I believe we live in the age of self-promotion. After we saw the industrial revolution in the18C, the social revolution in the 19C and the technical revolution in the 20C, today we are witnessing a Narcissistic revolution.
Good or bad, today it is all about ME (or moi, ich, ik, watashi). Time magazine dedicated their person of the year in 2006 to you.
Why? I call it “individualizers”, elements in our lives that make us more individuals. Here is my list of six individualizers:
- Shareware: technology makes it all happen, from the internet to our mobile phones, from the banal to the exquisite, we are all witnesses and are driven with a need to share,
- Marketing: product marketing is focusing on individualism as a form of self-expression. “You shop therefore you are” is the mantra of our times. We buy products to express not only who we are but also who we want to be. Which iPod are you?,
- Therapy: is the new religion, over 1 million patients are treated every day in the US alone. The search for our unique selves leaves a void,
- Real: in our confusion “the real thing’ is driving us for a search for real food, real jobs, a real home, a real family, a real me, real self-promotion,
- Space is individualizing us: from hotels to airports and theme parks, each visitor is carefully checked and tracked. We need to prove who we are before we can enter these transitional spaces,
- Finally, there is no place to hide. What yesterday might look like fun with the boys (and or girls), will tomorrow end up tagged as “Priceless!” on Youtube. Â