The Rapid Rise of 'Stuff White People Like'

March 24, 2008 — -- Three months ago, Christian Lander was nothing more than an anonymous Internet copywriter living in Los Angeles. Today, his blog "Stuff White People Like" is a heavily-trafficked, much-discussed site that last week netted him a book deal. How did he rise from relative obscurity to creating a pop culture touchstone in just a few months time?

According to experts, he hit the right note at the right time, while — perhaps unintentionally — creating a forum for people to openly mock, or explore, what it means to be white.

"This is a scientific approach to highlight and explain stuff white people like. They are pretty predictable," wrote Lander, who is also white, on the site.

Since January, Lander has used the blog to skewer the "stuff white people like" — or, perhaps more aptly, the stuff that middle class, liberal, white people like — things like Barack Obama, kitchen gadgets, knowing what's best for poor people and having gay friends.

Random House announced last week that it will publish a book based on the blog and written by Lander. Lander reportedly landed a six-figure deal.

"It's a simple formula. Conversation plus zeitgeist plus critical mass equals viral takeoff," said Silicon Valley technology forecaster Paul Saffo. "You get the conversation going and it's a little bit like starting any viral thing. It's like dropping a match into dried leaves. The flames will kind of trickle along and suddenly burst out."

I first heard about Lander's site in early February when a forwarded e-mail landed in my inbox with the subject line: "This is the soundtrack to all your parties." The post linked to a guest column titled "Top 10 Rap Songs That White People Love."

From that day on, it seemed like everyone I knew was talking about the blog. A week later, it was mentioned in several magazines and Lander made NPR.

But judging by the amount of comments on the blog, Lander's site seems to have been popular since the day it first began, Jan 18., when he posted about coffee, farmers' markets, film festivals and "religions their parents don't belong to." The site's most read post is about "Asian girls" and why white people (specifically men, in this case), love them. The post got more than 1,700 comments.