versus buying things seasonally or "must buy/must build". Every time I've 
bought a must buy figure or must build gundam model because of that mentality 
and I didn't personally have an interest in the product, i regretted it and i 
box it very quickly or sell it. It's a toxic mindset to have, i abandoned that 
way of thinking long ago and better off for it.
@bugaboo_daisy9000
4 weeks ago
I'm really into aquariums and fashion - and oh boy are those two hobbies that 
rely heavily on spending money to keep up with. Even though I thrift most of my 
clothes, I'm still constantly buying things - it's still a consumerist hobby.
@happykanye
8 days ago (edited)
In cycling community there is even a name for it, n+1 (the correct amount of 
bikes, where n is the current amount of bikes).
Even though most wouldn't reach their limits on $2-3k bikes, people spend 
6,8,10,$14k on a bike.
And accessories go crazy as well. For the high end, $200 on a cycling shirt, 
$400 on a helmet, $3000 on a set of wheels that are 300 grams lighter, carbon 
fiber handlebars for $600 that can easily break from a fall even etc.
And when you don't have newest greatest everything, people can look down on 
you. Or when you have latest greatest everything but don't have the body or 
ability for it, people also look down.
@stealthiestboy
3 weeks ago
I've been trying to get into vintage fashion, or high quality reproductions as 
a result of all the stuff I see online. I've only seen a sliver of the fashion 
community from TikTok, but it seems exhausting chasing the newest trends or 
getting pieces for impulsive reasons. I just want something that looks nice and 
can last a long time. I don't want to buy an excessive amount of clothing. Just 
give me high quality long lasting products!!! Is that too much to ask?
@yourbandisabusiness
1 day ago
This rampant in the guitar hobby. It's not for me to say how other people 
should enjoy themselves but it's strange to see people posting their new guitar 
purchases and then getting congratulated for it, as if it's some kind of 
achievement. The positive aspect of it is that the money that is spent on 
guitars as pieces of art, artefacts or decoration funds guitar companies so 
that they can also make and sell cheap guitars. You can get very high quality 
'budget' guitars these days compared to back in the day.
BTW I didn't experience the video quality as a bad things. But then I'm 
probably not very visually oriented. I'd rather watch and listen to someone 
that has something interesting to say than a highly scripted, produced and 
edited video full of drone footage that is empty of any real value. That's just 
me though.
@nothing4mepls973
2 weeks ago
They got me with trading card games and video games. I unfortunately went too 
far in one direction, and went the entire life cycle of the 3ds only having 
played one game. I was TOO restrictive on myself and ended up wasting money. I 
just can't win.
@samranda
3 weeks ago
it's so unfortunate that i went from a pretty casual mechanical keyboard buyer 
to HIGH FUCKING FASHIONNNNNN!! it's incredibly hard to resist the allure of 
buying secondhand clothing at a perceived good price with the justification 
that "i can sell it when i'm ready to let it go." the actual chance of me 
selling said item for more than i bought it? like maybe 50%. i probably have 
$3k locked up in my wardrobe (and probably $500 of which that i don't wear) but 
the process of actually passing along items takes soooo much time and effort
@AloeVeraJuiceJuice
3 weeks ago
Not to shame or anything, but how tf did people turn keyboards into a hobby, 
like how do you have more than one keyboard?? Anyways noticed this trend a lot 
with tech, the rise of unboxing channels and tech review channels is so weird 
to me. I don't get how people watch channels like linus tech tips regularly, I 
remember when he was going to retire and he said he was afraid that all his job 
was gonna mount to was encouraging people to buy more and more things, but 
nothing really came out of that. Sooo many online communities suffer from this 
problem, and its made sooo much worse by influencers whose job it is to sell 
things creating so much content with so many different things to buy that 
you're constantly overloaded and feel like you neeeeed to have everything, but 
once you buy everything why do people still watch?
@firuis1
3 weeks ago
the manga collecting hobby (though, my main experience is with the subreddit) 
looks like pure hoarding at times, with people amassing massive collections in 
only a few months span, or collecting whole massive serieses all at once - it's 
just so jarring to frequently see people buy an entire series at once (say, 
berserk, with all the deluxe editions combined costing around £400 altogther). 
all anyone talks about is buying the volumes or whatever they've just picked 
up, so there's never really any discussion on the series' youve read. theres 
the main r/manga subreddit but a quick look through seems to be mainly new 
chapter discussions or reccomendation threads.
@chrisdunn3241
11 days ago
Would like to add that of all things fingerboarding has been hit by this hard. 
The amount of “drops” that constantly are going on and it seems like the 
most recognized people doing it are the ones who spend the most money on it and 
have all the product from the most recent drops. I see people that aren’t as 
known fingerboarders blowing so so much money just to fit in with the hobby. 
It’s hard to watch. It’s really annoying feeling like you have to spend 
money to be involved with a hobby you enjoy.
@JoyEmporium69
10 days ago
People who get into dog shows and canine sports. I worked at one of those 
places, people spend an ungodly amount of money on their dogs. They paid me 
$14.50 an hour lmao
@KeeganYeehaw
3 weeks ago
I'm very into vintage audio (primarily cassette tapes, but also cds and records 
to a much lesser degree) and related equipment. We have this to an absurd 
degree, especially in record collection spaces because of how much they've hit 
the mainstream lately. A rather notorious controversy with that is the suitcase 
record player phenomenon, where people hype up the dangers of cheap modern 
players in order to shame (usually young) new collectors. Yes, they're awful 
players and the excess tracking force isn't great on the grooves, but I find 
that using cheap players as a way to shame people out of the hobby. It's 
advanced monetary gatekeeping. That mindset plus record store day unique 
releases and the constant pricejacking of used records has somewhat dissuaded 
me from the hobby. Cassette tapes don't have this issue to nearly the same 
extent because decent modern players don't exist and decent vintage players are 
usually cheaper anyway, but the general mindset of consumption is still there. 
I find the fact that the vast majority of tapes and equipment will be acquired 
secondhand to alleviate that a bit, but it's still occasionally very worrying.
@alexlindstrom9971
3 weeks ago (edited)
I've fallen into a number of these traps, but sometimes it does lead to good 
stuff.
I got lucky and actually got a G7xii for under $300. Probably damn near the 
last person to ever do that. It does take nice photos people love, no two ways 
about it. Do you need to have it? Hell no, lots and of point and shoot cameras 
out there that produce 'filmic' (read: lowish quality) photos.
That said, for the most part, YT operates off advertising revenue, including 
affiliate links, and so like TV, everything is built around that. Within gear 
or hobbyist communities, a kind of hyperreality is created where 'the product' 
is everything, even if people say out loud or pretend that that isn't the case. 
De facto, it is. And for people with ADHD in particular--but really just anyone 
looking to fill a void--you can get sucked into the endless sea of content out 
there dedicated to the question of 'what to buy' while avoiding the things in 
your life that need actual attention. For me, had I spent all that time reading 
books on photography instead of watching videos and reading reviews on gear, 
I'd have started taking better photos sooner.
@masterzoroark6664
3 weeks ago
THere is a thing:
You put two problem things- the card games and tabletop wargames communities 
are more or less forced to overconsume, mainly talking about the cards. The 
people behind these games are extremaly triggerhappy on banning certain parts 
of the game, and since it's not a electronic device- you are stuck with 
basically carts of maculature (fuck Magic the Gathering). Wargames are in 
better place as units aren't banned, they are run to the ground with rules.
And then there is the other "community", the one that is problem due to their 
own making- the vanity driven greedy attentionseekers who get things just to 
have them. With card and wargame players, most of them get the models and card 
to use them in game, but the cloutchasers just buy things to "feel like a part 
of something" or feel like "the rich they aspire too" even tho that aspiration 
is being butthurt they aren't as rich and cannot be as rich. This side 
showcases the big problem, that it's not utility and what a thing means to you 
matters for the cloutchaser- that just having a thing and feeling praise for 
having a thing matters.
I mainly write this comment to showcase that these two crowds are pushed into 
the niche you speak off from two different reasons- the first one due to more 
of outside force and the second one due to more of an internal problem with 
self worth
@tieran9491
3 weeks ago
I'd like to think that I'm not one that gets sucked into impulse buys and the 
cycle of consumption. When I make a big purchase usually that thing, a new 
camera, bike, shoes, etc, is going to last me years or decades. At least that's 
the idea I have going into it. I don't like watching the videos on new stuff 
because it just doesn't interest me. Photography is mentioned and in that 
respect I've only bought two cameras. My D5300 from 10 years ago and now the 
A7RV. And I plan to use the A7RV till its dead. And for each I bought three 
lenses: wide-angle, general purpose zoom lens, and a telephoto.
I really dislike the photography gear channels that just spout word soup about 
the next new greatest thing. To me they seem like they do more talking about 
the gear more and less actually taking pictures lol
Same thing happens with mountain biking. New bikes new bikes new bikes. I don't 
care. I have a good bike. I'll ride it till I shatter the frame or myself.
@LethalBubbles
3 weeks ago
ok i like stuff (technology, hardware, etc), but see this kind of behavior 
within communities of stuff I like that isn't the whole of the experience of 
liking that thing. Like I eventually discovered I like retro stuff too because 
it's not like old stuff becomes obsolete just because there's something newer 
out. oftentimes the newer thing isn't better and the marketing hype is driving 
it entirely. Once that status symbol train is gone (and good riddance it's 
where all the most vain and detestable people who also like the stuff you like 
are) the stuff, whatever it is, gets relegated to bargin bins where it can be 
enjoyed annoyance free for a few years until the consumer train comes back with 
a nostalgia coat of paint. the remaining copies of that stuff is piped up to 
collectors who view it as a commodity and are just waiting for the price to 
appreciate at that point. I'd say consumerism is parasitic to our stuff, but 
sadly the stuff is created for the consumerism and people who actually enjoy 
these crafts or technologies or whatever are left as an afterthought. Stuff 
gets marketed to people who don't want it, taken from people who do, and are 
over produced on such a short time table that it ends up filling landfills 
instead of furthering mankind. People look at it like a "I'm not to be 
brainwashed into thinking I need this" but I think that's just using your 
desires and experiments as a scapegoat for just how wasteful and appropriative 
that consumerism is. Some people don't need to be told they like what they 
like, but they're pushed aside for people who do.
@axelprino
4 weeks ago
No offense but that keyboard seems like a bit of a nightmare to type on, it 
doesn't even have dedicated number keys or a proper backspace, it'd mess so 
hard with my muscle memory.
And about the subject matter of the video itself, I guess one of the 
communities I'm in is inherently consumerist to the absurd, but I ain't 
quitting PC gaming any time soon.
@gamagama69
3 weeks ago
vr communities be crazy like holy shit their like valve indexs are cheap rn 
ONLY $500  and they have multiple thousand plus headsets like wtf
like i just like seeing new games and mods and its people OBESSED with the 
hardware like idk i used a rift cv1 til recently cuz ive been getting into 
linux gaming. like yeah it looks worse but idk increasing your vr fov and 
resolution means games run worse and the amount you need to spend increases 
dramatically.
@ImCurrentlyNaked
3 weeks ago
I don't really see a problem. Hobbies are few and far between that are truly 
cheap or free, and obviously any group of people who are passionate about 
something are going to talk about it ad nauseam.
This is an old problem too; just think of comics, or star wars, or the 
trekkies, Gamers, and so on. People always get worked up over what they love 
and talk about it far too much, and are often blind to its faults (thus the 
overt positivity).
Though I can understand the worry for those with weaker self-control who may be 
inclined to impulse buy.
@taylor6096
3 days ago
It is so painful watching you pause every 5-10 seconds and think about what you 
want to say next. Please for the sake of your users sanity and the quality of 
your channel, spend some time thinking about what you want to say first and 
then say it.
@jordylan.m
3 weeks ago
I really don’t like the background music, but I like your content otherwise
@clray123
3 weeks ago
Overall, the joke's on you because you are also doing free marketing and
micro-labor for a certainl political agenda. I'll let you figure out which one
it is.