Ive been thinking about this for a while, but after worlds these thoughts all came together for me. Sorry its so long. I hope that doesn’t discourage you from reading. Thanks - DP
Its time to get a bit metacognitive here. With all the exciting things going on last weekend with the World Yoyo Contest, and the dozen or so new yoyo releases, There has been alot of complaining about "hype". This player is just hyped up, that yoyo is all hype, This company is hyped up too much.
So lets take a moment to ask ourselve four questions about what we are thinking (AKA Metacognate).
First: What is Hype actually?
A quick internet search defines hype as excitement about something. Its frequently used by us yoyo folks to refer to something that has more excitement then it deserves. We tend to disagree with each other on whether something is actually “Hyped” or if it is actually “that” good.
Second: Why do we Hype?
If hype is excitement, the simple answer is that we are excited! Yo-Yo people love yoyos, yoyo players, and yoyo manufacturers. Its fun to get new yoyo’s! Its fun to watch good players throw down! Yoyo is fun and exciting! Naturally we are going to get hyped up about the Sport/Toy we love. We are not going to all love the same things, but thats ok. There is something for everyone to love in yoyoing.
Third: Why do we hate hype?
There is clearly a universe of hate for “Hype” in the yoyo community. There is a certain blog that many of us are familiar with, that bases its entire following on hating hype. I didn’t check, but I’m sure you can find someone complaining about hype in at least one of the page 1 forum topics. Yoyoing culture hates hype so much that when people don’t like something, its not bad, its “Hyped”.
Lets think about what we are saying when we complain that something is too hyped. We are complaining that other people are far more excited about a product/player/company then we think they should be. We are essentially judging other people for being excited about yoyoing.
Its true that some people are going to get way more excited about certain things then others. Thats natural, my wife gets way more excited about Minecraft updates then I do. I get more excited about watching live streaming Worlds then she does. Someone might think that YYF is super cool, and another person only cares about what comes out of “The Lodge”. However, for some reason we seem to level judgement and distaste when someone shares a level of excitement that we do not feel is justified.
I think that the reason we hate hype stems from the selfish element of human nature that causes us to subconsciously believe our opinions are better. Complaining that something is hyped is a back door way to say that your own preferences are different and better then those who like the “Hyped” product.
There are also those of us who deep down want to be that special snowflake and stand apart from the crowd. We want to have our own special little thing and be different from everyone else. We feel that if everyone else likes something, that we cannot like that thing because we have to be an individual. A solo sport like yoyoing attracts people like this, I’ll admit that I’m one, and if many of you are honest with yourselves you will probably admit it as well. Because we want to stand out from the crowd, we hate whatever the crowd likes, and then we use the word hype to distance ourselves from it.
So, why do we hate hype? because everyone doesn’t like the same things in the same way, and we want to be excited in our own ways.
Fourth: How should we change?
If my conclusion is correct that our hatred of hype is really just a negative judgement of someone elses excitement, we need to ask ourselves what sort of people we want to be. If we are ok with scoffing at each other’s joy of yoyo, we might as well carry on as we are. If we feel that yoyo excitement is a good thing that we would like to cultivate and encourage, if we feel that yoyoers’ excitement should be respected and accepted, if we want to see and be excited about further developments in yoyoing; Then its time to let go of our hatred of hype. Its time to accept other’s excitement, and share our own. Its time to embrace hype, and to help generate it.
Conclusion:
I firmly belive that we need to respect hype for what it is: Excitement about yoyoing. I think we should accept it and treasure it, and help it grow. We have a wonderfull universe of yoyoing to share with the world, fighting amongst ourselves about what things are right and wrong to like helps no one. Lets love yoyoing, love each other, and let the world see the wonder of yoyo.