Introduction

We open by exploring the metacrisis and its cultural roots. You will delve into the transformative power of narratives and their role in shaping systems and actions in the world. We share the Culture Hack Labs approach to Narrative-Led Systems Change: Justice plus Onto-Shift, which emphasizes that demands for justice must be paired with a deeper shift in ontologies—the fundamental ways we perceive, relate to, and engage with the world.

Step 3: Understand

First you will analyse the Attention, Network and Power, as well as the Language of your Narrative Communities. You will then Map the Communities using Justice-Ontology axes to reveal key patterns and positions - building on the “Justice plus onto-shift” approach introduced in the Introduction. Finally, you will identify where the Window of Discourse sits and where we want to shift it. This is the foundation for your narrative intervention strategy.

Hacking Tree: The Media

The next step is choosing the right medium to bring it to life in the eyes of your audience.

You’ve crafted your message, now you need to decide where and how it will show up in the world. The best media is the one your audience already uses, understands, and shares. That could mean TikTok dances, hip hop tracks, graffiti on the streets, a food ritual, slam poetry, theatre, fashion, comedy, a billboard takeover, or mainstream platforms like TV and press.

Use what you learned in your listening work to decide what formats and spaces resonate most with your audience: Where do they spend time? What grabs their attention? What kind of content do they share or respond to? Whether online, offline, or both – pick the medium that makes your message impossible to ignore.

This is where your listening work comes in. Your choice of media is based on three elements:

1.1 Audiences: What are their tastes & interests? What grabs their attention?
1.2 Intersections: What’s the shared symbolic or emotional ground between narrative communities, where your hack can bridge discourses and travel further. If you have a diversity of people inside your Audiences. Where is the middle point where they meet? Do they like salsa or they prefer hip hop? Do they pay attention to a specific influencer?
1.3 Formats: Where does your audience spend their time? What kinds of content do they share or respond to? Whether it’s online, offline, or a mix of both – choose the medium that makes your message impossible to ignore and irresistible to share.

See an example

In one of the hacks in the Territories of Transition TOT – the choice of media was an informative video, inviting the audience: Land Back organisers to engage in narrative-led systems change towards more life-centric, futures inspired by “right relations” Indigenous philosophies.

Audience: land back audience
Intersection: common to land defenders turtle island; mesoamerica: deafening land & life
Formats: Short video centring living solutions/alternatives

Now we know how we are speaking, let’s make what we’re saying stick – let’s move to our meme!

Next Step: The Meme

The Culture Hack Method

The Culture Hack Method

Introduction

Step 1: Ask

Step 2: Listen

Step 3: Understand

Step 4: Recode

Step 5: Hack

Hacking Tree: The Media