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After drawing support from philosophical, historical, and theoretical understandings of firstness, the article pays particular attention to the cases of web-based comment threads and music blogs to showcase how the competition to be first is central to the cultural ecosystem, especially but not only online. The conclusion suggests how firstness might be indicative of a recursive cultural mode.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444815600280","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,8,18]],"date-time":"2015-08-18T22:18:44Z","timestamp":1439936324000},"page":"165-180","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["First! 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