As 2021 closes/closed (depending on what year you’re in while reading this), we at What Is This Regarding? Global invite you to opt out.
You may know how you ended up here, as in on this website, reading this report. But how did we all end up HERE, culturally, globally? And how do we move forward?
1. In the endless pursuit of “relevance,” all meaning has been lost. DNA, individuality, and now sense.
First it was the DTC movement, making good graphic design with a gradient and a sans-serif font the barrier to entry (and VC-backed media budgets that could feed a small country); then Corporate memes. Now nothing is funny and nothing makes sense. Life becomes the actual meme. This endless loop is doing something dark. Are our brains broken or are we *just* losing our individuality?
2. The End of the Endless Scroll is closer than it appears. We all joined The Cult of Despair by accident, where the algorithm dressed us and decided we needed the Glob mirror. All hope is not lost, but action must be taken.
2022 is all about getting more human, more often. How do we begin? Self-awareness. Let’s start with advice from a well-intentioned Youth (also read: Gen Z):
This visionless quest of “securing the baguette” often leaves everyone hungry, but there’s enough for all of us to eat when pulling from the buffet of on and offline realness. We need to examine our IRL energy levels and our online content diets.
3. Instagram: Dopamine Tiktok::Seratonin, a case study (view full case study in PDF form)
4. Offline isn’t the only option, but it’s a good one. The original cult of normcore has migrated to #booktok. We have nature. We have each other. While we all are digital humans living in an increasingly digital world (not quite as catchy as madonna’s version) we can always turn inward and just be human.
HOT TAKES
~Abercrombie & Fitch is back.
~Corporate sustainability isn’t just about making shoes with mushroom material. Let’s pay liveable wages. Let’s scale responsibly. And let’s *gasp* prioritize eating plant-based.
~Not every idea needs to be sold. If knitting is your hobby, consider priceless joy before setting up an Etsy store.
Post Script
The word CHAOS began dominating our vocabulary and lives around the same time. Chaos is humbly defined as “complete disorder or confusion.” This gives us hope. We can learn, we can understand, we can put order to disorder. Chaos does not = hopeless. Chaos is pre-order, chaos is an invitation to understand.
written by amy mazius
research in this report expresses views
proudly held by What Is This Regarding?
at the time written. opinions are subject
to change. ©2021 WITRe: Global