Bandwagons you avoid

[Sayonara925]

Post what you consider to be bandwagon(s) you will not be part of (and mention why, if you are so inclined).

Probably an unpopular opinion, but for me it's Apple...too proprietary, overly expensive, better competitive choices available, and their products I feel are often purchased for social status reasons more than anything else.  The latter reason I think will be demonstrated when their watch comes to market.

Another...Bieber.

[nanu]

Apple is actually top of my list - they make decent products, but hardly worth the hype, closed ecosystem, and price (that's often twice what a competitor is charging for what I consider a superior product).

All sorts of food trends is another - I don't buy into the whole "gluten is evil" that started in the past years (unless you have a legitimate medical condition),
GMO food is not going to kill you (anymore so than normal food), and just because something is natural it doesn't mean it's better for you...

[Zikoris]

1. Almost anything to do with food! Paleo, gluten-free, organic, it's all a load of bunk as far as I'm concerned. If you cook all your food from scratch, eat reasonable portion sizes, lots of vegetables, and get plenty of exercise, assuming you don't have some underlying health condition requiring a certain diet, you're going to be healthy!

I think that the amount of stress people give themselves over what they eat probably causes more health problems than they would have if they just had a reasonable portion of the dessert, enjoyed it, then forgot about it.

2. Anything technological, for sure. The image that comes to mind when I see the new smart phones is generally child labourers mining for that rare metals in horrible conditions in third world countries.

3. There's a huge bandwagon in Vancouver for fancy alcohol / craft beer. I think it's a biggest load of bs ever. Though I don't drink anyway.

[alice76]

I love my smartphone, but I'm not buying into the constant upgrades. My iPhone 4S works fine, thanks. My flats aren't Tory Burch, and my coat certainly isn't Montcler or Canada Goose, yet I'm stylish. Oh, and I manage to be fit without owning a single item from Lululemon.

[CopperTex]

Alcohol. I don't get it. It tastes toxic to me, makes me feel out of control, and is high in calories. I realize I'm in the minority on this one.

[caliq]

Alcohol. I don't get it. It tastes toxic to me, makes me feel out of control, and is high in calories. I realize I'm in the minority on this one.

I agree!  I've never had an alcoholic drink that I would enjoy if it wasn't alcoholic (either because the things in it that make it taste good are way too high in calories, or because it tastes like ass).  So, whenever I drank it was with the explicit goal of getting drunk.  And even then, it was rare and I was much more likely to do something like cheap vodka shots than sit around and sip a nasty beer for a half hour...Now, just...blech.  Over it!

I very reluctantly joined the Apple bandwagon with an iPhone 5S last summer after my ancient droid shit the bed -- I tried 3 or 4 other non-Apple smart phones and hated them for various reasons (I tried each for 1 week or more, so I was making an informed decision).  Apparently Apple was the only company making a physically small, but higher-quality phone at that point in time :(  (I'm 5'2" and have tiny hands -- and this was before the Samsung Galaxy 5 Mini was released). 

I think the paleo/low carb stuff has a bit of merit, but only because of recent research on the gut microbiome and it's potential to affect/cause sugar cravings depending on the population of bacteria (and I mean actual research, not blog mumbo jumbo).  So, if you're having sugar/carb craving issues and cutting those  things out of your diet completely (at least for awhile) can alter your microbiota permanently, then you might get a lot of benefit from strict paleo rather than an 'everything in moderation' approach.  But it's definitely overblown and not beneficial for the specific reasons that it's touted for.  Personally, I can't stop eating carbs or sugars once I start, soooo I just try not to start, lol. 

GMOs are amazing.  Genetics is amazing.  I get so geeked out about this stuff...it blows my mind how awesome it is and I don't understand people's fear of it.  It's just molecules. 

I'm really bad at fashion bandwagons.  I think I'm constantly stuck 2-3 years behind the trends because I just don't notice until something becomes so ubiquitous that every girl my age is wearing it.  Then I look around and go, uhhh when did that become a thing?  And by the time I actually get around to thinking of buying it or find a good sale on something I actually like, it's going out of style...and the cycle starts over xD 

[lostamonkey]

Alcohol. I don't get it. It tastes toxic to me, makes me feel out of control, and is high in calories. I realize I'm in the minority on this one.

I understand alcohol, but I am not on the alcohol bandwagon. It's expensive, tastes bad, and has mostly undesirable effects. I also drive everywhere so finding rides/cabs/public transportation after drinking is annoying.

[LiveLean]

Pun intended here, but I always have avoided bands that are popular for being popular: Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, REM, Dave Matthews, etc.

[nanu]

I very reluctantly joined the Apple bandwagon with an iPhone 5S last summer after my ancient droid shit the bed -- I tried 3 or 4 other non-Apple smart phones and hated them for various reasons (I tried each for 1 week or more, so I was making an informed decision).  Apparently Apple was the only company making a physically small, but higher-quality phone at that point in time :(  (I'm 5'2" and have tiny hands -- and this was before the Samsung Galaxy 5 Mini was released). 

I have tiny hands as well, and I'm a big fan of the Nexus 5 (and the Nexus 4 prior to that).
While it's a bit dated now (not more so than the 5S though), it's a great phone, and cost about half of what the 5S did when they were both new.

[Jags4186]

I love my smartphone, but I'm not buying into the constant upgrades. My iPhone 4S works fine, thanks. My flats aren't Tory Burch, and my coat certainly isn't Montcler or Canada Goose, yet I'm stylish. Oh, and I manage to be fit without owning a single item from Lululemon.

I don't know what Tory burch, Montcler, or Canada goose are...do I need to learn about them before I don't care about them?

[dragoncar]

Babies

[vern]

I've never been on facebook in my life.

[sol]

blogs.

[resy]

1) Apple products (for the already mentioned reasons in this thread)
2) Instagram
3) Celebrity gossip/ fashion magazines/ shopping catalogs
4) shopping as "fun".
5)Coach, or any other garnment/accessory with the logo on it (obviously a status thing, so lame! "Look at me I can afford a ____!")
6) New car. Car payments. How do ppl do it?!
7) upgrading. I love my galaxy and plan to have it until it bites the dust... just as all my previous phones lol
8) meal delivery services (blue apron, etc)
9) expensive luxury vacations
 Damn my list is long....and I sound old haha

[Lyssa]

Apple, unless provided for free by employer, Facebook, skinny jeans, alcohol, gluten/lactose/fat/whatever-free food, anything esoteric, including most 'alternative' meds and treatments.

[Sunnymo]

Multi Level Marketing.

Enough said.

[gooki]

Driving to work
Twitter
Using TV as a substitute for parenting

[11ducks]

Crossfit
Fashion
Alcohol
Ebay/online shopping/etsy
$42 cups of coffee
Pay tv

[marketnonsenses]

Sports. I just dont care about them. I am a guy who is in pretty good shape and works out. I have no emotional reaction if a team from the area I was born in does well or loses. I dont think it is fun to watch football or basketball. I thought about it the other day. I cant even name a person on a local college or NFL team near me. I dont think I even know any NFL players names.

[Kalergie]

Forgot to mention:
- picture perfect wedding. Diamond ring (two months the man's salary, right?), a ridiculous dress the bride wears once in her life, rehearsal dinner, flowers and 100s of people to feed and impress. But you aren't really in love if you don't post kickass wedding pictures on your Facebook. I know friends who have been married for 10 years and are still paying off their wedding loan. This is social cool-aid.

[benjenn]

Sports... don't care for them at all. 
Celebrities... don't know who most of them are or why they're "famous."
Popular music... I listen to my favorite singers/bands sometimes but other than that I don't listen to music at all.
Lady Gaga... never heard a single song she's done.  Don't get it.
Purses... I have one purse at a time and use it until it breaks or is worn out.  Changing purses kills me.
Twitter... I have a Twitter account but I don't follow anyone and rarely ever post to it.  Never look at what others post.  Oddly, I have quite a few followers, which always cracks me up.

Granted, I have an iPhone and love it.  I have an iPad, too.  I follow a plant-based diet.  I follow a couple of blogs and have 3 myself (one for work).  So I'm not completely immune to bandwagons even though I don't consider myself a follower at all.

[Pigeon]

Apple products.  I think the company's business practices are predatory and I can find alternatives that do 95% of the same things for less than half the price and are way more intuitive for me to use.

Most brand names. 

College and professional sports.  What a total waste.  I work at a university and see absolutely no upside to sports on campus.

Trendy diets.  Unless you have a diagnosed condition, I think cutting out gluten, etc., is a stupid thing to do.  Paleo--because cave people lived to be so old?  "Clean eating," oh, please, what does that even mean? 

Woo.   There is a whole lot of woo here.  Give me evidence based medical treatment.  I don't for a minute believe that cutting out wheat or eating a lot of garlic cures cancer or any other ludicrous, unsubstantiated claim.  If you have double blind, peer-reviewed studies, bring them on.  Anecdata and testimonials are not evidence.

[Jane]

Tablets - my laptop and smartphone are more than sufficient

A diet that is anything but a reasonable variety of real foods, including *gasp* CARBS, with the occasional processed treat mixed in

Alcohol

Juicing and smoothies. I much prefer eating the actual food in a non-pulverized baby food form.

[crispy]

After reading this thread, I have learned that I am not remotely trendy.  No Facebook, no Twitter, no Apple products, and no alcohol. l Plus, I barely recognize the trendy brands listed.  If I own designer things it's because they came from Goodwill.  Despite all that, I am usually dressed pretty well and get compliments all the time. 

I do, however, love Disney (which is about as mainstream as they come) and football (I am a Fantasy Football fiend) so I do have my mainstream moments.

[thd7t]

blogs.

I always considered MMM a blog.  Is it not?

[thd7t]

Alcohol. I don't get it. It tastes toxic to me, makes me feel out of control, and is high in calories. I realize I'm in the minority on this one.

While I enjoy alcohol, you are not far from the majority in the USA.  About half of Americans have seven or fewer drinks/year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/09/25/think-you-drink-a-lot-this-chart-will-tell-you/

[Cromacster]

blogs.

I always considered MMM a blog.  Is it not?

/sarcasm......but Sol is a loose cannon.  So who knows.

[MandalayVA]

Veganism.  It's not healthy, you're not saving the animals or the planet.  For every little cow you think you're saving, a kid in Brazil is living in hellish conditions so you can have your tofu burger.

Tattoos.  98% of them are ugly and not well thought out.  And for the love of Cthulhu don't get them on your neck or face.

TV.  If it's not my coworkers earnestly discussing last night's episode of "Duck Dynasty" or "Dance Moms" it's people on Facebook geeking out over "Game of Thrones" or "Orange Is The New Black."  My FB page is now set to Bejeweled Blitz so I can avoid stuff like that.

Texting.  I have seen people walk into walls, trip over things and get into car wrecks because they just HAVE to type on their phones all the time.

 

[2Birds1Stone]

Children
Marriage
Home Ownership
New Cars

[firewalker]

Tattoos. I am yet to see one that I thought was a good idea in any scope of the imagination. Ok, maybe on livestock if they still do that.

[SuperSecretName]

Pun intended here, but I always have avoided bands that are popular for being popular: Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, REM, Dave Matthews, etc.

sorry, have to chime in here. 

Grateful Dead does not deserve to be in your list.  They were popular (and still are) because of the incredible music that they create.  I am in my early 30s and came of age after Jerry died.  The Dead are just as relevant a band to me and my friends as any modern band could be.  Their music is timeless and is truly a gift.

::gets off soapbox::

[NorCal]

1. Pop culture anything
2. TV or music anything
3. Day-to-day sports (although I will occasionally follow a local team that is doing well)
4. Environmentalism.  I just don't get it.
5. Google.  I don't trust them.
6. Fashion anything.

I do go for Apple products, but don't need the newest shiniest one.  I personally find the "free" offered by Google to be too expensive for my tastes.

[MsPeacock]

1. Watching televised sports - I don't understand why anyone would care about football.
2. Watching anything on tv - haven't done it in years. (I do watch Netflix)
3. Tattoos. No thank you. I always wonder what the regret turn around time is on any tattoo that I see.
4. Facebook "challenges" where you are supposed to dump ice on your head, or post a saying about children with autism, or put a post up about cancer to... idk... 'raise awareness.'
5. Diet trends. Paleo or no carb or whatever. GF. whatever.

[Lyssa]

+1 on home ownership, cars sports teams and weddings. If SO and I decide to marry, we would either just go to the 'Standesamt' (our version of a courthouse wedding) or elope.

As a female I should also mention shoes and purses. Buying as few as I can get away with.

[so.mpls]

College and professional sports.  What a total waste. I work at a university and see absolutely no upside to sports on campus.

I guess if you don't consider more applicants for enrollment and more successful fundraising at your university 'upside', then you're right, there's no upside to sports on campus.

[mathlete]

Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. TV in general.

In defense of Apple (even though I don't currently use any Apple products), they are a quality brand. I finally got tired of my parents complaining about their Windows PCs and said, "Just buy a Mac". They did and they've been happy ever since.

[mathlete]

4. Facebook "challenges" where you are supposed to dump ice on your head, or post a saying about children with autism, or put a post up about cancer to... idk... 'raise awareness.'

"Awareness" is generally pretty dumb IMO, but that fad ended up with millions of dollars raised for ALS which is a disease few people cared about curing beforehand. So a net positive IMO.

[nanu]

4. Facebook "challenges" where you are supposed to dump ice on your head, or post a saying about children with autism, or put a post up about cancer to... idk... 'raise awareness.'

"Awareness" is generally pretty dumb IMO, but that fad ended up with millions of dollars raised for ALS which is a disease few people cared about curing beforehand. So a net positive IMO.

Raising awareness and money to fight diseases is good, but this just turns it into a "popularity contest" - so is that money going to the right places? (look here: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/infographic-shows-differences-between-diseases-we-donate-and-diseases-kill-us)

[mathlete]

Raising awareness and money to fight diseases is good, but this just turns it into a "popularity contest" - so is that money going to the right places? (look here: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/infographic-shows-differences-between-diseases-we-donate-and-diseases-kill-us)

Two of the top three killers are heart disease and diabetes. Diabetes is on the rise because of obesity and diabetes is also a risk factor for heart disease. Other risk factors for heart disease include smoking (stop smoking) and high blood pressure (exercise, stress management, statins). These diseases are fairly well understood and there are a lot of preventative measures for them.

I don't think people should be ignored just because they were unlucky enough to get a rare and debilitating disease like ALS.

I'll also say that "awareness" is actually useful for diseases like prostate cancer and breast cancer (a combined 60,000 deaths in 2011) because if you screen for them early, 5 year survival rates are much higher.

Do things like Susan G Komen and "Mowvember" go overboard? Probably a little, but I'll end by saying that donating to research and support isn't a zero sum game.

[Kalergie]

+1 on home ownership, cars sports teams and weddings. If SO and I decide to marry, we would either just go to the 'Standesamt' (our version of a courthouse wedding) or elope.

We did that. I told everyone that if they want to celebrate with us to come by and have a drink in a bar next door afterwards. It was great! No drama!

[mathlete]

We did that. I told everyone that if they want to celebrate with us to come by and have a drink in a bar next door afterwards. It was great! No drama!

Totally on board with this one. Luckily so is my girlfriend!

Weddings are a lot of fun, but they're also stressful and expensive. I'll stick to attending them instead of throwing one :)

[mak1277]

College and professional sports.  What a total waste.  I work at a university and see absolutely no upside to sports on campus.

If it's a big school, the amount of money generated by football and basketball are surely subsidizing a lot of people's salaries (among other programs).

[Mr Dorothy Dollar]

Girls - being a gay married man saves money. 

[Le Poisson]

Gym memberships.

Everyone at teh office/on facebook, etc seems to belong to a gym. Some even go! And they talk about how its such a great deal - "Only $2 per day!" - "Really you pay that much? Mine is $1.50 a day!" etc.

No one seems to have figured out you can go for a jog for free! If you want to lift weights, go help someone build something or do some landscaping! I did once join an indoor soccer league though - $30 for 4 months, 2 games a week. On a per-game pricepoint I was about the same as a $1 per day gym, but I was getting banged up too much so I quit.

[mathlete]

If it's a big school, the amount of money generated by football and basketball are surely subsidizing a lot of people's salaries (among other programs).

Yep. Subsidizing everyone except for the kids playing the sport and producing the television product that leads to all those lucrative TV deals...

[MandyM]

Pun intended here, but I always have avoided bands that are popular for being popular: Grateful Dead, Jimmy Buffett, REM, Dave Matthews, etc.

sorry, have to chime in here. 

Grateful Dead does not deserve to be in your list.  They were popular (and still are) because of the incredible music that they create.  I am in my early 30s and came of age after Jerry died.  The Dead are just as relevant a band to me and my friends as any modern band could be.  Their music is timeless and is truly a gift.

::gets off soapbox bandwagon::

I fixed your post for you.

[Nancy]

Spending my time disparaging or competing with others. (Reading Lapham's Quarterly issue on Foreigners. Interesting!)

[marketnonsenses]

Gym memberships.

Everyone at teh office/on facebook, etc seems to belong to a gym. Some even go! And they talk about how its such a great deal - "Only $2 per day!" - "Really you pay that much? Mine is $1.50 a day!" etc.

No one seems to have figured out you can go for a jog for free! If you want to lift weights, go help someone build something or do some landscaping! I did once join an indoor soccer league though - $30 for 4 months, 2 games a week. On a per-game pricepoint I was about the same as a $1 per day gym, but I was getting banged up too much so I quit.

HAHAH what? Lifting weights is a awesome cheap and healthy hobby. You cant get as strong doing landscaping as you can lifting weights.

[mathlete]

At one point my parents indicated that "we aren't really married if we don't have a proper party". I had to digest that one!

Oh man, I'd have to have words with my parents if they said that.

My mom will probably be a bit bummed, but she'll get over it.

[Zikoris]

Veganism.  It's not healthy, you're not saving the animals or the planet.  For every little cow you think you're saving, a kid in Brazil is living in hellish conditions so you can have your tofu burger.

Just to correct that, the vast majority of soy grown in Brazil is for exported animal feed. Cattle farming is the really destructive force down there as the soil is very unsuited to it, but it's cheap enough to be popular anyways. So people there are living in hellish conditions to support North American's cheap meat obsession, not for the sake of tofu burgers.