being the first to find something is way rad

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a colleague about how much people like to the be the first to announce news or to share something new and cool. There seems to be something both sick and enthralling about being the first to tell someone about some new devastating or disaster. Or being that first person in a blogging “community” to share a newfound YouTube video or funny blog.

For instance, I was disappointed when I learned about stuffwhitepeoplelike from some friends at Michigan State, and before I could tell anyone here at Oregon State, a friend beat me to sharing it on his blog. Bummer.

This desire to be first, to the most hip, most on the top, most in the know, is fascinating. And really, sometimes, quite banal. Take, for example, the newest stuffwhitepeoplelike post, Graduate School: The first comment is from Anonymous, stating merely “first!” Comment #5 reads “I wanted to be first, dang!”

While I can understand the desire to be first to read or see something, I don’t understand the blatant announcement that “yes! I was first to read this!” What is up with this race to be first, to be on top. How far does it stretch? What are its limits? Has the competition of capitalism gone so far that we compete against each other merely to be first to see something? I’m reminded of Adorno’s observation that in capitalism eventually everything is turned into a competition. Now we have YouTube statistics, blog statistics, blogging awards, hit counters, and so forth.

Has the ethos of indie rock so integrated itself into our culture that everything must be new and obscure, so that when everyone else knows about it, you can shrug and say, “yeah, I knew about that weeks ago.” When do we get to the point where people shrug and say, “yeah, I knew about that an hour ago.” The juxtaposition of elation at being the first with the disattachment once everyone knows is fascinating. Of course, my indie rock reference decontextualizes indie rock: it, of course, rose out of a culture industry based on the “new” and an indifference or disdain toward the “passe.”