Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
59.5K
Hipster Gets Furious About His Photo Being Used For An Article About All Hipsters Looking The Same, Turns Out It’s A Different Person
Recently, MIT Technology Review posted an article, titled ‘The hipster effect: Why anti-conformists always end up looking the same.’ And in an incredibly ironic turn of events, it almost instantly proved itself right.
The article was an analysis of recent research by Brandeis University mathematician Jonathan Touboul on “the hipster style effect,” specifically how “the population of hipsters initially act randomly but then undergo a phase transition into a synchronized state.”
RELATED:
However, it was the inclusion of a Getty Images stock photo of a bearded man that prompted one reader to contact the magazine. “Your lack of basic journalistic ethics in both how you ‘reported’ this uncredited nonsense, and the abusive, unnecessary use of my picture without permission demands a response, and I am, of course, pursuing legal action,” the angry person wrote.
MIT Technology Review Editor-in-Chief Gideon Lichfield explained everything in detail on Twitter.
Image credits: glichfield
Image credits: glichfield
“We haven’t received a similar claim that I’m aware of in the time I’ve been editor (but that’s only 15 months),” Lichfield told Bored Panda. “[And] that was the only communication we had with him.”
“I looked at what his accusation was, and I said, he seems to be accusing us of implying that he’s following hipster fashion. I’m pretty sure that can’t be prosecuted for slander,” Lichfield said. “My second thought was, you know, I’m sure that we used this photo following the license and we got it from a reputable agency, so there shouldn’t be a problem with using it even if the photo model in the picture doesn’t like the implication.”
“So I forwarded the email to our art department …, and their response was, “Yes, we have the right license. But, you know, we can take the picture down anyway if he’s annoyed. But our creative director said no, this was an image that we used with permission and perfectly under our rights. We shouldn’t take it down just get somebody doesn’t like it.”
Image credits: glichfield
Image credits: istock/PeopleImages
Image credits: glichfield
Image credits: glichfield
And that’s how a 34-page study got proven in a brief round of email ping pong. “They wrote to him and … said, ‘We don’t think this stock photo model is you.’ And he replied, ‘Oh, I guess you’re right, it’s not,'” Lichfield explained. “No apology, but, you know, I’m happy that it’s resolved.”
However, he’s not saying that the reader was crazy to convince himself that was indeed his photo. “I mean, you know, the picture is in profile. He’s wearing a hat, so it covers his hair. And, you know, as a no-longer-in-his-30s white man with a beard, I know that a lot of white men in their 30s with beards look kind of similar. So I guess it doesn’t surprise me that much.”
People had a lot to say about the whole ordeal
Image credits: realnzall
Image credits: kithrup
Image credits: logotrix
What do you think ?
Ronald Burggraaf 6 years ago
https://youtu.be/KHbzSif78qQ Monty Python Life of Brian. Brian: "You are all individuals" Man in the crowd: "I'm not"
Ronald Burggraaf 6 years ago
Must definitely be his name. 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This hipster is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-HIPSTER!!
Catlady6000 6 years ago
Gibson girls in the late 1800s, Flappers in the 1920s, beatniks, hippies, punks, goths, rockers, country, hipsters, Republicans, etc all have their uniforms
Wyndmere 6 years ago
(So do democrats.) -- This happens with every generation and nich/facet of society.
Load More Replies... The Cappy 6 years ago
Sorry catlady, your prejudices got ahead of you. I live in Texas, and unless someone has a t-shirt or hat specifically naming their allegiance you can’t guess their political party.
Catlady6000 5 years ago
Apologies, didn't intend to get get political. Actually, I was referencing a few years ago, when there was a minute of news commentary about the "Republican" uniform. Most conservatives dress conservatively. You don't see a lot of boho chic or goth republicans. They're usually very neat and clean cut. Most social groups have a "uniform" or way of dress that is influenced by their beliefs, associations, employment, etc. Having been to Texas, I agree with your comment regarding political affiliation. But even Texans have their uniform as a culture that is very practical, hardworking and out door based
Sara Johnston 6 years ago
As I read the comments I think, well unless you sew all your own clothes it's pretty impossible NOT to look like a clone of whatever cultural group shops in the same milieu of stores. We all need to feel a sense of belonging. It might be in a tiny group of close friends or a big social strata where we work. Part of the signal you belong is tied up in appearance. That's only the superficial part that identifies the stuff inside the individual. The trick is not to bad-mouth the appearance of the groups you're not a part of. We all look like somebody else, a little or a lot.
David Oland 6 years ago
While you shake a finger trying to stick up for them, I say back to you "They stole the look to appear like strong real men." The Pacific NW has loggers, farmers, fishermem, and hunters who include men and women, and for over a century wore a checker or plaid flannel shirt, jeans, thick soled boots, and stocking cap, and men wore suspenders and beard too. Think Paul Bunyan and you get the idea. And these hipsters are from cities, who hate and have never used a rifle to get deer meat, likely cannot tie a fishing line, would never want soil under manicured nails, and please never hold an ax near their hugging tree! They stole the look just like they have stolen afros, and stolen looks of other countries. Should my region feel flattered? Nah, we want to spray paint CITY BOI on their macbooks and Prius. We don't though, because we know they would start lecturing us like you.
Meowton Mewsk 6 years ago
I don’t like handlebar mustaches and a smug sense of superiority about craft beer either lol. But the fact remains that there’s no evidence this happened, not even a screenshot of the email.
rehabisforquitters 6 years ago
Have you ever noticed how Elvis impersonators don't really look like Elvis, but more like each other?
Irene McIver 6 years ago
I'm not convinced this story is even real, since neither the irate reader who thought he recognised himself nor the actual model is named. If the complainer exists, he may have been trolling them.
Jane Alexander 6 years ago
No mention of alcohol here and that's where the term 'hipster' originated back in the 1920 s. It referred to guys who carried a hip flask. lol.
The Cappy 6 years ago
Interesting historical note. Are you sure it's actually the same term? I suspect it evolved independently a second time from the term "hip" from the 60s.
Load More Replies...
Jace 6 years ago
Hipsters aren’t really non-conformists. They’re just “different conformists”. Like goths, and whatever other artificial group you want to choose from American culture, they’re merely ego advertisers who desperately desire to have an identity they think will stand out from what they perceive as “the norm”. They grasp on to what’s easily identified and quantified, and apply an “identity” by associating with another group, instead of forging their own path. It’s easier to pick a recipe from a list than to assemble your own from individual components. It’s scary to be truly alone and tribeless; it is harder to attempt to create your own tribe. Rather than simply being who they are, they’re selecting a pre-existing ego brand / recipe that others have chosen, but not enough others that they feel like “the norm”. A true non-conformist wouldn’t need to pick from a menu of readymade options. Hipsters are all about being pop-culture savvy, which just makes them even more conformist.
Kelley Eidem 6 years ago
This story reminds me of something that happened to me. It was almost identical. I just might Sue...or Mary or Bob...Never mind!
Tim Douglass 6 years ago
OK, I remember a tongue-in-cheek book from back in the 70s or so called something like "How to be a non-conformist". It really does seem like history repeats itself.
Major Houlihan Bear 6 years ago (edited)
What is a hipster. Some young, educated, sceptical people who may or may not be also privileged and shop in the same stores. Tho with global brands its safe to say that they all shop the same things - ahahaha - hipster is a very superficial concept - it does not mean character, devotion to anything or meaningful political stances. The hipster is the artstudents' artstudent ;)
Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 6 years ago
No, see a lot of people have the wrong idea of what a hipster is. Every generation has hipsters, and each generations hipsters are different. Because hipster isn't a specific style, it's a specific attitude towards culture. Hipster refers to counter-culture, the people who shun the norm simply because it's the norm. They're also the ones who define the next generation's mainstream fashion by rejecting the current mainstream fashion.
Load More Replies...
Sharad Patel 6 years ago
I think "hipsters", the term that came to use in the 2000's in the college crowd, referred to fashionable(foward) contemporary crowd... not non-conformists. Urban Outfitters from 2003- onwards to maybe 2008 was hipster clothing and things... but it was not non-conformist.
Frankenfrog 6 years ago
When enough hipsters shun the norm, they become the norm, so their goal is invalid
diane a 6 years ago
A hipster/hippie is from the 1960's-70's - right after Kerouack and the Beatniks. "Hip" meant Independant of mainstream stuff. John Lennon telling Jimi Hendrix - "you're Hip man". Hip was the 1960's term for "cool". Hipster seems a bit of a silly description today. The picture of this"hipster" is no more than a guy in a check shirt and a woolly hat who needs a shave. OK - maybe his shirt cost $800 and his woolly hat $300 - but he still looks like a guy with an hangover nipping to the shop at 8am.
Darryl Kerrigan 5 years ago
Reminds me of a great South Park episode where they are trying to recruit a dancer for a dance off. They ask the Goth's if they want in, who reply that they won't as they are non-conformist. Then the last goth says 'I'm so non-conformist I'm not going to conform with you and I'm going to dance...'
Emmanuel Courtecuisse 6 years ago
Loool, before reading, I knew it wasnt him! I'm a Getty Image user...and see this model so much for my book cover I work on lol !
Jeannie Carle 6 years ago
Being an "old-broad" now - Back in the 60's. as a teen, all we wanted to do was to NOT look like our parents' generation :-)
Bianca Roxas 6 years ago
Barely anyone is really following their own ideas. Most non-conformists are people who are just confirming to a smaller group of people than usual. It's impossible not to confirm to at least something, just as much as we confirm to speaking the same language to understand each other. What's original is just a new combination of old ideas.
Paul K. Johnson 6 years ago
I don't remember the comedian who said it but he said, "Yes, you're unique... just like everyone else."
Susan Forbes 6 years ago
There was an old Mad magazine cartoon that had an older man ask 3 young men why they had long hair. They all shout, "to be different!". He asks the 4th young man why he has short hair and he replies "to be REALLY different "
Aimee Allen-Kirk 6 years ago
I feel your pain NotHipster.....i cannot count the times Ive gotten all riled up about headless fat people in news stories thinking it was me....or fat folks on the people of Walmart...then be like oh wait....i dont own Grinch jammie pants. ... Its not fair I tell ya. *snort*
Steve Cruz 6 years ago
People seem fixated on the Man Bun. This might be the answer: He-Hive-5c...e32688.jpg 
William Taylor 6 years ago
I think they will ll grow out of it and go get tattoos so they look the same forever.
Tor Rolf Strøm 6 years ago
It's always the case. Those trying the hardest to be "different" are actually the ones that aren't. If you're actually different from the norm, you don't have to try.
Jasmine King 6 years ago
PLEASE HELP !! https://www.gofundme.com/discharged-veteran-need-help?pc=ot_co_dashboard_a&rcid=35dd3575d25a4c519baf418df0c9254f
Ryo Bakura 6 years ago
"Hey, that's me, and you published that photo without my permission. Also, claiming all hipsters look like I do is slander." "Okay, but we've done some research, and it turns out that it's not you in the photo." "Well it looks exactly like me, so I'm suing for slander-by-proxy." "That's not a real thing, and you just proved our entire article. Thank you."
Mark Sheffield 6 years ago
Kind of like everyone in California who needs a customized license plate so they can be unique. They all try so hard to be different that they all become the same annoying in-n-out lovers. BTW, is having an STD that much worse than being a hipster?
Ronald Burggraaf 6 years ago
https://youtu.be/KHbzSif78qQ Monty Python Life of Brian. Brian: "You are all individuals" Man in the crowd: "I'm not"
Ronald Burggraaf 6 years ago
Must definitely be his name. 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This hipster is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisible!! THIS IS AN EX-HIPSTER!!
Catlady6000 6 years ago
Gibson girls in the late 1800s, Flappers in the 1920s, beatniks, hippies, punks, goths, rockers, country, hipsters, Republicans, etc all have their uniforms
Wyndmere 6 years ago
(So do democrats.) -- This happens with every generation and nich/facet of society.
Load More Replies... The Cappy 6 years ago
Sorry catlady, your prejudices got ahead of you. I live in Texas, and unless someone has a t-shirt or hat specifically naming their allegiance you can’t guess their political party.
Catlady6000 5 years ago
Apologies, didn't intend to get get political. Actually, I was referencing a few years ago, when there was a minute of news commentary about the "Republican" uniform. Most conservatives dress conservatively. You don't see a lot of boho chic or goth republicans. They're usually very neat and clean cut. Most social groups have a "uniform" or way of dress that is influenced by their beliefs, associations, employment, etc. Having been to Texas, I agree with your comment regarding political affiliation. But even Texans have their uniform as a culture that is very practical, hardworking and out door based
Sara Johnston 6 years ago
As I read the comments I think, well unless you sew all your own clothes it's pretty impossible NOT to look like a clone of whatever cultural group shops in the same milieu of stores. We all need to feel a sense of belonging. It might be in a tiny group of close friends or a big social strata where we work. Part of the signal you belong is tied up in appearance. That's only the superficial part that identifies the stuff inside the individual. The trick is not to bad-mouth the appearance of the groups you're not a part of. We all look like somebody else, a little or a lot.
David Oland 6 years ago
While you shake a finger trying to stick up for them, I say back to you "They stole the look to appear like strong real men." The Pacific NW has loggers, farmers, fishermem, and hunters who include men and women, and for over a century wore a checker or plaid flannel shirt, jeans, thick soled boots, and stocking cap, and men wore suspenders and beard too. Think Paul Bunyan and you get the idea. And these hipsters are from cities, who hate and have never used a rifle to get deer meat, likely cannot tie a fishing line, would never want soil under manicured nails, and please never hold an ax near their hugging tree! They stole the look just like they have stolen afros, and stolen looks of other countries. Should my region feel flattered? Nah, we want to spray paint CITY BOI on their macbooks and Prius. We don't though, because we know they would start lecturing us like you.
Meowton Mewsk 6 years ago
I don’t like handlebar mustaches and a smug sense of superiority about craft beer either lol. But the fact remains that there’s no evidence this happened, not even a screenshot of the email.
rehabisforquitters 6 years ago
Have you ever noticed how Elvis impersonators don't really look like Elvis, but more like each other?
Irene McIver 6 years ago
I'm not convinced this story is even real, since neither the irate reader who thought he recognised himself nor the actual model is named. If the complainer exists, he may have been trolling them.
Jane Alexander 6 years ago
No mention of alcohol here and that's where the term 'hipster' originated back in the 1920 s. It referred to guys who carried a hip flask. lol.
The Cappy 6 years ago
Interesting historical note. Are you sure it's actually the same term? I suspect it evolved independently a second time from the term "hip" from the 60s.
Load More Replies... Jace 6 years ago
Hipsters aren’t really non-conformists. They’re just “different conformists”. Like goths, and whatever other artificial group you want to choose from American culture, they’re merely ego advertisers who desperately desire to have an identity they think will stand out from what they perceive as “the norm”. They grasp on to what’s easily identified and quantified, and apply an “identity” by associating with another group, instead of forging their own path. It’s easier to pick a recipe from a list than to assemble your own from individual components. It’s scary to be truly alone and tribeless; it is harder to attempt to create your own tribe. Rather than simply being who they are, they’re selecting a pre-existing ego brand / recipe that others have chosen, but not enough others that they feel like “the norm”. A true non-conformist wouldn’t need to pick from a menu of readymade options. Hipsters are all about being pop-culture savvy, which just makes them even more conformist.
Kelley Eidem 6 years ago
This story reminds me of something that happened to me. It was almost identical. I just might Sue...or Mary or Bob...Never mind!
Tim Douglass 6 years ago
OK, I remember a tongue-in-cheek book from back in the 70s or so called something like "How to be a non-conformist". It really does seem like history repeats itself.
Major Houlihan Bear 6 years ago (edited)
What is a hipster. Some young, educated, sceptical people who may or may not be also privileged and shop in the same stores. Tho with global brands its safe to say that they all shop the same things - ahahaha - hipster is a very superficial concept - it does not mean character, devotion to anything or meaningful political stances. The hipster is the artstudents' artstudent ;)
Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 6 years ago
No, see a lot of people have the wrong idea of what a hipster is. Every generation has hipsters, and each generations hipsters are different. Because hipster isn't a specific style, it's a specific attitude towards culture. Hipster refers to counter-culture, the people who shun the norm simply because it's the norm. They're also the ones who define the next generation's mainstream fashion by rejecting the current mainstream fashion.
Load More Replies... Sharad Patel 6 years ago
I think "hipsters", the term that came to use in the 2000's in the college crowd, referred to fashionable(foward) contemporary crowd... not non-conformists. Urban Outfitters from 2003- onwards to maybe 2008 was hipster clothing and things... but it was not non-conformist.
Frankenfrog 6 years ago
When enough hipsters shun the norm, they become the norm, so their goal is invalid
diane a 6 years ago
A hipster/hippie is from the 1960's-70's - right after Kerouack and the Beatniks. "Hip" meant Independant of mainstream stuff. John Lennon telling Jimi Hendrix - "you're Hip man". Hip was the 1960's term for "cool". Hipster seems a bit of a silly description today. The picture of this"hipster" is no more than a guy in a check shirt and a woolly hat who needs a shave. OK - maybe his shirt cost $800 and his woolly hat $300 - but he still looks like a guy with an hangover nipping to the shop at 8am.
Darryl Kerrigan 5 years ago
Reminds me of a great South Park episode where they are trying to recruit a dancer for a dance off. They ask the Goth's if they want in, who reply that they won't as they are non-conformist. Then the last goth says 'I'm so non-conformist I'm not going to conform with you and I'm going to dance...'
Emmanuel Courtecuisse 6 years ago
Loool, before reading, I knew it wasnt him! I'm a Getty Image user...and see this model so much for my book cover I work on lol !
Jeannie Carle 6 years ago
Being an "old-broad" now - Back in the 60's. as a teen, all we wanted to do was to NOT look like our parents' generation :-)
Bianca Roxas 6 years ago
Barely anyone is really following their own ideas. Most non-conformists are people who are just confirming to a smaller group of people than usual. It's impossible not to confirm to at least something, just as much as we confirm to speaking the same language to understand each other. What's original is just a new combination of old ideas.
Paul K. Johnson 6 years ago
I don't remember the comedian who said it but he said, "Yes, you're unique... just like everyone else."
Susan Forbes 6 years ago
There was an old Mad magazine cartoon that had an older man ask 3 young men why they had long hair. They all shout, "to be different!". He asks the 4th young man why he has short hair and he replies "to be REALLY different "
Aimee Allen-Kirk 6 years ago
I feel your pain NotHipster.....i cannot count the times Ive gotten all riled up about headless fat people in news stories thinking it was me....or fat folks on the people of Walmart...then be like oh wait....i dont own Grinch jammie pants. ... Its not fair I tell ya. *snort*
Steve Cruz 6 years ago
People seem fixated on the Man Bun. This might be the answer: He-Hive-5c...e32688.jpg
William Taylor 6 years ago
I think they will ll grow out of it and go get tattoos so they look the same forever.
Tor Rolf Strøm 6 years ago
It's always the case. Those trying the hardest to be "different" are actually the ones that aren't. If you're actually different from the norm, you don't have to try.
Jasmine King 6 years ago
PLEASE HELP !! https://www.gofundme.com/discharged-veteran-need-help?pc=ot_co_dashboard_a&rcid=35dd3575d25a4c519baf418df0c9254f
Ryo Bakura 6 years ago
"Hey, that's me, and you published that photo without my permission. Also, claiming all hipsters look like I do is slander." "Okay, but we've done some research, and it turns out that it's not you in the photo." "Well it looks exactly like me, so I'm suing for slander-by-proxy." "That's not a real thing, and you just proved our entire article. Thank you."
Mark Sheffield 6 years ago
Kind of like everyone in California who needs a customized license plate so they can be unique. They all try so hard to be different that they all become the same annoying in-n-out lovers. BTW, is having an STD that much worse than being a hipster?
Related on Bored Panda
311
71