I’ve been looking at the trends over the last year and there’s an increasing contradiction between what people say they believe in and what they do. The ambitions of organisations are bolder than ever before where they want not just change but systems change, not just innovation but disruptive innovation, not just a priority but an emergency. More people say that flying is bad for the environment, but people will be flying more next year.
People are taking photos that are more representative of different beauty norms, ages & types of emotion, as well as more photos of people together rather than selfies. However, people are also favouring restaurants more because of what the food looks like than what it tastes like.
People are rebelling against the ways that social media measure someones self-worth, like the World Record Egg campaign or the more purposeful “Tank Man” campaign against platform taking investment from a Chinese censorship powerhouse, we still look for heroic individuals. People want to feel freer of the manipulative behaviours of monopolistic companies, but still sign up to agreements which turn us into “walking barcodes” as a return to be able to curate our own digital experiences and even turn into digital twins!
People are eating more vegetarian & vegan food than ever before, but relying more on companies who exploit workers travel a few kilometres by car to our rooms, because we’re too lazy to go and buy, let alone make our own food. People are rethinking their consumption and trying to buy more local, but also more online.
What’s your New Year’s Contradiction?
What if we shared our contradictions rather than our resolutions as a way to think about how we can change our behaviour?
What’s the contradiction you’d want to tackle now?
