There is this new startup on the block aptly named Hipster. You probably have not even heard of it yet, but that’s okay because once it has gone mainstream it may be obsolete to its audience anyway. Even so I think this one actually has a chance.
This social networking site is currently creating quite a buzz, while still catering to a young audience that revels in irony, rejecting mainstream culture, listening to noise rock, wearing cardigans from American Apparel, and generally being edgy in all the same ways. Just dropping this term creates a lot of differing opinions and loyalties. But this new site is coming onto the scene with confidence and may well be the talk of the town at SXSW this year. The site boasts itself saying, “hipster is the best resource for anything and everything in your city.”
We already know young people these days LOVE social media. Amongst these throngs of internet-savvy teenagers with smart phones and twenty-somethings who can’t pay their rent (but can pay for a new ipad) are some elitists that we all jokingly name-call “hipsters”. In February of this year this group of fashionable elitists, to which I somewhat grudgingly belong, will have a social networking site that is all their own. Hipster will first be released in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, and Austin, along with smaller cities on the west coast. It is scheduled to soon showcase dozens of the United State’s metropolitan centers and smaller cities.
Usehipster.com is truly remarkable already because it received 10,000 user sign ups in two days without even releasing the purpose of the site. The site ran on private beta in Boulder, Colorado for awhile before the rest of the world and internet found out about it. Now that their treasured secrets have been leaked we know that Hipster is somewhat along the lines of a combination of Quora meets FourSquare and looks similar to Twitter. It would give us someplace to figure out the best Thai food in the city, any fun house shows that are coming up, or basically anything its users think is hip and cool. The function of the site as a location-based Q&A, as well as its look, give us nothing drastically different. But I would be willing to bet that the name already got Hipster’s foot far enough in the door.
I discovered Hipster when another “hipster” sent me the invite along with a chart from Paste Magazine detailing the evolution of “the hipster” and a message aggressively telling me I am “so 2008″. I then sent on the invite to other comic book readers and music festival goers in true viral fashion. You can jump on my personal bandwagon too if you want here.
This kitchy startup is important because it is packaging up services already offered and creating something new out of them. While we are all able to use Foursquare or Yelp already, Hipster will give a space for everything at once, plus a little social commentary. The strong early adopter base and its focus on young trendy users give it the ability to hit the ground running when fully released. I would also bet that it is only a matter of time before this site becomes closely linked with social selling. Finding deals like on Groupon via Hipster would be absurdly easy.
Still unconvinced of the possibilities behind this vague introduction? Still unsure of what Hipster can do? Well so are its users, and we just can’t wait to find out. So go ahead and sign up so you can be on the cutting edge as well.
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