Attendees who had yet to drink their coffee nevertheless received a shot in the arm during a presentation by futurist Watts Wacker at PRSA's recent Public Relations World
Congress in Chicago. Reminding us that the universe doesn't always revolve around PR, Wacker painted a broader picture of how he sees global culture and human
communication evolving in the not-so-distant future.
Although the convergence of computing and communication will yield a climate of information overload that is 120,000 times more cluttered 10 years from now than it is today,
the "information society" is ending, not beginning, said Wacker, founder of the virtual consultancy First Matter LLC. "What's next? The end of knowledge and the beginning of an
epoch of uncertainty," in which society's organizing premise will be based on paradox.
In fact, Wacker contended, a paradoxical society is already emerging. To wit: 60% of Americans now believe in both creationism and evolution. And 40% believe that the ideal
religion would combine the best attributes of all religions, although only .5% of people actually put such beliefs into practice.
Not surprisingly, Wacker forecast the Internet as a major contributor to the melee of the future. Those who contend that the Web's democratic tendency toward individual
empowerment "disintermediates the media" forget that the Web is, itself, a medium.
In the future, all life will, in fact, be "mediated," Wacker hypothesized, as most people will receive their information second-hand through a sea of channels. As such,
a person's individual status will be predicated not so much on ownership of material items, but rather on "media literacy" - as in how he or she manipulates media to gather
knowledge, he said. Individuals who control language will become especially powerful in "nulture" (a phrase Wacker coined to describe the cross-pollination of nerds and culture)
because they will set and control the dialogue of the Zeitgeist. Consider that the tech industry already has co-opted words such as "peripheral" and transformed their meaning.
Wacker, who is co-author of books such as The 500 Year Delta and The Visionary's Handbook (Harperbusiness), also predicted that every corporation will employ a
"chief giving officer" (PRN, Oct. 30) who oversees strategic philanthropy initiatives that appeal to consumers' unique social, economic and environmental concerns.
"We will enter a new era of neo-tribal existence," centered on values, interests and belief systems, he said. To illustrate his point, he wagered that he might, for example,
belong to as many as 12 tribes, including those focused on Star Wars trivia, Absolut Vodka consumption, Hartman leather indulgence and charitable causes he believes in.
"The key will be what do these tribes have in common?" he said. People will begin to congregate around common "media agendas" and information diets. Multiple consumption
patterns will emerge - although the cacophony of information will inevitably result in paradoxical leanings among individuals.
PR has a "bullish" future ahead of itself, considering it's an industry that "drives the motivations of people whose opinions matter," Wacker said. OK, maybe he'll be invited
to speak at the next conference. But, if that's the case, this fuzz-brained, information-overloaded editor is going to need some more coffee.
(Wacker, First Matter, 800/326-4211)