TRENDS NETWORK AND CRITICAL THINKING IN 21st CENTURY CULTURE

Definition of a Trend

CONTENT STANDARD:
 The learner understands the emergence of trends and patterns

PERFORMANCE STANDARD
 The learner will be able to derive an idea from instances and present this idea
through a 100-word essay, artwork, and other graphic representations.

OBJECTIVES:
 Define a trend
 Explain the process on how to spot a trend
 Differentiate a trend from a fad
 Point out the elements that make up a trend
 Describe the different characteristics of a trend

WHAT IS TREND?
 Trend is a pattern of group behavior that lasts for a long period of time. It can
affect your life and shape your future.
 Trend is defined in various ways. In the field of arts, fashion and Music, it is the
prevailing style of preference such as realism movement in art, emergence of the
miniskirt and popularity of jazz music.

HOW TO SPOT ATREND?

 Trendsetter is a person who starts a trend. The individual’s act or the event has
attracted attention, earned acceptance, and created strong interest and influence
on people whose number keeps snowballing as days go by.
 A futurist is one who studies and predicts the future, especially on the basis of
current trends.
 Trendspotting refers to “the study of trends and the way they develop and affect
society”
 Cool-hunting is a “hunt for those things that will become popular before they
became popular”.
 Trend analysis is “based on trendspotting but it extends this into developing
future scenarios.
 The characteristics of a trend spotter should possess, based and adapted from
Rehn and Lindkvist, 2013.
 Adapt a beginner’s mind – Know how to unlearn things. With a
beginner’s mind, you can see things in a new light, as if everything is new
and strange; thus you will be able to detect even small changes and shifts
that field experts tend to ignore.
 Know why and what you are looking for – Ascertain first the reason
why you are looking for trend.
 Look and search in many places – Look beyond what and where others
are looking for and searching at. Dare to look for something different and
do not remain in your comfort zone.
 Beware of the obvious – Do not join the bandwagon of the obvious-the
flashy things. Remember that if something is easy to spot, everyone most
likely sees it.
 Never judge something as good or bad – set aside your biases and be
objective in looking for trends. You may not like the topic, but you have to
pursue knowing more of it if you are to be an effective trend spotter.
 Be sensitive in looking for signals – Study how trends gain
momentum. Not all things new and novel can become a trend but they
sometimes do.
 Look for shifts rather than novelties – Observe for changes how things
are done or in people’s behaviors when something new is introduced.
 Spot for combinations of things – Do not think of trends as a singular
evolution or development of things.
 Find the reason for something – seek logical explanations and causes
for everything.
 TRENDS NETWORK AND CRITICAL THINKING IN 21st CENTURY CULTURE
Definition of a Trend
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TREND AND FAD
 Trend and Fad are both pattern of behavior but not without differences.
 Trends and Fad can happen in areas of life where change or transformation
continuously occurs. This means that while you are alive, you will encounter and
experience various trends and fads.

TREND FAD
 A trend lasts for a longer period of  Fad is a temporary or short-lived
time. pattern of group behavior
 It may take years before a trend  It only takes a few weeks or
slow down months for a fad to stay.

ACTIVITY 1:
I. Identify which of the following items are trends and fads. Write T if it is a trends and F
if it is a Fad.
1. Online Banking 6. Animated Films
2. Medical Tourism 7. Business Process Outsourcing
3. Puka shell necklace 8. Platform boots
4. Gwiyomi song 9. Instagram
5. Denim jeans 10. Ivana Alawi Blogs

II. 1. Define trend and give a situation to support your definition.

2. Why do you always encounter trends and fads?
3. Why is it important to spot a trend? How will it affect you?

ELEMENTS OF A TREND
 The following are elements or components of a trend.
 Number of participants – a trend may be started by an individual but the
number of people who follow it becomes bigger as time goes by.
 Pattern of behavior – a trend is formed from repetitive actions of people.
 Long period of time – a trend has a long time frame, sometimes running
for decades. A trend may experience some ups and downs in popularity,
may fade away and may recur.
 Cause – a trend has a starting point which can be an idea, technology,
event or person.
 Consequences – a trend makes considerable influence or impact.

CHARACTHERISTICS OF TRENDS
 Trends are difficult to study and analyze. Studying them is like predicting the
future and determining what changes may possibly last and thus have wide
effects on society and the people.
 Rehn and Lindkvist,2013 mention of a so called hierarchy of trends, which
explains why trends seem to have varying reach, effects, and influences on
people. This hierarchy is a representation of the scale of the development of a
trend.
 Microtrends – are “Little things that happen all around us all the time, the
tiny shifts that occur in everything from clothes we wear and the snacks
we eat to the way we work, play and love. Microtrends are synonymous
with fads.
 Macrotrends – “Aggregated Microtrends or more sweeping changes that
are affecting the society.” They provide major changes that are predictable
in the societal level for a longer period of time. These are more stable than
Microtrends.
 Megatrends – are “Macrotrends that have grown up and moved out. They
are big and bold, and affect the lives of great swatches of the human race”
They can last for decades and are “so pervasive as to be generally
known.” Because of this condition, megatrends are regarded as so
obvious and evident. In other words, they have become the prevailing
condition that has become too normal.
 TRENDS NETWORK AND CRITICAL THINKING IN 21st CENTURY CULTURE
Definition of a Trend
 Gigatrends – “trends that are so general that they affect most areas of
human life or at least, more than one aspect of life or more than one
industry.” Gigatrends are usually identified to define an era.

ACTIVITY 2
1. Who or what generates a trend? Who are involved in creating a trend?
2. Why is time frame important in a trend?
3. Name five (5) trends and classify them according to the hierarchy of trends.
Explain why each is a trend and why you classify it as such based on the
hierarchy of trends.

Reference: Trends, Networks and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century Culture, DIWA
Senior High School Series, Page 2 – 14.

Prepared by:

JOHN KARL D. FERNANDO

Teacher I