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You're a gatekeeper so long as someone gives you keys. Anytime there are people who lend credence to your opinions and genuinely respect them enough to not only seek them out but do so because that opinion has weight when it comes time to make some sort of decision you're a gatekeeper.
People like Longo and Basa are gatekeepers, in their fashion. I've read posts where people say they'll wait until Longo reviews something before deciding if they'll go see it. People value his opinion. That doesn't mean everyone values his opinion on that level, but some do. Further, anytime your opinion holds ANY value to another person, whether or not that person actually agrees with said opinion, you're a gatekeeper.
If you've got one friend who hits you up for recommendations for anything, you're a gatekeeper.
The so-called "in" crowd fancy themselves gatekeepers just as any "nerd" does. I find it disingenuous at worst and short-sighted at best to cite any one group who fancies themselves as being the lone source of credible insight on a given subject when so many exist. Some groups or personality types stand out more than others depending on your sensibilities and exposure, but others still exist.
When we're on what amounts to an internet message board that exists largely for geeks of many types and levels and talking about geeks becoming gatekeepers, I'd say that's a little too meta to go very far. It's like the myth rappers like Kweli and 9th Wonder often point to when they don't like what people have to say about their music- the notion that before the internet, people didn't rip things apart like they do now. No, they always have, it's just the average person didn't have the means to do it so publicly.
What used to be a barber shop conversation or an impassioned debate between two friends that nobody heard can now be had with 40 other people with similar tastes from different parts of the world. The platform didn't exist and now it does, and that's a good thing, if for no other reason than it actually destroys the old guard where one person or entity has the opportunity to spin things their way. Professional writers from major publications or TV personalities are no longer hold the only copies of that gate key. It's only when one establishes a niche and a track record that their opinion has the power to influence others, and even then, that person is just one of many. "Nerds" might seem to be a vocal majority, but that says more about your own exposure than anything. You see it stand out because it exists in places you frequent. -Sig-
“Why didn’t you do this in your own god damn country?"
-All Stah's view on undocumented immigrants wanting to be treated like human beings.
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