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Welcome to š” reporting from RADAR. In this series, community curators surface the best of the best ā from the cultural constellations weāre watching emerge to behind-the-scenes build updates as we embark on our journey to discover, incubate, and deliver better futures.
Wavelength is a space for updates, member articles, ponderings & wanderings, fun experiments and ā of course ā more signals. Subscribe below to keep up with our signature brain massaging magic, straight to your inbox. š®šĀ
Signals SpotlightĀ
1_Digital semantics
spotted in #social-media #ideology #media-pop-culture
It's December 2022, and the Oxford word of the year is āGoblin Modeā. Weāve talked about Goblin Mode (and our much-preferred alternative, Gnome Mode) before - but if weāre being honest, we didnāt expect Oxford to enter the chat (although, we all know what happens when you let the internet decide). To take their definition, Goblin Mode is an āunapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectationsā. We think of it as a rejection of and rebellion against the ever-more unattainable lifestyles & standards showcased online. Eating 2AM tacos in bed, spending all day in your underwear, rejecting the āthat girlā aesthetic: All Goblin Mode.Ā
While Oxfordās words of the year often reflect whatās happening in contemporary culture (previous winners include vax, toxic, and post-truth) Goblin Mode feels particularly online. In the RADAR discord, we were captivated by the idea of the neo-semantics that reflect the zeitgeist of 2022 and beyond - think āSemantic Bleachingā and āAlgospeakā - and how content moderation has given rise to a new Tik Tok and internet lexicon, birthing words like unlive, seggs and le dollar bean (if you know, you know).Ā Ā
Speaking culture is highly coded and niche, and Gen Z doesn't really care (in internet lexicon) what is mainstream or not - one can choose where to belong, and speak freely about pertinent, prohibited issues between the peripheries of the algorithms. And while it seeks to provide freer expression, thereās a dark side of self-censorship to algospeak. Weāre getting whiffs of sapir-whorf, and weāre not sure where that might take us.Ā
š®š Are new lexicons such as algospeak contributing negatively or positively to internet subcultures? How are they affecting the meaning and depth of how we speak everyday ? Does it matter how long these lexicons last, and are these ānichificationsā and new semantics authentic to describing our current digital milieu?Ā
2_Loab looming
spotted in #art, #ideology, #technology, #community-culture, #the-future-we-dont-want
Weāve talked about AI and data before, and how we might harness them in futures both good and bad. But this week thingsā¦ accelerated (weāre sure you noticed, too). Our discord blew up with screenshots, conversations and tweets about ChatGPT, making us wonder how academia and the entry-level job market will look when this tech becomes fully integrated into our world and relationships.Ā
Art and graphic design was a particular focus, ranging from dynamic multimedia pieces to the ghost figure that image generators keep making (are you creeped out? Weāre a little creeped out). As we hold a critical eye to the ethics of AI art, weāre also excited by how ātraditionalā art mediums are opening up to new possibilities of expression.
Our discussions touch on curation, care, and what gets kept, too: From digital art galleries, institutions and traditional museums, and how the wake of digital art calls for rethinking curation and archiving. How might this shift the role of art institutions from centralized keepers to community facilitators, practicing care?
Weāre questioning how AI may be accelerating an already extractive and intense data-harvesting culture in service of algorithms: Homogenizing our humanity, making us blander, and exacerbating our biases; all the while creating a new roster of āspeciesā even nature canāt compete with. Are we unwittingly sacrificing everything that makes us special ā and for something just, mid?
š®š Ā Are we moving too hard, too fast with AI without training society to adopt it first? How can we remove the implicit biases of humanity from the models we train, and our world as a consequence? How might this make us reconsider definitions of art, and how it plays in our value systems and institutions? Is Loab showing up in your nightmares tonight, too?
3_Generation flip-flop
spotted in #politics, #media-pop-culture, #social-media, #music-audio, #placemaking-migration
Itās no secret the media canāt get enough of Gen Z ā a new report, article, or panic seems to drop every day. Every generation has its time in the spotlight, but it feels extra-intense of late. What we think might be driving this? The way this emerging cohortās behavior has been such a tough nut to crack, particularly as they age into buying and cultural power.
This is a generation that is outspoken, fluid, and embraces risk. Both appealing to and predicting them is a challenge, and it looks like weāre already getting it wrong.
For brands, Gen Z is hard to pin down ā fragmented by an internet of subcultures ā each with their own rules, lingo, and interests (see: digital semantics). From rejection of mainstream, to the unexpected resurrection of songs of the past, skyrocketing them on the charts; the digital organizing and fast moving trends of Gen Z make it extra hard to keep up. The brands that shine for this cohort may be the ones who figure out what their own mission is, and use that authenticity to earn props within a specific subculture.
Itās not just speed and digital niches that drive confusion, but that the trends donāt always seem to play out how weād expect. Viral rejections of ānepotism babiesā like Kendall Jenner, Billie Eilish, and Bella Hadid donāt seem to dent their followings or influence, and our most eco-minded generation yet canāt kick their fast-fashion addiction. Young people are moving the needle in politics, too ā or are they?
š®š Is Gen Zās embrace of volatility just another hallmark of a more fluid future, or something else? Is it all just media under a microscope, is this generation truly an enigma, or are generations just, ya know, not a thing? How can we break the cycle, and step more fully into action around the values we espouse?
The Best of The Rest
Better get cozy and put on some healing tunes. āCause we've developed an intense typography crush, we're going back to our ancestral roots, and we're not stopping until our walls turn green. We're tired of the meaningless hustle, and wondering whether the Hero's Journey set us up with the wrong expectations. Were our college degrees a mistake? Maybe itās time to eat-pray-love our way to Paris to find out. You know what? We might just need a nice train ride, a cappuccino, and some social rest R&R.
Pulse Check
Focus this Week: Weāre winding down the server for a Silent Night over the holidaysĀ ā yāknow, DAO-Life Balance āĀ but before we do, weāve got a lot on. Weāve been heads down in cycle #1.5, a transition period that focuses on how we improve our flywheel process, fundraise for next year and align the community behind our collective vision. Weāve already run 2 sync sessions and created hundreds of forum discussions to collectively noodle on things like, what a future syllabus looks like, how we run digital gardens for future clients, a RADAR podcast and much moreā¦
But ultimately our biggest shift was returning to the roots of RADAR, the belief that itās our mission to put the future back in the hands of the people, and that people want to be stakeholders in their future.
Weāll be sharing more about this vision for cycle #2 soon on Mirror, but for now we want to leave you with a vision for the future.
āMillions of people join web3 through the RADAR ecosystemā¦
Their first experience will be joining a community to build the future of something they care about, voting, proposing and propagating their visions into realityā¦
Theyāve never heard of RADAR, they donāt really care about āweb3ā
But they know they want to be part of somethingā¦ they want to be part of the futureā
You can hear more about this vision on a recent twitter space Keely and Fancy were part of. Mind the ramblings of Fancy for the first 30 mins, it was the early hours of the morning ā but at least it made for great jokes?
This weekās š” reporting from radar was curated by @kairon and @busi_m ā with so much gratitude to everyone who inspired the content with their amazing contributions including @JarrodBarnes, @Samaritual, @Dwayne "The Jock" Ronson, @keels223, @oryzae, @squid, @EpicRebecca, @joecarpita, @EHB āØ, @Victoriafutures, @StuartEvans, @shahtaj and anyone else we may have forgotten.
Not a part of RADAR just yet, but feeling the FOMO? join us here.Ā