They can be seen more frequently than ever before on college campuses, wearing flannel  and thickframed glasses while listening to music. One might find them playing unusual musical instruments, shopping at secondhand stores or expressing themselves in other unique ways. They call themselves hipsters. Being "hip" used to mean following the latest fashion. But gradually the word has become a sign of "being cool, unique and unusual". Hipsters value independent thinking, progressive politics, an appreciation of creativity and intelligence. Hipsters take pains and pride in not being mainstream. However, their culture has become quite trendy. This irony  is central to their culture and offers an interesting conflict. "I do take things in the mainstream with a positive attitude," says Ben Polson, a college student at Brown University. "But sometimes I also question what determines popularity, especially regarding music." Polson represents many hipsters. When lessknown bands become popular, they often lose their former fan base in exchange for a new one. There is a famous hipster saying that goes, "I used to like that band before it got popular," Polson quoted. According to Polson, bands' music changes when they go mainstream. They become less experimental, doing things just to save popularity and fans. The original elements that we were drawn to slowly disappear for the sake of popularity. Many young adults have started to view hipsters' outlook as cool and they are adopting hipsters' antimainstream culture mind to themselves. This has led to specialized brands, stores and music for the hipster consumers. But on the other hand, some such stores, including clothing labels Urban Outfitters and American Apparel, have gained mainstream popularity. This has seemingly made the antimainstream culture become weaker. "A lot of people that are selfdefined hipsters aren't really hipsters. They're just trying to act as hipsters to seem cooler," says Amanda Leopold, a college student from Oberlin College, US. Although Leopold has many unusual tastes and seems quite individualist, she refuses to classify herself as a hipster. According to the author,   _  .
hipsters are the pioneers of the mainstream hipsters are unhappy with the mainstream hipsters' culture exists mainly in music field hipsters' culture can also become popular