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July 30, 2006
Understanding the 1% Rule: Motivations
What motivates the people who make up the content contributors found in "The 1% Rule?" Perhaps the following story offers some clues. (This is an excerpt from our forthcoming book "Citizen Marketers.")
As a patch, it’s pretty simple: A diamond shape surrounded by a blue border, with "1%" embroidered in the middle. It's worn over the heart by members of motorcycle clubs that celebrate their outlaw status from mainstream motorcycle society. They call themselves the "One Percenters."
The inspiration for the patch and its meaning can be traced to 1947, when members of the Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington motorcycle club and the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club, showed up in Hollister, California, for that town's annual motorcycle race. As parties involving beer in summer heat sometimes do, things got out of hand.
A photographer for Life magazine happened to be attending the race and snapped a picture of a drunken biker perched atop a Harley Davidson, surrounded by broken beer bottles. The photo was published in Life with a caption that read, "Cyclist's Holiday: He and Friends Terrorize Town." A brief story accompanying the photo said 4,000 members of a motorcycle club were responsible for destructive mayhem. The photo and story provoked the American Motorcyclists Association to denounce the boozed-up bikers. It assured worried citizens that 99 percent of its members were law-abiding citizens, thereby marginalizing the remaining "1 percent" as outlaws.
The story has been the inspiration and founding principle for outlaw motorcycle clubs around the world. One Percenters organize and wear their patches as the proverbial finger raised toward society’s expectations of them. For decades, the story of what happened in Hollister has been repeated by numerous writers in magazines and newspapers, codifying its legend.
William L. Dulaney, a visiting professor at Western Carolina University spent months researching the history of the One Percenters for the academic periodical, "The International Journal of Motorcycle Studies." From months spent conducting field research around the United States, and having spent years as a member of an outlaw motorcycle club himself, he argues that contemporary One Percenters in "outlaw" motorcycle gangs are not necessarily pro-criminal, they are anti-bureaucracy. They rebel against the commonality of mainstream expectations.
Furthermore, the One Percenter clubs are organized around the idea of a community, and their unconventional lives and motorcycle lifestyles are reinforced by the strong-as-steel bonds with other members. They revel, sometimes raucously in beer-soaked pandemonium, in a culture that conventional society frowns on. Forget seeking the approval of conventional governing bodies; the One Percenters revel in their minority status.
They are outlaws of culture.
Dulaney surprises us, though, by debunking parts of the Hollister legend. The photo of the drunken biker? The Life photographer staged it. There was rowdiness in Hollister on that fateful weekend, but police made only one arrest. And there’s no evidence the American Motorcyclists Association denounced the bikers, one percent or otherwise. The source of "1%" was likely due a letter to the editor that Life ran in a subsequent edition, taking the magazine to task for its coverage of Hollister. The letter writer wrote, "We regretfully acknowledge there was disorder in Hollister – not the acts of 4,000 motorcyclists, but rather of a small percentage of that number." Someone, somewhere, interpreted that to mean one percent and it stuck.
Even if the facts about Hollister were off, its premise still resonated with a slice of American culture. Today, earning a One Percenter patch is a badge of social status that continues on in a tiny number of American motorcyclist communities.
That's why their story seems to be an apt analogy to describe a good deal of citizen marketers and their motivations, like someone who spends years blogging about Netflix, or campaigns to bring back a discontinued soda, or takes over the marketing for an upcoming movie, or volunteers to secret shop their favorite fast food chain, or anyone who contributes time and attention to a commercial cause. They, too, are outlaws of culture.
What they do is beyond the norm. Sometimes there is little recognition, but they are dedicated to and protective of their work and the community they're involved in. They excel on the edges of culture even if their percentage as content creators is little more than a rounding error to some companies. Numbers-wise, they are not huge, but the impact of their work can be.
(In a follow-up post, we'll look at the One Percenters and Netscape's desire to hire them.)
Update: This post showed up on the front page of Digg yesterday (thanks Bloodjunkie), and it sparked a -- let's say interesting -- round of 100+ comments within the Digg community. Ian Delaney sorts through some of them.
Update 2: A big hat tip to Colin McKay for the pointer to a story about the One Percenters who are going through a transition in Kansas City. It was his pointer that led us down the path toward this post. I'm a dope for not including a hat tip to him when this was first published.
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Give me a break, comparing nerds to motorcycle gangs? Lamest thing I've heard all day.
At the end of the day, a nerd with venture capital is still a nerd. Women can quite easily see the difference, I wonder when the rest of our culture will...
"Women can quite easily see the difference..." Well, I guess we know where you're coming from :)
I'm not sure I understood a damn thing in this article.
Well I am a 1%er and my motivation is to share some of the things I do with others who would never know me, or see anything I am interested in.
Both of my projects a railgun, and underwater rov, both I have worked on hard on are of interest to a very limited crowd. The web is a way for similar interests to network, or read something they are interested in. It is hard to find things of interest every day that is why rss and social networks are so popular.
So I guess I do it because it interests me, and I am not alone on this third rock from the sun.
Jason
www.rollette.com
An interesting article on the mix of outlaw psychology and marketing.
Right.
I'm sure one-percenters just love being referred to as a statistic.
For the motorcycle clubs that consider themselves One Percenters, that's what they call themselves.
Where can I get my patch? Or maybe someone needs to make a button for blog sites.
Skip -- Thanks!
Tac -- That's an awesome idea. Hmmmmm....
Great story i watched the history of the hells angels on the History Channel a week ago and they formed in my city.
Prez -- You're the second or third person I've heard mention that History Channel special about the Hells Angels. I think I'll set the DVR to catch a rerun. Thanks for the reminder.
Ben, not to be an egomaniac, and not to detract at all from your work, but did my response to your original post have anything to do with this insight?
http://www.canuckflack.com/archives/001475.html
Colin -- I am totally slapping myself silly at the moment -- yes, it was the pointer on your blog toward the motorcylce groups that led me to research the One Percenters more, which eventually led me to that great article in the motorcycle journal!
In my haste, I totally and completely forgot to hat tip you for the reference. I feel like a heel for the oversight, so I'll update the post to reflect that.
Not a problem at all! You've obviously taken the idea much further with much greater detail and analysis.
Makes me look forward to the book even more.
interesting. i think you can also compare it with "i got the longest ..." in every community there are these people.
I wonder what might happen when REAL 1%ers get wind of this? You're treading on thin ice here ... not so sure it's a good idea to *wear* your patch in public.
Hey Beth, I am a REAL one percenter, and to tell the truth, I just can't stop laughing long enough to get mad at a yuppie/nerd compairing her/himself to some one that, if they met, would scare them in to wetting themself
These comments have been invaluable to me as is this whole site. I thank you for your comment.
Just FYI, your information about Hollister is quite incorrect. Do some research next time, and not gather fourt-hand information.
Just an FYI to you, Randy: All of the information about the Hollister incident is from the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies, in an academic article by an author who was once part of a motorcycle club and spent months researching the story.
So unless you have specific evidence to refute what's in the research, I'd consider your comment fourth-hand information.
Specific evidence? How about an entire book of interviews with the people that were there, including photographs!
Read my tutorial on how to get your site listed on Digg's front page:
http://www.moneymakerhot.com/Webmasters/Get_on_front_page_of_Digg.html
Ben & Rosie,
Are you kidding me? Perhaps you should read up on what constitutes a historical account. The "Boozefighters" book can be thought of as an accurate historical account about as much as the current Boozefighters MC can be considered one of the original clubs. In other words, they can't. Indeed, in the introduction the author of the “Boozefighters” book states explicitly that he is not trying to write an accurate historical account. Rather, he is simply recounting some great stories told by a precious few remaining Boozefighters – all of which without a shred of corroborating evidence. It’s a collection of party stories, which we all know tend to get a little better and wilder as time goes by, and as those who were there die off.
Honestly, what may have been at one time has started to conform to its own societal regulation. What is the true 1%. Consider the amount of rules 1% Prospective members must abide by just to be considered for 1% status. Man its HARDER than a full time paying job, oh and forget about selfishness or missing meetings or paying dues. No vacations, retirement plans or medical benefits. You gotta be 100% committed to being known as the outlaw 1% who won't follow or conform to mainstream society.
Honestly, what may have been at one time has started to conform to its own societal regulation. What is the true 1%. Consider the amount of rules 1% Prospective members must abide by just to be considered for 1% status. Man its HARDER than a full time paying job, oh and forget about selfishness or missing meetings or paying dues. No vacations, retirement plans or medical benefits. You gotta be 100% committed to being known as the outlaw 1% who won't follow or conform to mainstream society.
Wow, great read... both the article, and all the comments!
The world needs 1%ers to go against the norm and shake things up with new ideas. Somebody has to show some leadership and bring about positive change for the human race.
Not all 1% er's are club members. There are many of us independents out here.You need to check your facts before writing about something you don't know about.
