Forums > Social Discussion > Spinners as a subculture
Login/Join to ParticipateBRONZE Member
old hand
716 posts
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom
old hand
716 posts
Location: Bristol, United Kingdom
Posted:
I am writing my dissertation at the moment on spinning as a new subculture. Since the number of people who are involved in spinning in one form or another has grown so much in recent years (20000 or so new HoP members in the last 2 years) i think spin can now be classed as a sub culture
As part of my research i want to see how other spinners view themselves and what background they have.
What music do people listen to? What other groups are/ have you been involved in (skater, rocker etc)? What kind of clothes do you wear? What race/ class background would you say you are from? Do you consider yourselves spinners as a way of desribing yourself? Do you think spinning has grown from any other groups/ subcultures? What are the main characteristics of spinners as individuals and as a whole?
Basicly what makes a spinner a spinner?
I will be very gratefull for any help or oppinions you can give me
EDITED_BY: -sandy- (1134747304)
I am writing my dissertation at the moment on spinning as a new subculture. Since the number of people who are involved in spinning in one form or another has grown so much in recent years (20000 or so new HoP members in the last 2 years) i think spin can now be classed as a sub culture
As part of my research i want to see how other spinners view themselves and what background they have.
What music do people listen to? What other groups are/ have you been involved in (skater, rocker etc)? What kind of clothes do you wear? What race/ class background would you say you are from? Do you consider yourselves spinners as a way of desribing yourself? Do you think spinning has grown from any other groups/ subcultures? What are the main characteristics of spinners as individuals and as a whole?
Basicly what makes a spinner a spinner?
I will be very gratefull for any help or oppinions you can give me
EDITED_BY: -sandy- (1134747304)
"Don't do it naked!"
NYC
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA
9,232 posts
Location: NYC, NY, USA
Posted:
I always thought that hetero and homosexuality had more to do with who you wanted to sleep with.
Damn, my girlfriend is gonna be PISSED off.
Written by: Asena
dunno, theres lots of gay spinners (well poi spinners)... the straight boys do staff lol... is that the kinda thing you mean?
I always thought that hetero and homosexuality had more to do with who you wanted to sleep with.
Damn, my girlfriend is gonna be PISSED off.
Well, shall we go?
Yes, let's go.
[They do not move.]
SILVER Member
currently mending
493 posts
Location: Bristol, New Zealand
currently mending
493 posts
Location: Bristol, New Zealand
Posted:
I play chess... meet others to play with them. have knowledge of a technical language (I wouldn't start talking to HoPers about the Kings Indian Samisch Attack) and have nothing else in common with most people I know who play chess.
I make films... meet others to make films with them. have knowledge of a technical language (I wouldn't start talking to HoPers about the benefits of Alpha mattes rather than track mattes or PD170s compared to XL2's) and have little else in common with most people i know who make films (though we'd all probably like films, but very different genres/styles)
I could repeat that for just about every activity I do, as I'm sure could most people here.
I sorry, but I don't think every activity you partake in automatically becomes a subculture.
Written by:
I believe so. the simple fact that we share an activity that we all do fairly regularly, go to the same places to meet others who also do this activity and have a language that only people who are involved understand (try saying hyperloop to someone who doesnt spin) makes us a subculture.
I play chess... meet others to play with them. have knowledge of a technical language (I wouldn't start talking to HoPers about the Kings Indian Samisch Attack) and have nothing else in common with most people I know who play chess.
I make films... meet others to make films with them. have knowledge of a technical language (I wouldn't start talking to HoPers about the benefits of Alpha mattes rather than track mattes or PD170s compared to XL2's) and have little else in common with most people i know who make films (though we'd all probably like films, but very different genres/styles)
I could repeat that for just about every activity I do, as I'm sure could most people here.
I sorry, but I don't think every activity you partake in automatically becomes a subculture.
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
Nietzsche
enthusiast
220 posts
Location: The village of Edinburgh
220 posts
Location: The village of Edinburgh
Posted:
What music do people listen to?
Punk. Then a bunch of other stuff when I haven't heard any good punk: old ska, metal, some goth and industrial.
What other groups are/ have you been involved in (skater, rocker etc)?
Skinhead when I was much younger, then Punk/metal until the last couple of years. This days I would say that I'm in the "professional performance" scene. Sort of. I hang out with folk from various performance companies, juggling, re-enactment societies etc...
What kind of clothes do you wear?
Jeans and black hoody. Only own two pairs of jeans and two hoodies
What race/ class background would you say you are from?
My parents were working class but they've worked their way into upper working class/lower middle? Income is such a crap class indicator. I'm educated but poor, whatever class that is....
Do you consider yourselves spinners as a way of desribing yourself?
No. It's one of my millions of hobbies and interests.
Do you think spinning has grown from any other groups/ subcultures?
To quote MCP: "Festival subculture maybe? Or a juggling subculture? In edinburgh it grew out of a pagan subculture, but the pagan bit has been ditched for a while now, and it's mostly hippies and university kids now."
What are the main characteristics of spinners as individuals and as a whole?
People wanting to gain a skill who enjoy the challenge and the sense of achieving something.
Basicly what makes a spinner a spinner?
Anyone who is keen on it. Anyone who sees another person spinning and cannot help but watch for fear of missing some new trick...
What music do people listen to?
Punk. Then a bunch of other stuff when I haven't heard any good punk: old ska, metal, some goth and industrial.
What other groups are/ have you been involved in (skater, rocker etc)?
Skinhead when I was much younger, then Punk/metal until the last couple of years. This days I would say that I'm in the "professional performance" scene. Sort of. I hang out with folk from various performance companies, juggling, re-enactment societies etc...
What kind of clothes do you wear?
Jeans and black hoody. Only own two pairs of jeans and two hoodies
What race/ class background would you say you are from?
My parents were working class but they've worked their way into upper working class/lower middle? Income is such a crap class indicator. I'm educated but poor, whatever class that is....
Do you consider yourselves spinners as a way of desribing yourself?
No. It's one of my millions of hobbies and interests.
Do you think spinning has grown from any other groups/ subcultures?
To quote MCP: "Festival subculture maybe? Or a juggling subculture? In edinburgh it grew out of a pagan subculture, but the pagan bit has been ditched for a while now, and it's mostly hippies and university kids now."
What are the main characteristics of spinners as individuals and as a whole?
People wanting to gain a skill who enjoy the challenge and the sense of achieving something.
Basicly what makes a spinner a spinner?
Anyone who is keen on it. Anyone who sees another person spinning and cannot help but watch for fear of missing some new trick...
The insults of your enemy are a tribute to your bravery 
SILVER Member
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England
Liquid Cow
2,629 posts
Location: High Wycombe, England
Posted:
Meh, I just don't spin to trance out, I spin to have fun with whatever I'm spinning, or maybe just to practise something in particular.
Not sure that more fire'll change things - I reckon that fire is over-rated and too much effort for the result most of the time. I think I can count the occasions I've lit up this year on the fingers of one hand.
As for subcultures, I think trying to classify everything is a bit pointless, just like trying to slot every piece of music into a convenient genre pidgeonhole - I prefer to use just three; Amazing, Whatever and Rubbish.
Written by: FireTom
Sad Sad Sad -
sorry to hear that bovril...how come? You definately missed out on something here! Maybe use MORRRRRRRR FIRRRR ?
Meh, I just don't spin to trance out, I spin to have fun with whatever I'm spinning, or maybe just to practise something in particular.
Not sure that more fire'll change things - I reckon that fire is over-rated and too much effort for the result most of the time. I think I can count the occasions I've lit up this year on the fingers of one hand.
As for subcultures, I think trying to classify everything is a bit pointless, just like trying to slot every piece of music into a convenient genre pidgeonhole - I prefer to use just three; Amazing, Whatever and Rubbish.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake. You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.
Stargazer
6,650 posts
6,650 posts
Posted:
aww - c'mon we should have a game sometimes!
@bovril: guess we have something in common there... in my case I ceased fire mainly because of the fumes I'm breathing for a decade now... yet I almost trance out every time when I spin (fire)... With staff I l.o.v.e. to do superslomo, stops me thinking...
.. but we're getting off here... 
"subculture" is just another term IMO, people love to use terms - that's how we can communicate... analyzing, breaking it down, looking at it, put it back together, having more understanding - some need this... @the rest: have patience with a scientific approach to poi and please don't feel as a labrat...
Written by: dream
(I wouldn't start talking to HoPers about the Kings Indian Samisch Attack) and have nothing else in common with most people I know who play chess.
aww - c'mon we should have a game sometimes!
@bovril: guess we have something in common there... in my case I ceased fire mainly because of the fumes I'm breathing for a decade now... yet I almost trance out every time when I spin (fire)... With staff I l.o.v.e. to do superslomo, stops me thinking...
.. but we're getting off here... "subculture" is just another term IMO, people love to use terms - that's how we can communicate... analyzing, breaking it down, looking at it, put it back together, having more understanding - some need this... @the rest: have patience with a scientific approach to poi and please don't feel as a labrat...
the best smiles are the ones you lead to 
SILVER Member
no excuses. no apologies.
1,799 posts
Location: aotearoa, New Zealand
no excuses. no apologies.
1,799 posts
Location: aotearoa, New Zealand
Posted:
i like what someone said about having a sensation of distance from your peers while growing up, and the sense of comradarie found somewhere that is on the fringe of society (society being the generalized mainstream of civilization... jo average..) feels comfortably familiar.
on the internet people are also more easily relaxed about being themselves, i find it can be easier to develop trust and friendship with people online, you can get to the things that interest you with more rapidity, you dont have to wade through superficial mindless conversations if you dont want to, there are always people that complement your way of thinking/what you're specifically interested in.. as someone said, some people hang out in the moves/tech sections while others chill in the social area while others still that post a few times a year...
theres many common factors that draw us close to each other. theres the potential to always have something about yourself that you can relate to another person with. how strongly the two people feel about the same thing may have something to do with the sense of community.
thats a wonderful definition.
i think there is a very slim line between tech sock poists and glowstringers. possibly the difference that one group spin socks and the others glowstrings.. i spin socks that have LEDs within them.. (and i also spin with the hippies from the first example, although i am on the fringe of that society, too...)
essentially we are all individuals. we all have stuff in common with each other. our society is one created from many. there are many various groups and fractions within society, they all interrelate, some are big, some are small. but essentially it all comes back down to one person who has this amazing collection of interests and opinions and ideals who is living on this beautiful planet, in relation to all these other people, trying to understand theirself by seeing reflections of themselves in how they perceive the actions of those around them.
noone can truly understand another persons point of view. to understand something you have to experience it. words and definitions pale in comparison to that which is being described. can you understand another person through understanding yourself? can you see yourself in other people?
What music do people listen to? i like to listen to roots, dub, soul, funk, jazz, hiphop. basically anything mellow and deep.
What other groups are/ have you been involved in (skater, rocker etc)? i played national competitive squash, and was on the fringe of that society too. same with when i was studying for my bach in IT. and i guess again too, when i was studying chinese medicine.
What kind of clothes do you wear? i like flairs, and slightly tight t-shirts. i have long hair and tattoos.
What race/ class background would you say you are from? white middle class male mid-20s. i'd happily class myself as a hippy. :hippie: peace and one love, yeah. some people like to take mind-altering substances and hug trees. some people like to meditate and swim through gas-giants. im also an acupuncturist/massage therapist, (its 11:11, make a wish), so i guess i can be categorized into that subset of culture, too.
all these labels!
Do you consider yourselves spinners as a way of desribing yourself? yeah. i say i spin poi and staff and make little appreciative hand movements and they say "fire" and i say "yeah"... spinning is a big part of who i am. its a big part of how i define who i am to myself. my defintion of me is my expression of it. it is who i portray myself to be. it is my truth. (and thusly he proclaimed, i am thus!)
Do you think spinning has grown from any other groups/ subcultures? oh definitely. we are all intertwined with every other person/subculture/culture... the web that has no weaver... we are all comprised of smaller, interrelating parts, just as we are a small, interrelating part of something much bigger than us (ie, letter to word to sentence to paragraph to chapter to book).
What are the main characteristics of spinners as individuals and as a whole? people who like to spin.
Basicly what makes a spinner a spinner? everything! all the little bits that go into making them the unique individual they are. everyone is made up of different bits, although some bits are similar to others...
hope this wasnt too long.
i like what someone said about having a sensation of distance from your peers while growing up, and the sense of comradarie found somewhere that is on the fringe of society (society being the generalized mainstream of civilization... jo average..) feels comfortably familiar.
on the internet people are also more easily relaxed about being themselves, i find it can be easier to develop trust and friendship with people online, you can get to the things that interest you with more rapidity, you dont have to wade through superficial mindless conversations if you dont want to, there are always people that complement your way of thinking/what you're specifically interested in.. as someone said, some people hang out in the moves/tech sections while others chill in the social area while others still that post a few times a year...
theres many common factors that draw us close to each other. theres the potential to always have something about yourself that you can relate to another person with. how strongly the two people feel about the same thing may have something to do with the sense of community.
Written by:
getting inspration from others expressing their mindset through their style/actions while learning through an unstructured pattern of spontaneous one to one teaching
thats a wonderful definition.
Written by:
There are the fire poi/staff/hulahoop/swords/etc fire hippies. They have drums, flutes, guitars and other traditional music while spinning. Generally huggy and chill people who don't care about "normal society".
There are techincal sock poists. They are geared to pushing boundaries of technical spinning level.
And there's the glowstringers, who are apt to stick to glowsticks on strings, focus on wraps and string manipulations (mindgames).
i think there is a very slim line between tech sock poists and glowstringers. possibly the difference that one group spin socks and the others glowstrings.. i spin socks that have LEDs within them.. (and i also spin with the hippies from the first example, although i am on the fringe of that society, too...)
essentially we are all individuals. we all have stuff in common with each other. our society is one created from many. there are many various groups and fractions within society, they all interrelate, some are big, some are small. but essentially it all comes back down to one person who has this amazing collection of interests and opinions and ideals who is living on this beautiful planet, in relation to all these other people, trying to understand theirself by seeing reflections of themselves in how they perceive the actions of those around them.
noone can truly understand another persons point of view. to understand something you have to experience it. words and definitions pale in comparison to that which is being described. can you understand another person through understanding yourself? can you see yourself in other people?
What music do people listen to? i like to listen to roots, dub, soul, funk, jazz, hiphop. basically anything mellow and deep.
What other groups are/ have you been involved in (skater, rocker etc)? i played national competitive squash, and was on the fringe of that society too. same with when i was studying for my bach in IT. and i guess again too, when i was studying chinese medicine.
What kind of clothes do you wear? i like flairs, and slightly tight t-shirts. i have long hair and tattoos.
What race/ class background would you say you are from? white middle class male mid-20s. i'd happily class myself as a hippy. :hippie: peace and one love, yeah. some people like to take mind-altering substances and hug trees. some people like to meditate and swim through gas-giants. im also an acupuncturist/massage therapist, (its 11:11, make a wish), so i guess i can be categorized into that subset of culture, too.
all these labels!
Do you consider yourselves spinners as a way of desribing yourself? yeah. i say i spin poi and staff and make little appreciative hand movements and they say "fire" and i say "yeah"... spinning is a big part of who i am. its a big part of how i define who i am to myself. my defintion of me is my expression of it. it is who i portray myself to be. it is my truth. (and thusly he proclaimed, i am thus!)
Do you think spinning has grown from any other groups/ subcultures? oh definitely. we are all intertwined with every other person/subculture/culture... the web that has no weaver... we are all comprised of smaller, interrelating parts, just as we are a small, interrelating part of something much bigger than us (ie, letter to word to sentence to paragraph to chapter to book).
What are the main characteristics of spinners as individuals and as a whole? people who like to spin.
Basicly what makes a spinner a spinner? everything! all the little bits that go into making them the unique individual they are. everyone is made up of different bits, although some bits are similar to others...
hope this wasnt too long.
those that know, dont say. those that say, dont know.
SILVER Member
enthusiast
213 posts
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
enthusiast
213 posts
Location: Brighton, United Kingdom
Posted:
In my experience spinners are mostly people who'd fairly broadly class themselves as 'alternative'. For me that means baggy clothes, all kinds of rock/punk/metal/world music etc, hippyish outlook. For others in our group it's dreads and drum 'n' bass, others are full on hippy types. I think people are drawn to it because it's something that sets them appart from the crowd, so obviously it's most attractive to people who already like to feel different. Class/ethnicity wise I'm middle class white,urgh, feels like writing 'I am a capitalist tosser'. That's another thing I suppose, I'm quite left wing. Oh, when I was younger I was a skater. Erm, can't remember any of the other questions so I hope this is useful.
Cheers, Tom
In my experience spinners are mostly people who'd fairly broadly class themselves as 'alternative'. For me that means baggy clothes, all kinds of rock/punk/metal/world music etc, hippyish outlook. For others in our group it's dreads and drum 'n' bass, others are full on hippy types. I think people are drawn to it because it's something that sets them appart from the crowd, so obviously it's most attractive to people who already like to feel different. Class/ethnicity wise I'm middle class white,urgh, feels like writing 'I am a capitalist tosser'. That's another thing I suppose, I'm quite left wing. Oh, when I was younger I was a skater. Erm, can't remember any of the other questions so I hope this is useful.
Cheers, Tom
Will those capable of telekinesis please raise my hand?
© 1998 - 2024 Home of Poi
All prices converted to United States dollars using XE.com