13January
Trends To Understand Now In ID and Image
Now in an August brief we said that identity, image, image harvest would only become more prominent in our culture and, at times, more contentious. Sadly, last week is indicative of this in so very many ways, but we are also looking at a little bigger slice of time.
In just a couple of weeks: Hilaria Baldwin's "identity" has been deeply challenged and creates a mad uproar. Will.i.am states on an IG live that he is saddened that the Black Eyed Peas is not considered a Black group due to international success. The Twittersphere responds with a barrage of Fergie videos to begin conversations about what is and is not considered inclusion in a particular category. A super throwback video on David Bowie resurfaces out of the blue confronting early MTV about lack of videos that represent people who identify in various ways and that then creates new conversation about the same issues for a new time. And of course, the Capitol riots have created not only massive shock and outrage but also deepened discussion around what some perceive as different treatment from authorities based on how certain groups are identified. (it should also be noted that image harvesting, i.e facial recognition has amped up this conversation on ID as certain rioters have been found leveraging this emerging tech. This makes for an additional layer of image discussion.) We could go on with examples, but you get the point.
So what's going on here?
This is all about "sides" and "definitions" as we define begin to collectively define new "race" and "class" models in our culture. Who is identifying with whom, how identity is being defined, what that consensus does or does not look like, who owns image, which image is thought to be linked to which value system, is and will become an even bigger and messier narrative.
It's important to track because:
This heightened sensitivity and examination will call for even a more adept approach at whatever type of communication strategy one is developing.
This means:
The balance of data intelligence with cultural intelligence will become even more important and need to be reflected in an authentic manner to truly connect and avoid finger-pointing and scrutiny.
As always our Influence Insights here to deepen your digital content strategy in your communication plans, for sure, especially for 18-24/34.
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