Why are most coffee shops so similar?

The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems. In an increasingly globalized world, a common style or aesthetic has emerged in the 2010s that has taken the coffeehouse world by storm. Perhaps it was an inevitable result of a combination of factors: the emerging world of social media and marketing, millennials’ love of coffee, and a minimalist look that seemed bleak in the face of the Great Recession. Whatever the reason, we have left a legacy of cafes around the world that look more or less the same.

How did this come about? Click through the gallery below to find out.

Large shop windows that let in plenty of natural light, industrial-sized wooden tables that make laptop work easier, and light or minimalist interiors with walls that are either distressed, painted white, or covered in subway tiles or exposed brick : Does that sound familiar?

One of the defining characteristics of the 2010s was the “hipster café” movement. In a move away from the one-size-fits-all experience of the big coffee chains, people craved something different.

The flat white was born, espresso was roasted in a modern way, milk alternatives became the most common, and artistic latte art became the norm.

Although the new hipster cafes emerged from a rebellion against corporate hegemony, they offered many similar menus and aesthetics.

Even stranger, the geographical location had no influence on its originality; Coffee houses that pursued the same goal, independently of one another, sprung up all over the world.

In addition to their claim to authenticity, the new generic coffee houses of the 21st century also have the same features throughout.

Exactly how authentic it should be was less clear. Although they emerged organically, they were a result of the algorithm-defined social media culture of the 2010s: a phenomenon of sameness.

Digital creates a world without geographical boundaries, a world in which certain characteristics seem neutral while speaking to a large, specific demographic.

You could be anywhere in the world when you’re in one of these cafes, such is the hipster cafe aesthetic.

The increasing use of Instagram allows baristas to follow each other. Through algorithmic decisions, they were able to find and consume similar content.

As the algorithm shows you more and more content that is similar to what you (or people with a similar social media profile to you) have liked before, your personal preferences become more and more fused.

Apps like Foursquare, Yelp, and Google Maps provided images and reviews that led people who liked similar aesthetics on Instagram to these cafes in the physical world.

The Instagram aesthetic was placed at the top of searches or highlighted in cards, converting likes from the digital world into real sales.

As a certain aesthetic dominated the social media platform, conforming to the norms it shaped became a good business decision.

Customers rewarded the coffeehouses with business and, when impressed, posted about them on their own social media accounts.

Posting on one’s Instagram account became a form of lifestyle bragging rights, offering coffee shops free advertising to attract new customers.

The “Instagram wall” phenomenon emerged, and hipster cafes were not spared. They were created specifically as places to take photos for online posts. Some incorporate other trends, like the ubiquitous “millennial pink” color that was trending among brands at the time.

And so the cycle of aesthetic optimization and homogenization continued, becoming less of a “style” and more of a way of life.

The phenomenon was no longer limited to cafes: co-working spaces, hotels, restaurants and start-up offices adopted it as the physical space itself increasingly became a product.

Similar to the aesthetic inclinations of other decades and combined with Millennials’ obsession with coffee, the hipster café trend goes beyond an aesthetic component.

As with any style, at some point the appeal of the prevailing aesthetic began to wane. Small changes were made to get away from the already established cliché.

The Brooklyn-inspired industrial look was pared down in favor of Scandinavian minimalism, a nod to another 2010s aesthetic trend: normcore.

More modern chairs with spindly legs make way for uncomfortable, backless geometric boxes, and there were fewer plumbing fixture lights in favor of more plants.

This also falls in line with the general Millennial trend toward plant mania. However, style was given less importance than reduction to the essentials.

The homogeneity became even more entrenched as the trend seemed to be the expected norm.

They are no longer just found in cafes, but also in beer halls, restaurants, Airbnbs and art galleries.

The proclaimed hipster philosophy of the 2010s was to use products that clearly show and emphasize one’s uniqueness in the mainstream world.

In true hipster irony, spaces that were supposed to be places of individuality have become globalized and increasingly monotonous.

The changing aesthetic endeavors of social media make following a single trend a risky endeavor. After the initial hype dies down, all that remains is algorithmic monotony.

Source: (The Guardian)

See also: Hollywood’s Biggest Hipsters