This Is Signals · Catalyzing Ripples: 2023 Narrative Predictions | Prediction 6 - Experience and Authenticity

If 2022 was about imagining what utopian and dystopian futures might look like, 2023 will be marked by a desire to experience those potential futures in the here and now. Years of isolation and grief shaped by COVID-19 have increased our longing to redefine our relationship with the digital world, and many are craving memorable experiences to make up for lost time. Narratives prioritizing authenticity and experience will be a central theme in the coming year, moving alongside narratives about identity, belonging and worthiness. This will influence conversations about consumerism, the role of parasocial relationships in our lives, and how we define authenticity for ourselves and our communities.

Stories about the Native-led land back movement, reparations for Black people, and a desire to expatriate will continue to move across conversations this year. In conversations about wellness and lifestyle, we will consistently see stories that decry productivity and burnout in favor of quiet quitting, prioritizing rest, and seeing what the soft life has to offer. These conversations are all connected to peoples’ desire to experience a fulfilling life. Self-reflections like "What will benefit me?" and "What can I experience in the here and now?" embody narratives rooted in individual choice, personal freedom, and expectation of what we deserve. These impulses can and will lead to the commodification of authenticity and experiences. That said, values of collective care, abundance, and shared victory will buttress these conversations and open up opportunities for progressive movements to organize people beyond the choir.

NARRATIVES AT PLAY

It’s time to go back to normal
The good life is for those who work for it
Everyone is worthy of the good life
More individual choice means more personal freedom

Community shapes and defines authenticity
Authenticity is shaped and defined by individuals
There is no future, only the present
The future is what we make it

story trends

Thanks to the laundry list of crises over these last years, people are looking for an escape from commodified and performative experiences and seeking out authenticity in all areas. Authenticity will play a major role this year, and stories directly related to identity and self-preservation, safety, and survival will be abundant. We’ll continue to see conversations about how millennials and Gen Z are reshaping the landscape, advancing narratives of authenticity and lived experience, rejecting grind culture, and critiquing the status quo. Gen Z will be positioned as the main characters in many of these stories, with millennials either playing the sidekick or the punching bag, depending on the story. The baby boom generation will continue to be cast as villains. Ongoing conversations about who and what are authentic will play a key role in trends about reimagining the family, the rejection of parasocial relationships in favor of deep connection, and the commodification of trends and subcultures.

Music, pop culture, and art will be crucial battlegrounds for conversations about authenticity. Even the rich and famous are exploring how to live authentically. We’ve seen trending stories about Bad Bunny denouncing femicides, Spice calling attention to homophobia in dancehall, and Lizzo pushing back about how she stays true to herself. Music will be a venue to push back against machismo and patriarchal narratives as millennial and Gen Z artists combine their art with activism, connecting their countries of origin across their respective diasporas. These artists will use their platforms to advocate for queer and trans people, defend Black lives, speak out against the colonial occupation, and demand an end to toxic masculinity. We’ll see many of these stories operating alongside familiar, competing narratives around cancel culture and accountability culture, embodied in conversations like the 2022 Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial. One of the key components in this conversation was the persistent story Amber Heard and her experience of domestic violence were inauthentic. We’ll continue to see questions around authenticity in these kinds of stories as they travel across legacy media, tabloids, and everyday conversations, sometimes amplified by bots and coordinated campaigns.

Conversations about
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
during the Depp v. Heard Defamation Trial

The chart below compares the volume of pro-Depp, and pro-Heard mentions on Twitter in the last week of the trial, based on commonly used hashtags. Pro-Depp conversations primarily reflect claims of cancel culture, while pro-Heard conversations primarily reflect accountability narratives. Many have also documented coordinated efforts, including bots, to influence conversations in favor of Depp.

Twitter Mentions of #JusticeforJohnny or #JusticeForJohnnyDepp or #AmberIsALiar, #IStandWithAmber or #IStandWithAmberHeard or #JohnnyDeppIsAWifeBeater or DEPP #GiveAmberHerVoiceBack |
May 4, 2022 - June 4, 2022 | Zignal Labs

Narrative openings

People want a better life. Many stories and conversations in 2022 reminded us that the way society is structured right now is not working for most of us. People are exhausted and want to live better and more satisfying lives. This longing creates an opening for progressive organizers to advance the narrative that a good life is possible and that, collectively, we have the power to change our material conditions and ensure that all peoples’ needs are met. We can use stories about the desire for work-life balance, the escape from grind culture, and the things that bring us joy to connect a broader audience to our organizing and power-building efforts. These narratives can be leveraged in stories and conversations about the workplace, pop culture, and politics.

Create authentic and unique experiences within organizing efforts. As the return to in-person gatherings and events continues, there is a longing for unique experiences that can’t be replicated virtually. Treat public-facing events for your power-building and organizing projects as an opportunity to create compelling cultural experiences. Use tools like hashtags, geo-tagged filters, culturally relevant decor, and music to create an experience that people will want to share with their networks, both on and offline. Be COVID-conscious in the planning and execution of your events in order to create joyful and safe experiences that make room for as many people as possible – and don’t forget the swag

Narrative risks

Watch out for narratives rooted in individualism. As people seek authentic and unique experiences, they risk focusing solely on themselves and their close networks. Narratives that elevate self-care as self-preservation alone could lead people to undercut the idea of collective liberation. Make explicit connections between the need for self-preservation and care and messages of unity, solidarity, and collective organizing.

‍Beware of political fatigue. The past three years have been full of ongoing crises. Many people may see politics and organizing as a threat to their mental and spiritual well-being, leading them to put organizing on the back burner or dismissing it outright, embrace apolitical as an identity, assume that politics don’t impact them, or willfully ignore political content and engagement. Make sure to create space for collective and individual healing and care alongside the rest of the work while looking for pathways to connect the personal to the political.

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