In 1943, philosopher Kurt Lewin coined the term “gatekeeping.” Lewin described the concept as how information is only spread by those who allow it, and that makes the ones who engage in this practice “gatekeepers.” Despite its decades-old origin, gatekeeping continues to thrive. It often comes in the form of refusing to answer questions or lying about the answer.
When asking a gatekeeper a question, the following peculiarities occur. Nine times out of ten, when asked where a certain meal is from, the supplying store had unfortunately burned down right after the last meal was made. Every piece of jewelry is an antique passed down for generations, and every cool pair of jeans was thrifted. They will also tell you not to look at Amazon. There is no question that these people will answer honestly. No matter how many times they are begged for a brand name or restaurant location, the answer will always just dodge the question.
Although it may be infuriating, these people are doing good by keeping this information to themselves.
Humanity is living in the age of information. It is so easy to spread knowledge; it is almost impossible not to hear about new occurrences. Trends expedite this process, turning anything with a smidge of popularity into a worldwide spectacle. Unfortunately, this is what kills niche interests, making the affected trend significantly worse. For instance, niche groups’ love for Labubus was killed by the immense amount of attention Labubus garnered. At first, Labubus were just a little monster companion created by an author of children’s books, and had a niche as a bag charm. Once their popularity snowballed, however, they became a meme and a symbol of consumerism. Owning a Labubu became a joke, and people were made fun of for having one, ruining its value. If the person who first owned a Labubu decided to gatekeep what it was instead of sharing it, Labubus may hold more personal value.
It is incredibly important to be unique—now more than ever, as the internet is making originality harder to find. Given the spread of information, the ability to copy is too easy. By contrast, finding interests unique to yourself is an ability that is slowly being left behind. Gatekeeping keeps different products and ideas alive by preventing them from suffering the same fate as Labubus and other trends, such as band T-shirts, “Nirvana is my favorite brand!”. It promotes individuality, protecting ideas from being destroyed and losing their original meaning because of mainstream popularity. Natural discovery is a treasure that cannot be thrown away by influencers online. So yes, you did thrift that jewelry, those shoes were gifted to you, and the person in your comments asking “hoodie?” can look for it themselves. Keep keeping, my gate kings.
