2023 will be the year the ‘influencer’ withers and dies.

Will anyone shed a tear at their youtube sponsored burial service?

I doubt it. Maybe Marta can help.

Influencers in 2024 will be the ‘estate agents’ of the ’80s.

Trusted by no one, erecting (digital) billboards of their faces, and still trying to hustle a commission for something you can find online.

In 2023 we’ll see the last show about a Royal or any Kardashian.

We’ll stop consuming every piece of content that flashes before our eyes and curate.

Joe Rogan will lose his voice, and Charlie D’Amelio will lose her mind.

We’ll realise that time is our biggest asset.

And affirm that today, right now, we are wasting so much of that precious commodity.

 

The above may be a pipe dream.

But maybe it isn’t. What if it wasn’t?

How refreshing would it be to wake up in 2024 to only 10,000 books in the world?

Imagine that there were only five streaming services.

100,000 records.

100 great museums.

That people loved their work and worked to help others, solve problems, learn and further themselves.

And….

Those influencers, namely people of influence.

Actually…

Were trustworthy and ethical. 

 

I don’t know that this can all happen in 12 months or ever.

We can't erase what has been. Can we?

Maybe Sir Tim Berners Lee has a built-in kill switch for the internet?

But I am sure that we are at a tipping point.

Trust in government and business has never been lower.

The cost of living has never been higher.

We have never consumed more ‘stuff’ than now.

And our mental and physical well-being is deteriorating. 

 

Is it all negative?

No. Not at all. (it is a little) But we needed this.

Like the Edwardians needed the Victorians, drain pipe jeans needed flares. 

 

We needed too much to value enough.

We needed egotism to understand community.

And we needed content to value context. 

 

The pendulum is going to swing. 

 

_____________________________________________________

This letter is brought to you by Bing. 

‘Hey Brian, can you Bing that for me?’ will be the call you'll hear as ChatGPT is fully integrated into Bing search, offering you unprecedented search functionality while at the same time the ability to bring Bing Crosby back to life. The future is bright; the future's Bing.

_____________________________________________________

 

Now back to the regularly scheduled program; 

This week just one book, film, series, and podcast. 

 

🧁 = (cupcake) Treat brain – easy to consume

🦪 = (oyster) More challenging - not for everyone

 

🧁

A book on parenting written by the wife of artist Grayson Perry, incredibly easy to read and full of insight for anyone with any age of children or, for that matter, anyone in a relationship.

 

🦪

Decision to Leave.A love story between a murderer and a police officer set in some of the most beautiful locations in Korea I've ever seen.

🧁

Detectorists. The lives and relationship of two metal detector enthusiasts dreaming of discovering an Anglo-Saxon burial ground in suburban Britain. Starring Mackenzie Crook.

 

🧁

History Listen. A show about music (mostly Rock and Roll) narrated by St.Vincent, a show genuinely for everyone, not just fans of song exploder.

 

PS: My new book Algorithmic Reality is out now. It's a picture book; I have five copies to give away. If any of you got this far, please let me know, and I'll send you one. 

 

X