YTMND talk:Definition of a fad

The purpose of this page

The reason why I'd like to know what a fad specifically is is because there is none — technically, anything with enough search results qualifies as a fad. As a result, there are about fifty seven billion fads, some more faddy than the other. There are some that are undeniably fads, and those that are questionably fads. This is confusing. Using this discussion page, I'd like to come up with the single definition of a YTMND fad. Please list your ideas below (and sign each of your comments by typing "~~~~" without the quotes). Messedrocker 01:36, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Reparodied many times

When it's reparodied many times, I see it as a fad. It's Smiddle, LOL | What is Talk Page? 01:58, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Well, that's a given. I believe that when the final definition is laid out, that should be like the preamble or something. What I'm looking for is specific figures. Messedrocker 02:15, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Repeated ad nauseum

I'd say a fad is something that used to be funny but has been repeated so many times that it now boils your blood to even think about it, let alone see it. Max 19:58, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

That's actually something that could be added to the definition: "YTMNDs incorporating basic elements of a fad are bound to attract at least a small level of criticism for including the fad." Messedrocker 20:01, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

anything i hate is a fad. j.s. bach would have used the phrase "variations on a theme." Jon 20:34, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Popularity

I think what's more important than the repetitiveness of a fad is the, well, fad-like nature of a fad's popularity. People make Cosby sites these days because Cosby sites are the cool thing to do, and when Cosby sites stop appearing on Up and Coming and the Top 15, people will make sites about something else. On the other hand, DYTMND was never a fad because even though there were fifty of those damn things, it was all the same guy making them trying to convince people it was the next big thing. For that matter, "The internet is for porn" isn't a fad either--as popular as it is, it's never really inspired a lot of spinoff sites. --Jim Smith 20:12, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Fads shouldn't be excluded because it was primarily one person -- the Cosby fad was primarily motivated by Kassius's constant Cosby YTMNDs. Though it can be argued that there was a cosby fad before Kassius's reincarnation, and that after he got involved, everyone else did. However, I agree that there needs to be plenty of spinoffs and it has to be featured as Up-and-Coming, Top Rated, or Top Viewed. However, what needs to be disambiguated is the number of people that need to get involved in order to make it a fad. Messedrocker 20:39, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

I'm not saying we should excluse fads driven by a single user, only the ones that never managed to attract more than a handful of imitators. If I remember correctly all the Cake Song YTMNDs were initially by the same user, but eventually it won users over until it became a true fad. That's what separates fads from Joshcube's failed attempts to start fads. --Jim Smith 20:45, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Yeah, I managed to grasp that, but I'm just making sure. Would you like to respond to the other suggestions? Messedrocker 20:52, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Specific figures

Would anyone like to make specific figures of a fad? Like how many page views the original got? Or number of pages of results? Messedrocker 20:53, July 22, 2006 (CDT)

Pages of results doesn't always work, for example the lol fad and the What is love fad. Searching lol YTMNDs gets you more than "lol internet" YTMNDs, and what is YTMNDs brings you nothing. It's Smiddle, LOL | What is Talk Page? 05:07, July 23, 2006 (CDT)