What will people hunger for and desire when the bulk of their lives are contained within digital spaces?
published 1/16/25
History is rife with pendulous swings between extremes. Whether cultural, economic, or political, once a movement gains enough traction and tangible consequences, a natural resistance emerges. This allergic reaction is what drives momentum in the opposite direction, continuing the swing between two contrasting poles.
Last year, the average American checked their phones over 200 times a day, amounting to 5 hours of daily phone usage(1). That's over 20% of our waking hours, an unsustainable level of addiction driving an allergic reaction to our digital obsessions. With the ability of AI to generate a tidal wave of mediocre slop across the internet, we're only adding dry tinder to the already blazing brush fire of distraction and disconnection.
So as we begin 2025 and continue down this slippery slope of purported "advancement", I think it's important to spend some time considering what the counter-cultural movement to our digital world may look like.
Once everything you see online has the strong potential to have been created by AI, direct communication with those you have established relationships with will take precedence. This means that what you publicly present will have an exponential influence on the outcomes you achieve. How you think, what you believe, and the ideas and projects you are pursuing will act as a signal, cutting through the online deluge and attracting a community of likeminded people.
The distribution of your ideas defines the relationships you will form. Look to personal websites, platform-agnostic email lists, and private messaging groups to ensure you maintain ownership and access to the community you build.
This isn't the time to filter yourself or write easy takes for the average reader. That's AI behavior, and it will beat you at it every time. Make weird music that defies genre classification, start a niche blog that you can't imagine anyone else reading, or build an unscalable product just to scratch your own itch. These are the things that will stand out, the irreproducible flashes of creative brilliance that will become your own moat in a world of gentrified mediocrity.
Our digital spaces have become over-extracted. Hot takes, recycled memes, and the same viral trends reproduced ad nauseam are like a hook without the barb, they're losing their ability to hold our attention.
We are physical bodies, first and foremost, and the easiest way to feel something is to do something. In an age of depersonalized digital overabundance, people will turn to in-person experiences. The use of dating apps has dropped across the board, while attendance at in-person dating events has jumped 40% over the last two years(3). Concert attendance saw an increase of 20% over the same period(4), even as prices and fees continue to rise. We are hungry to see and feel things in the real world, in sharp contrast to the apathetic scrolling that's consumed us. These moments can't be saved or repeated—that's what makes them special.
How can you create experiences that foster interaction and improvisation? Where can you take what you're doing online and bring it into the real world? Replace video calls with coffee dates, subreddits with run clubs, and pinterest boards for art galleries. Host more dinner events and go to more live performances. Reality is fleeting, always changing, and incredibly interactive. There's no need to subsidize your life through a pale reproduction of online-only engagement.
People are hungry for the timeless, things they can touch and hold: thrifted levis, mid-century antiques, one-of-one art. Despite the proliferation of ebooks and streaming music, print book sales are up 10% from pre-pandemic levels, while vinyl sales have more than doubled over the same time period(5). Patina, the physical embodiment of age, becomes a signifier of value. It's proof that what you hold has withstood the test of time and is likely to continue doing so.
If you're looking to create something people will treasure, fast fashion will never compete with hand-stitched.
Digital software and tools will only become easier to build with our ability to outsource the requirement of time and knowledge to AI models. But physical items, and the earned experience built from practice and iteration will remain coveted. What can you create that people can hold and cherish over the years? Prioritize hands-on skills, the steeper the learning curve the better. Build things that you want to be surrounded by, pieces equally at home on gallery walls or garage workbenches.
I'm excited to put renewed focus into in-person events. For me that primarily looks like spending more time playing live music, collaborating with other musicians, and looking for ways to cross disciplines to create unique experiences. I also plan to see more events in person: dance, art pop-ups, open mics, sports, anything that catches my eye over the year.
A fire has been lit underneath me to build physical items that will last. I want to make things that people can hold, display, and enjoy over time. The era of all-in-one devices is over, I want things that are specific, niche, and special. I have a project I'm excited about, working with wood, electronics, and music created across Utah. More to come on that soon!
For additional reading along a similar vein, I recommend Against the Dark Forest and A Users Guide to Building a Subculture.
1. Phone Usage
2. Discord and WhatsApp
3. Tinder and dating events
4. Concerts
5. Books and vinyl