What is the Maker Movement? 5 Things You Should Know

Have you ever wondered what the Maker Movement is? I’ve gathered 5 interesting things you should know about the Maker Movement to help you understand why it’s become so important and why it continues to grow every year.

1. What is a Maker and What is the Maker Movement?

A Maker is a broad term for a person who makes things using skill and creativity.

The Maker Movement and maker culture generally revolve around amateurs who perform various engineering and/or hands-on skills to produce original creations.

A Maker could specialize in one or more of the following skills:

• Prototyping
• CAD
• Circuitry
• Physics and/or chemistry
• Hands-on skills (carpentry, welding, weaving)
• Design
• etc…

 

Although Makers don’t have to be extremely talented or intelligent, they are usually passionate and willing to learn.

2. How Big is the Maker Movement?

How Many Makerspaces Are There?

I searched up how many Hackerspaces there are in the world and found that there are currently 1382 active locations, with many more being planned.

In addition, there are 1850 Fablabs located across the globe, listed on their website.

Knowing that there are many schools, libraries, and other companies with Makerspaces out there, we could easily assume that there are thousands more. The Maker Movement is so widespread that widespread Makerspaces can be found in almost any big city.

How Many Makers Are There?

Make Magazine hosts over 200 Maker Faires on every continent, which easily attracts at least 50,000 people each, so millions of people have been interested in maker culture.

The subreddit r/maker has 20,000+ subscribers with even more people visiting it. The Quora Maker community has nearly 7,000 followers. These are mostly English speaking Makers that live in the US.

A lot of makers probably don’t know what making is but have dabbled in it. For example, the Quora “Do it Yourself” community consists of over 200,000 people. While DIY and making aren’t the same, many aspects of DIY are the same as making.

Even with these statistics, we can’t be sure of exactly how many Makers there are in the world for 3 reasons:

• No study could possibly reach all Makers.
• Some people may not consider themselves as Makers.
• The number of Makers is continuously growing.

Nevertheless, I still think it’s safe to say that the number of Makers in the world is in the tens of millions.

3. When Did Making Begin?

Until recently, since ancient times, most average people were Makers in some way. In every town and city, you would have found many Makers who provided for their local peoples, such as blacksmiths, weavers, and potterers.

Since industrialization (about 200 years ago), supermarkets and global commerce have made it easy for people to have whatever they want without needing to make anything. All you need to do now is take out your wallet when you need something.

Modern Maker culture can be seen as people producing things for themselves without relying on impersonal products from distant factories, especially with the growing use of in-home 3D printers. For more information on 3D printing, be sure to check out my article What Is 3D Printing? The Manufacturing Revolution. 

4. Who is Making For?

Making is for anybody and everybody!

Younger people like children and teenagers can also become Makers. This was the case for me when I was dreaming up ambitious inventions as a kid and making them as a teenager.

According to Make Magazine in 2017, 64% of people who visit the maker fair are males. The average age was also around 39 years old; however, this statistic is affected by the large number of families who attend Maker Fairs, so it may not be a good indicator of what type of person is interested in Making. It does make some sense however because you can find Makers of any age!

At the end of the day, all of the data supports the fact that Making is for anyone, anywhere in the world.

 

5. What’s the Purpose of Making?

You may ask yourself “why is Making so appealing?”. After all, you can just find everything you need to live comfortably online or at a store.

Here are the top reasons why I think Makers do what they do:

• Self-reliance
• Customization
• There may not be an existing solution
• Saving or making money
• Business
• Just for fun

Conclusion

Contrary to popular belief, not everything can be solved via the Internet. Sometimes, we have personal items that need a specific design, or making things ourselves saves us money. As you can see on websites like Kickstarter or Shapeways, people are also making money by selling things that they create.

Other than that, some people just want to have fun doing it. I know of many Makers that don’t always want to make something useful, but maybe something novel or aesthetically pleasing for fun. Something for a friend or something that has a personal meaning.

Not only is Making practical, but it’s also a form of expression.

[tds_council]Do you consider yourself as a Maker? Let us know why, or why not in the comments below![/tds_council]