Defining the Noughties

10 January 2009

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As our office wound down 2009, I took a quick straw poll of what the first decade of the 21st century meant to the people at Intrepid after being inspired from an article I read earlier. Despite the diverse backgrounds, almost everyone touched on a common theme: Individualism and Community in technology.

The Noughties saw an explosion of new gadgets and applications that tapped into our need to personalise everything to suit our individual tastes, schedules and personalities.

• Can’t watch ‘The Simpsons’ on its scheduled time? Tivo it to suit your schedule!
• Don’t like what’s on the radio? Make your own mix and listen to it on your iPod!

Gradually, even the language of these technologies shifted to suit the singular possessive – iTunes, iPlayer, YouTube. We thrived on how we can easily individualise our MySpace page and tweet about our neuroses while queuing at the market. Even Time magazine declared the Person of the Year in 2006 to be ‘You’ (with a pseudo-mirror on the cover to confirm this point).

Some researchers and commentators worried that more Americans were becoming socially isolated. In their 2006 paper “Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks”, researchers McPherson, Smith-Lovin and Brashears suggested that fewer people felt strong ties in a community context (i.e. local neighbourhoods, families and spouses, etc). Was technology and the demand to make technology suit individual needs contributing to this selfish and more isolating trend?

Events near the end of the decade I believe helped to shift some focus from individual to communal outlooks on social networks and technology. Large events like the protests in Iran or the 2008 US Elections shows how much impact people can have when working together on social networks. Even ‘smaller events’ like the Jan Moir controversy over her article on the death of Stephen Gately can show the power of collective action.

Cynics will point out that joining a Facebook group or adding a ‘Twibbon’ to support Iranian activists is not true political activism and that millions of people still tweet what flavour bubble gum they are chewing. But businesses, brands and organisations are betting that the next decade will see a continual shift to groups of like minded people sharing their thoughts on their favourite clothing, foods, political organisations and NGOs.

Looks like the 2010s will be an exciting time. What do you think the next decade will hold?

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