The Threshold of Silly Bandz
Original article: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trend-spotter-the-man-behind-silly-bandz-2010-12
If you were a kid in the 2010s, you may remember the ultimate craze of Silly Bandz. As silly as their spelling, these plastic bands came in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. I remember we would wear them on our wrists and even ankles, trade them for rare ones, and try to collect as many as we could. Rob Croak, the inventor of Silly Bandz, claimed they’d be popular because of everyone’s need to fidget, which he calls the “idle hands” theory. He took into account their “tradability” and “collectability.”
When I was in elementary school, I remember Silly Bandz slowly appearing as a concept. At first, I thought they were weird and maybe even pointless. I didn’t like wearing things on my wrist in the first place and thought they were too expensive for my third-grader wallet. I thought the idea of wearing a colorful animal or logo to personalize one’s look was a neutral idea.
Since I was rather skeptic, I would say my threshold for jumping on the Silly Bandz train (as well as other 2010s trends, like Kooky Pens, Orbeez, etc.) was rather high. It wasn’t until 3 or 4 of my close friends (people in my network with whom I had strong ties) began wearing Silly Bandz that I began to think of them as a cool statement piece. When it comes to trends in general, I notice that I am the person who waits a fair bit for everyone else to take part in it before I even dip my toes in the water.
We can see the idea of 2010s fads as an application of cascades, where my decision to partake in the Silly Bandz craze depended on how many others in my cluster chose to participate in the trend. One or two friends expressing interest in Silly Bandz was not enough to tempt me, but three or four friends became the tipping point for me to try Silly Bandz out as well.
In many ways, I was following the wisdom of the crowd because I was pretty indifferent to these silicon shaped bands. I’m sure that my jumping on the Silly Bandz bandwagon also influenced my “neighbors” (other close friends) to try out Silly Bandz, thus continuing the information cascade.
Works Cited
Beyers, Tim. “How The Inventor Of Silly Bandz Created A Fad That Swept The Nation.” Business Insider Australia, 9 Dec. 2010, https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trend-spotter-the-man-behind-silly-bandz-2010-12. Accessed 21 Nov. 2021.