Any modern-day twenty-something do-it-yourself entrepreneur will likely tell you that the Internet is the new hustle. In order to successfully get your brand, product or personal message out there, communication over a wide variety of digital media channels is the new mandate. Blogging, podcasting, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Flickr, etc. all take a lot of work to keep updated with fresh content. Tack on email, SMS messaging, cell phone calls and all the time spent researching and consuming information online, and the temporary escape of back-to-basics “analogue living” is now more appealing than ever.

By “analogue living,” I mean temporarily abandoning the Internet and partaking in activities that people used to do. According to a recent article in Business Week titled “Overloaded kids turning low-tech,” “Young people seek temporary salvation from the cutting edge. They are being driven to activities reminiscent of their childhood and more familiar with their parents’ generation. Out goes MySpace, PS2s and iPhones, and in comes knitting clubs, craft fairs and cloud appreciation societies.”

It’s a natural backlash, as all the great technology we are developing (designed to bring us together), is actually pushing us further and further apart. We no longer call, stop by for a chat or even write letters; we Facebook or SMS. We no longer read newspapers or books; we consume news feeds via RSS. We no longer listen to albums; we listen to mp3’s on our iPods. After a long day at work or school, instead of relaxing on the couch or socializing with friends and family, we are obsessively checking emails, blogs and updating our Flickr. The result: digital stress and anxiety.

In response to an overly teched-out and digitized culture, people are seeking salvation in the simple. London’s Notting Hill Arts Club is now home to a weekly craft night where youth drink tea, listen to music and knit together. In NYC, cloud appreciation societies are on the rise.

This backlash against tech-consumerism has advertising executives salivating like basset hounds over the opportunity to exploit the consumer’s desire for simpler products. Look out! A plethora of over simplified consumer packaging and trendy 1950’s retro-looking products are on the way.

Mark my words: in six months, the new hipster-cred is going to be all about knitted goods, 50’s jukebox music and hanging out with Fonzie at Arnold’s.