Gonzo Culture: A Report on Control, Part 1
<p>The internet has broken our brains. This report answers why. We feel exhausted, confused, even frightened by changes in our world. But if one thing is certain, it’s that the genie’s out of the bottle and it’s not going back in. Therefore, we face a choice. Accept reality will only get weirder and we will only get more confused. Or develop a new model for how the post-social media world works. To forecast the future, we have to analyze the present at a higher resolution.</p> <p>Gonzo Culture is the inaugural issue of 8Ball, a Los Angeles-based trend consultancy founded by Sean Monahan (formerly of K-HOLE). It was completed over the course of 2019 and 2020 in Los Angeles, Upstate New York, and New York City.</p> <p>This section is Part 1 of 2. It covers how brands and the internet intersect, the new vocabulary we need to explain digital phenomena, and strategies we can use to thrive in this new media ecosystem. Part 2 includes case studies, microtrends, and profiles of digital consumer tribes.</p>
Authors: Sean Monahan