Digital Bohemianism: The Rise of Alternative Cultures & Lifestyles in the Digital Age

This week - I wrote about how the internet promotes a new type of individualism and provides access to an infinite number of counter cultures. The growing size of these counter culture movements cause conflict within nations. It’s a major trend that’s influencing where the world is heading.

An Era of Digital Bohemianism

We've entered an era of Digital Bohemianism. Society is moving from a time when everyone lived the same way of life to a time where people are adopting a growing variety of lifestyles and beliefs that don’t always align.

People are using the internet to express themselves in new & different ways, to share unique ideas, and connect with like-minded communities. In other words, the internet is creating many subcultures. The growing variety and size of these subcultures creates friction and conflict with the mainstream way of life that became common in the late industrial and early information eras.

Its transforming the way people live and interact with each other and their local communities. Below, I’ll elaborate and connect this concept to neo-medievalism (a modern riff on medieval decentralized society) and finish by concluding how these two themes are working together to rapidly reshape how society organizes and governs itself.

The bottom line: the internet incentivizes individualism. And at a large enough scale of adoption the internet causes communities to fragment and reform. In the long run, this trend of fragmentation creates major political and policy challenges for communities struggling to adapt to the digital age.

Online Communities and Social Media

The proliferation of online communities and social media platforms has played a pivotal role in the rise of Digital Bohemianism. Websites, forums, and social media groups serve as virtual gathering spaces for people to share their thoughts, beliefs, and creative works without the constraints of physical boundaries. This enables individuals from diverse backgrounds to form connections based on their shared interests, fostering the growth of subcultures and movements that defy traditional societal norms.

In other words, the internet supports an infinite number of counter culture movements and gives individuals the easy means to join and participate in them. Perhaps most importantly, the internet gives us a way to loudly vocalize our support for the groups we participate in.

Breaking Free from Conformity

Digital Bohemianism provides individuals easy to access pathways to break free from societal expectations and explore alternative lifestyles that resonate with their personal values and aspirations. This shift in mindset is fueled by the freedom to experiment with different identities, roles, and digital experiences. As a result, individuals are empowered to challenge the status quo, question societal norms, and forge their own unique paths and communities.

Creative Expression and Collaboration

At the core of Digital Bohemianism lies a deep appreciation for creativity, self-expression, and collaboration. The digital landscape provides a fertile ground for artists, writers, musicians, philosophers and other creative individuals to showcase their work, exchange ideas, and collaborate on projects without geographic limitations. This creative exchange has led to the development of unique artistic styles, interdisciplinary works, and innovative cultural movements that thrive online.

Importantly, these types of unique online communities and cultural trends are now consistently transitioning from purely online phenomenon to physical world outcomes.

Expanding Personal and Intellectual Horizons

The accessibility of information and resources online allows individuals to pursue their passions and educate themselves on a wide range of topics. Digital Bohemianism celebrates this intellectual curiosity and encourages people to explore new ideas, push boundaries, and foster personal growth.

Said another way - in the digital age, you are more often than not rewarded for pursuing your weird curiosities and passions.

Social Activism and Advocacy

Digital Bohemianism also extends to the realm of social activism and advocacy. As alternative lifestyles and cultures gain prominence, many individuals use the digital platform to raise awareness about social issues, advocate for change, and challenge the status quo. Online activism can take various forms, such as creating awareness campaigns, sharing resources, or organizing virtual events and protests.

The Future of Digital Bohemianism

As technology continues to evolve, it is likely that the idea of Digital Bohemianism will only grow in significance, continuously reshaping the way individuals express themselves and connect with others. The internet will further diversify and expand as more people around the world come online. As this happens, more people will continue to embrace alternative lifestyles and cultures that defy conventional norms of their local communities.

Intersecting With Neo-Medievalism

This paints the picture on an individual level.

Viewed from a society-wide lens, Digital Bohemianism intersects really well with the idea of neo-medievalism. ie: the trend leads to an increasing fragmentation and decentralization of power within traditional communities enabled by the internet. Similar to how loyalty to the Church and Feudal Lords created decentralized power structures within Medieval society.

Digital Bohemianism thrives because of the internet allowing people to defy conventional norms and embrace alternative lifestyles. This trend challenges traditional structures and authority, leading to a shift in power dynamics akin to neo-medievalism.

For example, the internet's borderless nature has facilitated the rise of non-state actors, multinational corporations, and transnational networks (like crypto) that operate beyond the confines of traditional nation-states. This parallels the neo-medieval era when power was dispersed among various entities, such as religious institutions, city-states, and feudal lords.

Digital Bohemianism contributes to the reinforcement of neo-medievalism by fostering the growth of online communities that are not bound by geographic or political borders. These communities form their own subcultures, rules, and power structures, independent of nation-states. As individuals find solace and identity in these virtual spaces, loyalty shifts from traditional nation-states to these alternative online communities.

Moreover, the decentralization of information and the democratization of knowledge have disrupted traditional power structures, empowering individuals to engage in social activism and advocacy on a global scale. This further fragments the centralized authority of nation-states, contributing to the neo-medieval landscape.

Closing Thoughts

Think of the internet as a catalyst for both Digital Bohemianism and neo-medievalism. The rise of alternative cultures and lifestyles online challenges traditional norms and power structures, leading to a more decentralized and fragmented world that resembles the medieval era.

In plain english - that means that finding common policy ground for local communities will become harder as more subcultures proliferate.

As a consequence of these trends, we can expect nation-states will more likely be against anything that supports expansion of individualism because it leads to neo-medievalism. In other words, governments will be against any technology or trend that leads to fragmentation of community and conflicting loyalties within the nation states population.

These trends challenge traditional power structures & promote decentralization, which undermines the authority & control of the nation-state.

Rapid Fire

• Stripes 2022 Annual Letter - It’s interesting to see their perspective on small businesses around the world.

• The Web3 Passport Stack - Really interesting essay on how the idea and framing of a crypto “wallet” needs to expand given how many more use cases are now available.

• The Never Ending Now - I'm pretty sure I've shared this before but I revisit it frequently. I think about it a lot re: how understanding this simple idea shapes my worldview - the idea: how society operates in an almost perpetual state of attention deficit disorder in the digital age.

• Concerns Grow As Tighter Lending Hits Commercial Real Estate - Remote work was already hammering commercial real estate and not there are concerns over a banking crisis leading to tighter lending. A double whammy.

• Get Serious: About Purpose - “For too long, we’ve been told we can be anything, do anything, and that all criticisms of that anything are an attack on our identity and very being. That self-love and self-care are all we need to thrive. And yet, we’ve never seemed more miserable, never been more lost, and never less confident in what we stand for.

  Maybe one day the all-knowing AI will tell us the truth:

  Find a purpose outside yourself. You are not enough.”

Extras

Roads to Rome