Surge City: Life in Accelerated Times

[surgecitylife]

We all know that socialpunk is the new cyberpunk. Lots of us just don’t know that we know it yet.

[surgecitylife]

How will the Gig Economy shape the culture at large?

The Gig Economy is something that will be a big focus of a lot of my speculative fiction and my essays, and I’m finding some frustration in trying to research it.

Two pet peeves, in particular.

The first is the peculiar journalistic Millennial-fixation of this age. The media fetishizes Millennials and Gen Z (but especially Millennials, given that most of the media doesn’t acknowledge Gen Z as a separate generational cohort yet).

I feel like there is so much problematica here that I don’t even know where to start. Reducing gigging to merely a Millennial problem directly dips its toes into that Millennial-fixation - Millennial-anything must make better click bait than talking about other age groups. It tends to do what other “Millennials are killing it/being killed by it” discourse tends to do, that is, reduce a whole cohort to one specific stereotype (white, educated, owing student loans, and a member of the failing middle class).

But worse, it reduces a broader economic problem (all ages are gigging) to one that’s specific to one age group, which subconsciously reduces it to a “life stage” that somebody is supposed to get out of.

I feel like it soft-soaps and couches a problem which shouldn’t be soft-soaped to begin with. Especially since the media can’t really decide what a Millennial even is (a specific generation? A specific age group?) and doesn’t know the difference between Millennials (who are in their 30s now) from Gen Z (the current youth and college-age cohort). Even if half or more of Millennials are members of the growing Precariat class (into which giggers fall), the Precariat as a whole does not exclusively consist of Millennials. I’m trying to research broader trends and this fixation on Millennials is maddening.

The other pet peeve:

In all this discourse, there is virtually NOTHING about how the gig economy is affecting society, social relationships, purchasing patterns. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Could it just be that gigging is too *new* as a broader phenomenon for that information to really be out there?

How about psychological effects? Of living a precarious existence to begin with, but also the psychological fallout experienced by many self-employed people in this (American) culture that glamorizes entrepreneurship. When the reality for many is more like this: when you’re your own boss, you may be working for the biggest jerk on the planet. (I’m a freelance designer, and often feel this way.)

And how will the new global monoculture incorporate a majority of people who now think of every moment of their time as either monetized or a missed opportunity to monetize?

Are all our friendships going to turn into multi-level marketing connections? How will gigging affect our sense of self and how we move in the culture, if being under pressure to constantly market means you are your brand 24/7?

Forgive me if I think like a science fiction writer, but… well… I think like a science fiction writer, not a journalist. I like imagining worst-case what-if scenarios.

[myfootyrthroat]

There was actually a really interesting federal study published this week about the gig economy. If I remember correctly, the big finding was that way fewer people are doing it than previously thought, but then they also only counted people who didn’t have full-time jobs. (Which overlooks a ton of people doing gigs to supplement insufficient income. Much like unemployment numbers, they don’t account for full time work just not paying enough.) I think the most interesting was that the largest cohort of gig/contract workers were actually in construction.

[surgecitylife]

I’m almost feeling like fields which are traditionally contractual/freelance, shouldn’t count in these assessments, because they won’t give us meaningful information about the replacement of traditional jobs with gigs. I.e., construction.  But take my own field for example. It’s always been fairly culturally normative for graphics and technical people to have side projects, or just do freelance/contract work. (I’m in a weird bubble because I live in the Bay Area, but maybe many tech and tech-adjacent people need to be considered as well, given so many of these jobs are “gigs” and have always been, and that lots of us did side jobs before “side hustle” really entered the cultural vocabulary.) It would be more telling to see the number of traditionally NON-gig economy jobs which are now being “gigged.” I get adverts all the time for those jobs: be an Uber driver. Sign up for this or that app and do piecework. Sign up for this other app and be a stock clerk at local markets, on your own schedule.  That’s the information that would be meaningful. 

[surgecitylife]

Can Artists Still Trigger and Provoke?

The internet has an extremely significant role in how we consume art, and the acceptability of triggering, provocative work.

Pre-social media, we had to actually make an effort to consume the most triggering art. We had to go to where it was. It was okay for an artist to be a bit of what we now think of as an "edgelord."

There was a context created by galleries and performance spaces for edgy, provocative work - a sort of liminal space in which that work wasn't subjected to the general public.

It's arguable that prior to social media (such as Facebook and Tumblr), a lot of art wasn't for the general public at all.

It was for a self-selecting group of consumers who were in on the joke. To some degree, your response to a piece is a signal regarding whether you are in the in-group or not.

Now, we are only one share or reblog away from having to see upsetting works whether we want to or not, and whether we are in the intended audience or not.

Provocative work is no longer a naughty secret, or just shown to people who are "in on the joke."

Art is spammed into our faces whether we like it or not. Edgy and provocative displays fill up our feeds along with distressing news articles and unhappy election results. 24/7.

What does art mean when its context has changed? What is the role of the artist in 2018? Can artists say anything they want to, or do they have a responsibility to the general public to bite their tongue?  *** (For context: this is what provoked this post. Warning, the art piece may be triggering for child abuse. Most commenters found the piece extremely upsetting and or offensive.)

[surgecitylife]

How will the Gig Economy shape the culture at large?

The Gig Economy is something that will be a big focus of a lot of my speculative fiction and my essays, and I'm finding some frustration in trying to research it.

Two pet peeves, in particular.

The first is the peculiar journalistic Millennial-fixation of this age. The media fetishizes Millennials and Gen Z (but especially Millennials, given that most of the media doesn't acknowledge Gen Z as a separate generational cohort yet).

I feel like there is so much problematica here that I don't even know where to start. Reducing gigging to merely a Millennial problem directly dips its toes into that Millennial-fixation - Millennial-anything must make better click bait than talking about other age groups. It tends to do what other "Millennials are killing it/being killed by it" discourse tends to do, that is, reduce a whole cohort to one specific stereotype (white, educated, owing student loans, and a member of the failing middle class).

But worse, it reduces a broader economic problem (all ages are gigging) to one that's specific to one age group, which subconsciously reduces it to a "life stage" that somebody is supposed to get out of.

I feel like it soft-soaps and couches a problem which shouldn't be soft-soaped to begin with. Especially since the media can't really decide what a Millennial even is (a specific generation? A specific age group?) and doesn't know the difference between Millennials (who are in their 30s now) from Gen Z (the current youth and college-age cohort). Even if half or more of Millennials are members of the growing Precariat class (into which giggers fall), the Precariat as a whole does not exclusively consist of Millennials. I'm trying to research broader trends and this fixation on Millennials is maddening.

The other pet peeve:

In all this discourse, there is virtually NOTHING about how the gig economy is affecting society, social relationships, purchasing patterns. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Could it just be that gigging is too *new* as a broader phenomenon for that information to really be out there?

How about psychological effects? Of living a precarious existence to begin with, but also the psychological fallout experienced by many self-employed people in this (American) culture that glamorizes entrepreneurship. When the reality for many is more like this: when you're your own boss, you may be working for the biggest jerk on the planet. (I’m a freelance designer, and often feel this way.)

And how will the new global monoculture incorporate a majority of people who now think of every moment of their time as either monetized or a missed opportunity to monetize?

Are all our friendships going to turn into multi-level marketing connections? How will gigging affect our sense of self and how we move in the culture, if being under pressure to constantly market means you are your brand 24/7?

Forgive me if I think like a science fiction writer, but... well... I think like a science fiction writer, not a journalist. I like imagining worst-case what-if scenarios.

[surgecitylife]

Welcome to the Experience Economy

As goods and services become commoditized, the customer experiences that companies create will matter most.

As the retail apocalypse came to bear upon the mom and pop store and the shopping mall - the Gimmick Age ushered in a brave new world of pop-ups, traveling shows, cons and festivals, art-driven experiences such as Meow Wolf, escape rooms, and painting parties. It ushered in an age of museums and even boring professional conferences having after-hours parties and concerts, and even spawned a new term for not being able to consume enough, do enough, be Instagrammed enough: FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). The fear that one may miss the fly-by-night traveling show that blew through town, the one-time-only special. Fear of missing out on the gimmick.

All the world's a stage with so many experiences being so readily digestible by Instagram and easily propagated by viral media.

But it was foreseen earlier on, in various forms: and started with businesses such as Chuck E. Cheese. Who knew that the creepy animatronic animals and ball pit at a favorite children's pizza chain, foretold so much?

As far back as 1998, this shift was labeled the Experience Economy.

[surgecitylife]

How do you market weed when you can't market weed?

Canadian cannabis vendors are trying to carve out market share for a product they can’t legally sell yet … or advertise. So they’re getting creative

The minimalist world of Canadian cannabis marketing.

[surgecitylife]

Not Cyberpunk. Socialpunk.

[surgecitylife]

“Dumb” spaces

In the future, a place or space being "dumb" (as in, not "smart" in the technology sense) will be a gimmick that fetches a higher price, especially as maintenance of non-smart, low tech environments probably costs more and requires human attendance.

Some "Dumb" spaces may use their very aura of "naughtiness" in their branding.

It's where you go to cheat on your wife or do your crypto-paid side business that violates your dayside employer's non-compete agreement. It's where you go to cry in a beer and have a nervous breakdown.