Rant on consumerism / fanboyism

I know it has been going this way for awhile, but I think it is really indicative of a paradigm shift where previously nationalism was treated like a spectator sport and now corporatism or consumerism is what will replace it. What I am talking about is the dialog that is applied to all business in nearly every single industry. Who is winning, who has the most market share, who sold the most, etc. Business is treated in dialog as if it is a winner takes all, lost takes nothing game. In reality it is not like that at all, what matters is are you making enough money to stay in business, after that it is up to you if it is enough or not.

Nearly everyone is taking part in this shift, I think the term "fanboy" is just a backlash to the trend. Everyone is taking part in it but at the same time everyone has disdain for what is happening, fanboy is just a way to express that, a way to call out people who are taking the corporatism just a little too far for your comfort zone.

What is this "fanboy" term that you refer to and how is it being used? I'm not familiar with this.

It's used to make fun of people who go too far in support/being loyal to a certain company. Microsoft fanboy, sony fanboy, apple fanboy, etc.

So, this new term is a deliberate insertion into our new semantic library. It's the obvious evolution of the state-based Patriot. Now, we'll carry the flags of our favorite brands and sports teams.

Are you seeing the term in strategically located PR? It's got to be a very calculated release.

Its a term used consistently in technological circles. Ex: Your an intel fanboy or an AMD fanboy. The "fanboys" usually see no wrong with the product that they support and only see wrong with the competing product. The fanboy will support their chosen product without regard of analysis of merit. I have seen the term used for about 5 years personally, well before I was aware of the information discussed in this forum so I cant give history of the term other than remembering it that long ago.

Cisco vs Juniper (networking products)
Nvidia vs ATI (video cards)

so on and so forth.

C1 wrote:

So, this new term is a deliberate insertion into our new semantic library. It's the obvious evolution of the state-based Patriot. Now, we'll carry the flags of our favorite brands and sports teams.

Are you seeing the term in strategically located PR? It's got to be a very calculated release.

It is in tech circles like Silent Wind said, though I remember seeing it as far back as 10 years maybe, I first heard it in IRC like many things. I haven't seen it in PR per say, but the closest things to that would be journalism, tech journalism of course. It has only been a couple years that I have seen it gain acceptance at a journalism level, before it probably would have been considered too unprofessional. It is at the point now that people are willing to use it both in a positive or negative way, originally it would typically be negative only, but now it is "okay" to say "I admit I'm a X fanboy, but...". As far as being a calculated release, well I don't personally know, but it easily could be. I think internet based communities are strange in the way the pick up memes and run with them, repeated them over and over, once again much more so in tech circles. I am using "tech" widely, anything from video games to hacking to professional IT. As long as it has the right amount of smartass mixed with humor, it seems they will pick it up and run with it.

It's just a rant like I said, something that annoys me. For some reason I have always been very abrasive when it comes to repeating memes, creating words, or twisting word meanings.