One of the things that struck me recently as I was teaching a class in Blogging and Social Media at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University is that whatever technology I was teaching about might not be here next year. I tried to take an approach where I didn’t teach tools so much as much as tried to demonstrate what creative and amazing things people were doing with the tools. I was trying to teach these guys how to be curious, creative, and to think critically. When I saw this video today it just slammed that fact home.
Things are changing at such a rapid pace, and it’s not just technology. Technology and specifically the web has become a ‘culture accelerator’ or a ‘culture globalizer’. Just as Television accelerated change in culture across America, the internet is accelerating change in culture around the world. The developing countries are in many ways like America was in the 50′s. Lots of new technology, new concepts of free time, and disposable income.
I’ve heard people describe developed nations moving to a Post Consumerism society, and I think the hybrid economies talked about by Lawrence Lessig and the cogitative surplus described Clay Shirky are examples of a Post-Consumer thinking (I’ve written further about those concepts here). Now, it is unrealistic to imagine that developed nations have fully become post-consumerist society but it is happening. But my question is, how quickly will the developing nations move beyond the new consumer culture that is being foisted upon them and adopt a more meaningful model of creativity and consumption? I hope the culture accelerator does that otherwise our planet is in even more trouble than it already is.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank You Karl – very interesting and thoughtful! It’s amazing how the way we communicate is changing, … also how we live and work and exchange experiences and learn from each other.
re: developed countries moving to post-consumerism society
Karl, I’m not really buying that argument. Sure there are an increasing number of companies that are doing that and are doing it very well, but I just don’t see it happening as an overall, society changing trend any time soon.
Fortune 500 companies are nowhere near transforming themselves this way. I don’t think, for example, that you will ever see Walmart, big banks or even auto companies embrace the post-consumerism society. They may very well at some point in the future pretend they are (through PR bullshit), but I have a feeling it’ll be more lip service than the real thing for companies like that.
It may take some time Tero, we’ll see, but I think it’s simple economics. Companies that enable customers to participate with a company in increasingly valuable ways will reap economic rewards. It may happen quicker for companies who’s products are primarily informational etc. but we will see. Yes most of it right now is PR bullshit and astro-turfing ie. fake grass roots.
Karl,
Thanks for sharing this video. I’ve seen the facts/data on slideshare some time ago, but the motion graphics version really gives the content more pop.
I empathize with your thoughts about how you were “teaching about might not be here next year.”
I was there myself a few months ago giving a brief demo presentation on how Twitter can be used as a business tool. One of questions I received afterward was to how long I thought Twitter would be around and as to whether or not companies should invest time and money in these tools if they aren’t going to be around forever.
My response was that yes the social sites and tools we are using today may not even exist in years ahead, but it’s the behaviors that matter. These new behaviors are what companies should be experimenting with and working to understand. Human behaviors will be around long after the social sites and tools we use today are dead and gone.
Chris, you are dead right that the technology matters a lot less than the technology. The behaviors that something like twitter enables is extremely interesting to me and I think imply that the future of communication is going to be fascinating.
I learned that post-consumerist society is using WAY too many ellipses…
Karl,
This is a great presentation of compelling data. The rate of change of change (intentional) is a bit mind-boggling. We need systems that can filter through the noise to support this acceleration.
Nice work!
mike
This is chilling and exciting at the same time. Like watching a sci-fi trailer of life. Thank you for the insight and information.
Hey Karl,
I’d love to see you at our film panel discussion on 2.1 in SF. It’ll be at Oddball Films Archive at 12:00 PM. The event is free, and is at the tale end of the Disposable Film Festival that begins on 1.29. In fact, I’d love to see some AA students there as well.
Thanks!
Amber
Here’s the link in case you want to check it out.
Here’s the link in case you want to check it out.
http://disposablefilmfest.com/events/
Karl,
I completely agree with the notion that social behavior is the big idea for companies grappling with these changes.
While I like what the phrase “post-consumerist society” brings up for me personally, I see a few problems.
First – I am not totally clear on what you mean when you say it. Are you referring to a change in the mode of production or in the psychology of commerce or…?
Second, I don’t see much evidence that this theoretical process you are describing is even close to out-pacing the destructive nature of our existing consumer behaviors. Are you seeing any data that networked citizens or the corporations selling them are buying/producing less goods? Or that goods produced through co-creation will be inherently less harmful? On this second point I may be reading too many environmentalist biases into your phrase.
The biggest issue I have with “social business” thus far is that it generally occurs within the same frame of reference: that we all need more goods to be happy / that we crave “authentic” relationships with “brands”
good post well done