The 2024 Trend Forecast
The 2024 Trend Forecast
Gaze into The Trend Report™'s crystal ball to see the immediate future (or something).
We made it to another year! I think! In the spirit of, uhh, trend tracking I do a little forecast of the year that attempts to “predict” what we might see this year. Note that 1.) I hate trying to predict things and 2.) my bag is more recognizing storylines in culture and trying to reflect back what they say about us. So take all this with grains of salt!
Let’s start by reviewing my 2023 predictions, to see if they happened or not.
Unruly Growth: The idea that the growth economy and work is killing us and something will change. Technically, this did not happen. But did growing discontent with work continue in 2023? Yes. Will it continue this year? Absolutely. This trend cycle still ain’t over yet, baby!
Private Parts: The idea that there will be a movement toward more private interests and cultures. Yes! More and more conversations are happening about people posting less and social media not being what it used to be. Pair this with all the layoffs in digital advertising and the death of Twitter, you can see that social media is souring.
Discontented: There is too much content. Yes! This was a theme of 2023. My theory is this “too much stuff”-ism is going to shift from online and in media to the physical world, radically reshaping shopping and fashion as people 1.) continue to have less money and 2.) are worried about the environment and 3.) realize that there’s already enough stuff.
Gen Accountability: Gen Z fever will reach a fever pitch. Yes! The Gen Z-are-Boomers conversation picked up steam last year, becoming a lightning rod topic on TikTok as the age group are increasingly revealing their not-smarts and Boomer symmetry. Pair this with Gen A’s rise and the vibe shift is here. More on this in a bit.
Crucified Religion: Religion will continue to decline. Duh. Technically! Why else is the pope trying to court queer people? Non-religion is the future, and arguably why places like America are “at war”: Christian values versus kind, accepting secularism.
Within that same post, I had a few smaller items at bottom. I will review some of the most egregious items quickly.
Fandom power: See Taylor and Beyoncé’s rise even higher, along with Club Chalamet.
Illiteracy: omg. Should I buy lottery tickets??
2013 & 1983: Eh and yes. I think we’re in for 2014 and 2020 revivalism and reflection this year, especially as we “graduate” from Covid in March.
Dumb again: Kinda? I don’t actually know.
Julia Roberts comeback: Kinda?
Redo it: Yes.
Forever online: I feel like the chronically online crashed and burned. No one wants braindead friends anymore.
Wastelessness: Still going.
The end of fillers: Yes.
Questioning the Questioners: lol yes.
Onward to the 2024 predictions!!
Food as object: Two cultural train cars are going to hit each other. First, we know that weight loss drugs like Ozempic are reshaping culture as far as people’s addictions and how businesses are approaching food. This has the potential to shift parts of culture from live-to-eat to eat-to-live, from a laissez faire bacchanalia to gods practicing temperance. I’m thinking more that the small bites and athleisure spaces will collide, that there will be some great handshake between food and “health” otherwise unseen. Less in the Goop, macrobiotic way and more select food, drinks, and small bites becoming experiences. Think “Girl Dinner, The Restaurant” instead of leaf-on-plate Michelin antics. (Perhaps a re-re-rise of tapas and small plates? Sipping menus instead of bottles or carafes? I’d argue the non-alcoholic cocktail bars capture this idea.) At the other end of this is a movement of food in places like Los Angeles and New York and other “artisanal” places to become more objectified. We talked about this in November with food items shifting toward the conceptual instead of the literal: jelly cakes, sandwich cocktails, tree cakes, fashion foods, coquette dishes, etc. Food will become cute, less because they’re to sustain us but more to entertain us. They will be objects, continuing the Instagram and TikTok-ability of what’s being served. This will be a very slow burn, as cities will turn this way first followed by an “Is it cake?” style transference to the masses.
Now and then-ism: Millennials are entering their forties and Gen Z are two years away from their thirties. While the world is so shitty — and while ridiculous generational wars will continue but subdue — there is going to be a more inward shift, to recognizing how far people have come via inventory stocking nostalgia. “What were the 2000s really like?” may be asked as Millennials celebrate twenty year high school and college reunions, as the class of 2000 are now twenty years out from college. Paired with Gen Z graduating high school and entering college, “What was it like to be in college when I was born?” questions start being asked. “How did we survive the pandemic?” Gen Z (and us all) may wonder, as they look back at their twenties with confusion, about all the stupid TikTok dances that we did (which are now so cringe). This will be a major conversation about the year, that we have gone “four years since Covid,” especially since it’s back. As Gen Alpha rises (More in a sec!), Gen Z will revisit their middle and high school experience from a decade ago, which will bring with it a mass nostalgia for the early 2010s and late aughts. This isn’t an indie sleaze fashion moment, but instead a “Remember X artist? Here’s what they’re up to now!” This will also mean that these old stars — Especially influencers of that time like Tyler Oakley and Glozell! — will have a moment, to be seen as adults versus clowns. We’ll be primed for some proto-Buzzfeed entity to step in and create content out of this, so Gen Z can realize they are “old” while Millennials share their twentysomething experiences from the frontline. This nostalgia will pair nicely with burned out adults looking for an escape: reflection will become trendy, as businesses and culture lose their charm with Gen Z. These are adults now! They’re no longer the sexy new something. But behold: a new challenger, a new way of life, a new supreme. Which means…
Alpha world: Gen Alpha are stepping into the spotlight. Now tweens and teens, they are at spitting age, meaning: they will read your ass. Remember when “OK Boomer” popped from Gen Z teens on TikTok? We’re primed for the next “that” because this mean, aggressively online group are deeply unhinged with high levels of internet poisoning that culture (and apathetic parents) has enabled. We will see posts and general internet style get shittier, literally and metaphorically: if you thought Skibidi Toilets were a lot, just wait for eeffoc and whatever this is. It will be rizzmas-gyatt-Baby-Gronk-r-us, multiplied by the slay graveyard where everything is fire no cap drip drip. The media cycle has already started cranking the Gen Alpha slang listicle pipeline and will try to force generational wars which, as we’ll see, are going to be way too early and pointless. These kids are already at war with their teachers and will have a larger war with parents and culture at large: there will be a reckoning with these kids because they are not alright. Still! We will see more Gen A sponsored content and generational cultural crossovers. This will be the space of 2024. Now about their parents…
The Gen X moment: I have an essay I’ve been sitting on about this that will be coming in a few weeks but a taste that I will keep brief: Gen X is going to have a major accountability moment, largely in the working world as Gen Z and Millennials team up to take down “who’s on top.” And who are the recently appointed old-but-new guard who are standing in the way of progress? Gen X. There will likely be a finger pointing breakdown between Gen X and Millennials as far as parenting Gen A, to understand who made them so bad. Was it younger parents? Or was it older parents? The answer is irrelevant, but we as a culture will realize the reality of Hot Topic Boomerism. If you’re looking for a window into what this looks like, we’ve already seen a few rounds of this with Sarah Silverman and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The end of shopping: Luxury goods are out. Inflation is in. Wages are down! The planet is on fire. There’s too much shit in this world! This is obvious, as culture has been barrelling toward this since, uh, forever, but things are going to snap into place that we don’t have or need to shop. We have enough stuff! And the stuff that we keep getting is cheap, poorly made, and not worth spending money. Re-sale and vintage markets continue to climb because of finances and ideologies. Shopping is going to change, very similar to the way food and consumption will change.
The end of work: Nobody wants to work anymore because work sucks. In the culture wars, we’ve realized that work is just to prop up the already rich and, if anything can unite people of different minds, it’s a revolution against the rich. We’re already in the throes of this, and have been in the throes of this since Occupy Wall Street threw the first stone. At this point, the rebellion is less about taxing the one percent, which everyone basically agrees with: what’s now on the mind is how not-to-work, how to get by with as little as possible, how to live your life versus giving it away to stakeholders. We’re all tired of being used and abused by society, capitalism, etc. when we have robots who should be abused. Wasn’t that what the writer’s strike was all about? Life is HARD ENOUGH and we have to do these dumb jobs for pennies? No one wants to be a high achiever anymore! No wants to be driven! No one wants to go above and beyond! Everyone wants to run a coffee shop or bookstore or pet place. Something’s gotta give, especially as all of our personal relationships became consumed by work culture too. Cue Corporate Erin!
Black swan: I have said this before, but the vibes of 2024 are off because of whatever disagreement is mounting given the myriad worldwide elections — and the increasingly haunted battle between boring old and insurrectionist old. Whether it’s another attack on the capital or some “terrorist” attack or some major assassination, something is going to happen. We have all the ingredients for this horrible black swan soup. When will it boil?
Wars become social justice: See this Trend Report™ for more. This will continue in major ways!
Midwestern world: Hot take: eyes are going to turn to the Midwest, the final frontier of “living cheaply.” We’re already starting to see this with cities like Tulsa and Kansas City having their moment, but places like Oklahoma City (Potential new home to the country’s second largest building?) and Northwest Arkansas (Is this the new Marfa?) will also start to see some attention. This will create conflict among the liberal city people diaspora colliding with more conservative locals, but once this area starts to grow, becoming it’s own “thing,” we could see the dissolution of coastal power dominance. Moreover, with climate migration, we’re already starting to see people rethink geography as it relates to the future (a la) and that means new power dynamics. Think about it: if we’re eating the rich, that means we’re going away from established institutions and nepotism hubs like New York and LA. The Midwest in the 2020s will be what the Pacific Northwest (along with Tennessee and Atlanta) was in the 2010s. The question is: where is the next Portland? What will be the first place to usher in Loopercore, turning the Rian Johnson movie into a very real reality?
AI normcore: AI conversations will settle as the tech will be normalized in innocuous ways. The robot revolution is never coming. But will you start having brainstorms with Chat GPT? Absolutely. Will you start correcting images with Photoshop AI, which will be ripped off by Apple and Google? Most definitely. Will this stupid tool do much? Not really. It does have the potential to play into that future of people not-working — but that would require a kind, understanding government that understands subjects like universal basic income. That seems very much not in the near future.
No one wants to get married: I don’t know how to say this but modern women don’t want to marry modern men because modern men are just bad. Unless there is a great reckoning and “doing the work” in that world, things aren’t going to change. This isn’t just a US thing but a worldwidefact. What does this mean? More of the same, especially as women are far out-pacing menat younger ages. We’ll also see more stupid stories placating for different genders to get over differences and fuck already, which will only make it worse. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more talks about late-stage bisexuality, queerness, and lesbianism in women, adults buying houses together but being not-in-a-relationship, domestic partnerships to get healthcare, and other “hacks” to circumvent what comes with being married. People are going to (obviously) continue to realize that marriage is not-needed to survive, especially when the stock is so poor. Incels will continue to flop, but we can naturally expect some female driven hate crimes because…of course. Perhaps the Surgeon General will start to tackle the problem of men like they started to tackle the problem of loneliness? Speaking of, that will continue. Obviously! No one wants to get married. No one wants to work! Everyone wants to be themselves, unencumbered, and that means isolation. It also illustrates just a lot of the aforementioned trends (well, problems): the world is bad, we feel powerless, we don’t want to work, everything about kids are bad, and the vibe is generally not about devoting your life to someone else, especially in the context of a religious context that is underscored by hate. No one has time for that!