Trends, Networks, and Critical Thinking in the 21 Century Culture

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Subject Description
The course provides opportunities for students to discover patterns and extract
meanings from emerging trends. It aids in developing their critical and creative thinking skills –
essential tools for decision making and understanding “ethics of care”, Global trends in the 21 st

century are examined and are either accepted or rejected on a sound set of criteria. Students will
be asked to create and analyze scenarios that will challenge them to (1) formulate their stances
on issues or concerns; (2) propose interventions and; (3) formulate alternative futures. The
students will realize the interconnections between their neural connections and social realities.

LESSON 1: DEFINITION OF A TREND

OVERVIEW: This lesson will introduce the various ideas that define a trend in the contemporary 21 st

century. It will help us to understand the principle and social realities that shape the word trend that we
know today. That could help us to analyze how the world is being run over by trends throughout history.

TREND IS DEFINED IN VARIOUS WAYS:

a. In the field of arts, fashion, and music, it is a prevailing style or preference such as realism
movement in art, emergence of the miniskirt, and popularity of jazz music.
b. In economics, it is a general movement registering statistical changes for a long period such as the
increasing cost of living and rate of unemployment.
c. In politics, it refers to a tendency, drift, or bend toward a certain stance, thought, or policy as when
democratic Southeast Asian countries favored authoritarian governments at a certain point in their
histories.
d. In sports (wearable devices that monitor training performance)
e. Food (rise of oatmeal products, inclusion of moringa or malunggay in food products) f.
Cosmetics (whitening supplements)
g. Travel (paperless tickets and online check – in)
h. Manufacturing (3 – D printing)
i. Environmental management (home solar electric system)
∙ A trend is a pattern of behavior demonstrated by a big number of people within a particular period. ∙
Trends can also refer to movements, ideologies, concepts, beliefs, and more.

SPOTTING A TREND
∙ Someone or something starts or causes as trend. A person who starts a trend is called Trendsetter.
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. The act or event is
something different from what is currently going on and it becomes “the next big thing.” It
demonstrates an accelerated spread among various sectors and areas and creates a deep and wide
scope of influence on people, sectors, and the environment. It leads to change.
∙ According to futurists (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,” whereas a
 cool – hunting is “a hunt for those things that will become popular before they are popular.” trend
analysis is “based on trendspotting but it extends this into developing future scenarios.”
∙ Cool – hunting can be understood as looking for things that are going to be popular, while
trendspotting is looking for future trends, generally including those that are less or not obvious, that
ultimately affect society and the way people live. Trendspotting requires more analysis. For
example, discovering what accessories will hit the fashion markets in the next season is cool –
hunting, as well as a record label producer looking for the next singing sensation.
∙ Trendspotting seeks broader subjects that lead to changes in human perception, say, in clothing and
music imagine how the marketers of the denim jeans, notably Levi’s positioned denim jeans from
being a work wear to being quality wear that exudes individuality and informality. Soon, the denim
jeans became ubiquitous in every country and a must – have. Think of composers and performers of
pop music that help define the taste of a generation of listeners, possibly touching emotions and
upholding attitudes. Original Filipino Music (OPM), which started in the late 1970’s, provided songs
with a uniquely Filipino pop feel different from the previous colonially influenced songs and art
songs
.

TREND VERSUS FAD (DISTINGUISH)

1. TREND lasts for a longer period of time than a FAD. It may take years before a TREND slows down,
while it only takes a few weeks or months for a FAD to stay. Thus, a FAD is a temporary or short – lived
pattern of group behavior. For instance, the Beatlemania in the 1960s and the hippie TRENDS lasted for
decades whereas the FAD of the song “Gangnam Style” was short – lived.
2. A TREND has a record of occurrence in the past and might continue to the present, something which is
unseen in a FAD. It leaves a long, significant mark in history and could go on to the present. For instance
the rise of One Direction ushered back the boy band trend in music, which recurs intermittently since the
1960s. The “Trumpets” dance challenge and the mannequin challenge which went viral on television
and social media were FADS that quickly faded away.

NOTE: Trends and Fads 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.

ELEMENTS OR COMPONENTS OF A TREND (NPLCC)

1. 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. The group grows into a community which, not long after, swells into national and international
societies.
∙ The prevailing fashion of a period, for example, follows what celebrities are wearing or what fashion
designers offer.
∙ People often copy the trendsetters and so a new fashion trend develops.
∙ In the recent century, styles of clothing are usually distinguished by decades.
2. PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR
∙ A trend is formed from repetitive actions of people.
∙ The simple act of taking a selfie has now become a cultural trend. It is almost impossible not to see
someone taking a selfie in any place – be it in a tourist spot, in a restaurant, in a hotel lobby, beside a
movie poster in a cinema, in a concert hall, and at an event, among others. Before smartphones and
portable digital cameras, pictures or portraits were taken by another person. The selfie phenomenon
enabled people to construct themselves visually and present it to the public by putting it on social
media. Others view the taking of selfies with disdain as a symbol of narcissism and superficiality, while
others consider it as an act of self – exploration and a gauge for acceptance.
3. 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. For many
decades, the telephone was the main line of voice communication. It revolutionized modern living and
had great impacts socially, both positive and negative. Soon, it was overtaken by the popularity of
mobile phones in the late 1990s, which is portable and has the text messaging feature.
∙ The newer technologies allowed smartphones to include many applications and Internet connectivity.
Although telephones are still present in homes and offices, smartphones clearly have gotten ahead in
functionality and usage.
4. CAUSE
∙ A trend has a starting point which can be an idea, technology, event, or person. ∙ Portable audio players
were popularized when Walkman was introduced in the 1980s, allowing people to listen to recorded music
(cassette tapes) through headphones or earphones. Later, it would evolve in the form of a portable CD
player.
∙ Then came another revolutionary trend with the advent of digital audio players where the music playlist
could be saved on to the device or be downloaded online.
∙ Now, mobile phones and smartphones also function as a portable music player. The culture of portable
music has come a long way, from the invention of the transistor radio, and is still evolving depending
on new emerging technologies.
5. CONSEQUENCE
∙ A trend makes considerable influence or impact. Social networking has become an encompassing trend
that lends to influence behaviors of online users.
∙ With the popularity of smartphones, users began subscribing to various social networking portals which
enable them to post activity statuses and photos, and even connect with celebrities. ∙ People could now air
their opinions on diverse matters and say almost anything instantly. ∙ Social networking users have reached
billions.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TRENDS
∙ 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.” These trends happen right now and are outright observable. For others, microtrends are
synonymous with fads. The importance of microtrends is that they offer a glimpse about the
future through the clues they possess.
∙ MACROTRENDS – are “aggregated microtrends or more sweeping changes that are affecting
society.” They provide major changes that are perceptible in the societal level for a longer period.
These are more stable than microtrends, which can quickly fizzle out.
∙ MEGATRENDS – are “macrotrends that have grown up and moved out. They are big and bold,
and affect the lives of great swathes 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.
∙ GIGATRENDS – are “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.
NOTE: To illustrate this hierarchy of trends, study the following examples.
a. Internet connection is now considered a gigatrend as its functions are now tied up to the everyday
activities of people all around the world. It has become too normal such that it is now the base of several
vital activities like banking, business, online communication, information gathering and dissemination,
research, entertainment, transactions, gaming, shopping, and more.
b. Smartphones can be considered a megatrend (if not bordering on being a gigatrend itself). They have
affected many lives and industries. In fact, many check their smartphones first thing in the morning to
read text or private messages, surf the Net, and so on. Many human activities also depend on
smartphones, whether directly or indirectly. Texting, likewise, has changed how people communicate. In
the past, communication was done through audio signals care of the telephone. With texting, which
traces its roots to a mobile phone function, communication can now be done through digitally written
words sent instantly.
c. Social media can be considered as a macrotrend, but it can arguably turn into a megatrend considering
how common it is nowadays. The continuous development of platforms and apps made the concept of
social media pervasive across computer and smartphone users. While social media would not have been
a trend without the overall influence of the Internet has, nonetheless, given many people a venue to be
heard and to exchange thoughts, opinions, and ideas.
d. Popular games and apps on smartphones are examples of microtrends. One game can create a mania
that later wanes to give way to another. A few games have attained a higher level in the trends hierarchy,
like Super Mario, which actually started in the 1980s but has resurfaced through different gaming
platforms. For some, this particular game is a representation of an era to which they belong.

NOTE: The important thing in studying trends is to observe them closely for subtle and sudden shifts that
ultimately affect people, cultures, and societies in general.

IDENTIFYING EMERGING PATTERNS

A pattern is a design, shape, form or configuration that emerges from repetitious appearance of
lines, curves, and behavior. In the study of trends, repetitive behavior that gives rise to an
emerging pattern is the main interest.
 In order to follow and observe if a pattern emerges out of various events and phenomena, one
should have tools necessary to detect it. The tools that a trendspotter should find handy to use are
categorized into four activities. According to Rehn and Lindkvist (2013), these activities are the
following:

1. DOCUMENTATION
∙ This means being able to record your observations which you consider related to any trend. ∙ The
primary tools for documentation, however simple, are notebook and pen. Some opt to use note – taking
features or apps on a smartphone or tablet. The camera has also become necessary in providing visuals.
Others bring a voice recorder which is best for saving audio.
∙ Whatever tool one uses, the important thing in documentation is the ability to physically keep
information and data wherever and whenever you may be.

2. ARCHIVE OR MEMORY
∙ This means being able to easily retrieve any documentation you have kept.
∙ Nowadays, the most space – saving way of archiving in turning the physical into digital. Notes can be
scanned or converted to a portable document format (PDF) while digital pictures can be easily saved.
∙ Physical archiving can, of course, still be used. There are various digital archiving systems that are
available, too. Tagging and cross – indexing are helpful in labeling files.
3. ANALYSIS
∙ This is the stage where examination and combination happens.
∙ Looking for patterns on prospective trends can be achieved through these methods: brainstorming,
grouping, and crafting combinations.
∙ In brainstorming, you decide which from your data is important and which can be discarded. Here you
can confirm emerging patterns like events more frequent and things following a cycle. ∙ In grouping, you
create headings where observations and data can fall under. ∙ In crafting combinations, you begin to link
one thing to another and think what could happen if these are taken a step further, more like imagining
or generating new ideas.
4. PRESENTATION
∙ This is representing your findings for easy understanding as a way of analysis. You can represent your
findings through, among others, a mood board and a storyboard.
∙ A mood board is a collage of images, text, and object samples. This is used to “capture your intuition
and stimulate creative discussions about trends.”
∙ A storyboard presents a narrative of possible scenarios. It functions to “to connect trends to a timeline
and to different contexts, something that can enable you and others to see interesting new things.”
∙ A slideshow is also another option. In presentation, you do not merely present your ideas but use it as
an analytical technique. Sometimes, new trends are labeled with new names or terms in the hope of
popularizing a phenomenon.