Trend # 4: Digital Diets

People are drowning in digital data. For example, according to an Australian survey, 63% of people feel that they are overloaded with information and 40% have difficulty remembering more than 3 phone numbers. People are also realising that being less connected can actually be a good thing. For example, some people are starting to find out that you can have too many digital friends. Hence not responding to friendships requests or dropping out of social networks will become commonplace. Similarly people are slowly waking up to the fact that they waste an extraordinary amount of time and money on technology that doesn’t make their lives any easier or better. Thus unplugging on a general level will become popular as a way of rebalancing frantic and frenetic lives.

Implications

In many instances this trend will be driven by necessity. It is a way of saving money or reclaiming personal or family time. However, there is also an aspirational element to this trend. In the same way that owning a mobile phone was once seen as a mark of sophistication, not owning one (or using one sparingly) is becoming a signal that a person has sorted out their priorities or has rebalanced their life. People may also decide that in some instances the old ways were the better ways and will start to use products and services that do not require power or are an antidote to fast digital alternatives.

Expect to see a growing interest in analogue products. For example, fountain pens, letter writing, wet-film photography and vinyl records.