Differences, The Connector?
Yesterday, i took a day to observe and process the last few days of social media interactions. Over the last week conversation is a debate of difference and picking a side. “It’s them against us”, “ they not like us”, “you got regrets now don’t you”; a reoccurring theme underneath- morals, ethics and standards. (We are not having the ethical or moral conversation… at least not yet).
The cultural systems like Drake and Kendrick Lamar battle of the standard of Hip-Hop , ageism, human rights, what does it mean to be American, global politics, global norms, culture, AI psychosis, snitching, ICE, deportation, and quest to takeover cities .Even though people have repeatedly expressed who side they are own by showing solidarity ( is it ignorantly?) , or condone the behavior (collective knows it immoral?) , its reasoned away ( ashamed of looking foolish?) , deflected regardless of facts and evidence pointing to otherwise (is it denialism?). To keep up a facade of “we are winning, and your mad because…” while on the other end people are saying look at the evidence, who’s “winning” the battle? Holding on to we told you so tighter then a shoe thats too small. Pushing the other side into further denial deepening beliefs and skewed views. Every conclusion leads society closer to new social standards, ethics and rules. The collective is unconsciously dissecting parts of the culture society has had a problem with, issues unresolved and needed to be talked about more often for understanding/innerstanding.Making differences not as important as it is to be connected. Right now it’s facts based on assumptions, then confirmation of that assumption being fact has people saying “ I told you so”. It’s difficult to prove an opinion without evidence, unfortunately that’s what the current administration is doing. That’s what some influencers are doing.Its social media standards right now, assume until other wise.
My grandma used to say, what you do in the dark will always come to the light. Society is doing just that, digging, searching and keeping records/receipts of immoral behaviors, of deviant acts towards people, contradictions involving promises. Eventually bringing the darkness into the light of the people.
People are seeing past the distractions, and seeing patterns of behavior. It all circles back to ethical norms and societal values. It does come to “Which side are you on?”Good or bad the problem presents society wants a clearer picture of right and wrong . Which is why conservations fall in line with “ who is right/wrong?”
Right and wrongs can be difficult to distinguish because what’s right could be wrong until it’s proven otherwise; vice versa. Like everyone knows child labor is wrong, the argument happens when people’s only source of survival is engaging in child labor, keeping them blinded from ethical responsibility of keeping kids safe. Another example is guns; folks, know how dangerous it is but because their fears justify their insecurities they will continue to support automatic weapons for human consumption. ( I’m a gun owner but I’m not an advocate for war style weapons in the communities).
The shooting in Minneapolis at the Catholic school along with the other shootings are signs the collectives need to fix a deeper problem. The outcomes of each incident changes the course of future generations.
How can this be applied to adversity and marketing?
Each trend marketing regurgitates from society needs more attention to how the trend started. Yes trends connect to the people but not all trends were intended for all people. Unpacking the taboo is difficult but it can be done in a careful, and deliberate way. The conversations surrounding hot topics are extremely insightful because somewhere between the differences are similarities. Those connections are the golden ticket, it’s the sweet spot of connection. Yes, everyone is different or least trying to be and it’s okay to play around with those connections to draw the lines between dots. On the other hand only connecting with differences can seclude groups of people who can or have interests in the product, service or brand. Seclusion is a cash flow killer.
