The Top Three Trends of 2021
The Reality Crisis
We live in a time where technology and media have the power to shape an individual’s reality. In our first briefing of the new year, we took a deeper look into reality manipulation by technology and misinformation, and its effects on our sense of both shared realities and new ones.
The Capitol Riots of January 6th showcased the dangerous ends of what reality manipulation can look like. For Ashley Babbit, a 36-year-old military veteran, the storming of the Capitol was not an act of insurrection but an act of defending her beliefs which ultimately led to her death. These beliefs were fueled by right-wing media sites and conspiracy theories. “These conspiracy theories and these groups no longer sit in a small corner of the internet. It’s something that has gained mass and with that comes a level of validation,” said LaToya Robertson, Director of Cultural Strategy at sparks & honey.
The abundance of new sources and information has led to the increased polarization of the nation with the internet algorithmically introducing people to partisan news from which they select sources that match their own views. “The media we consume brings us back into our echo chambers,” said Eric Lau, Director of Visual Intelligence at sparks & honey. There is a fine line between having an opinion and having a warped sense of reality that is constantly shifting as we progress further into an era of information overload.
Algorithms: Friend and Foe
Algorithms run our lives. They influence our choices, opinions, and thoughts whether subconsciously or not. In our Culture Briefing on algorithms, we unpacked the role of algorithms in 2021, and if culture will become more sensitive to where they appear.
Technology and algorithms have a direct effect on our lives, highlighting a tension between two of our Elements of Culture: Frictionless, our desire for seamless experiences, and Radical Transparency, the rejection of secrecy and desire for clarity. There are algorithms that work for us and algorithms that work against us. Take Twitter for example, who was recently called out for their image detection algorithm cropping out black faces in favor of white ones, bringing the issue of technological racism to the forefront. At the same time, TikTok has been praised for using its recommendation algorithm for good. The platform used their algorithm to support Black Lives Matter, promoting it as a trend on its discover page and becoming a prominent platform for anti-Trump protests.
This year we predict an increased emphasis on frictionless interaction between data and users and a higher demand for transparency on how our data is being used in algorithms. “We’re beginning to talk about breaking up the big tech firms who have amassed all this data and built algorithms that are decisioning in many ways that we don’t necessarily have clarity into. We are increasingly beginning to ask questions about how things are decided and why things are deciding that way,” said Kendra Clarke, SVP of Data Science and Product Development at sparks & honey.
Who Will Be Held Accountable in 2021?
Last year, there were major conversations surrounding government, racial inequality, and corporate responsibility. As we move into the new year with everything out on the table, we explored this potential new era of accountability.
Our Culture Briefing on accountability discussed where we might see accountability manifest in 2021. In a rare moment of a government official being held accountable, Rick Snyder, the former governor of Michigan, his health director, and other ex-officials are being charged with willful neglect of duty in the Flint water crisis. There’s also the classic case of digital doxing, the act of finding personal information on an individual and publishing it online. In the name of accountability, Instagram account @GaysOverCovid are exposing individuals who are attending parties and disregarding social distancing. Consumers are seeking Radical Transparency, our Element of Culture monitoring the growing expectation for truth over comfort.
The key to accountability is understanding the difference between accountability and responsibility. Both coincide with each other and are meaningless without the other. “When we think about 2021, the brands and the politicians moving the needle will be the ones acknowledging and playing into these variables,” said Matt Klein, Director of Cultural Strategy at sparks & honey.
Erica Howie is a Junior Cultural Strategist at sparks & honey. A proud Tokyo native and a self-proclaimed toast connoisseur. When Erica isn’t working you can find her crafting a new project or reading one of the hundreds of articles she has saved on her computer.