ELEMENTS OF TRENDS

What makes a trend a trend? In the previous module, you have learned the

distinction between a fad and a trend. A trend is a pattern of behavior demonstrated

by a big number of people within a particular period and that which continuously

grow and evolve overtime while a fad is an intense but short-lived fashion. With this

distinction, we can therefore identify the elements which comprise a trend. In this

regard, Urgel (2017) enumerated the following elements and characteristics of a

trend:

Elements of a Trend

1. Number of participants pertains to people who follow a certain trend which is

started by an individual or a group of people. The group then grows into a

community, and eventually swells into national and international societies. For

example, the prevailing fashion of a period, 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. One example of this is denim jeans that became a

casual wear by all genders on a regular basis. Jeans are especially perfect for

crafting swoon-worthy ensembles mostly due to the fact that they work well with

just about anything especially when it comes to different looks (Griswold and

Maguire 2020).

2. Pattern of behavior refers to a trend that is formed from repetitive actions of

people. For example, 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 is one of the crucial elements of a trend which means that a

trend has to have a long-time frame, sometime running for decades. A trend may

experience some ups and downs in popularity, may fade away, and may recur. A

good example of this element of trend is the telephone. It is a communication

instrument that revolutionized modern living and created various social impacts. It

was soon overtaken by the popularity of mobile phones in the late 1990s that have

text messaging feature. Then 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 refers to the starting point of a trend which can be an idea, a technology,

an event or a person. All trends have beginnings and someone or somebody definitely

started it. The question here is, how did it start? Now, this becomes quite obvious as

all material elements of a culture started with one’s ideas, therefore, it is also

conclusive that one starting point of a trend was an idea. Someone or somebody

thought about it in the first place. Let us go back to the evolution of telephone

mentioned above. If you will try to think about it, it was Alexander Graham Bell who

first invented and engineered the very first telephone back in 1876

(https://www.britannica.com). What do you think prompted him to such an

endeavor? Well, if you guessed that it began with an idea of bridging the gap of a long

– distance relations though live voice communication then you must be right. So,

besides the snail mails which were already prevalent those times, people had another

option – the telephone. Fast forward a bit, back in the late 1990’s, these messages

through mails or letters evolved and entered the digital world through beepers while

telephones also evolved into cellular mobile phones. At present, all those separate

features plus some more were combined into the devices we presently called

“smartphones.” Believe it or not, all of these were one’s ideas which eventually turned

into a reality.

The Walkman revolutionized music

playing. Portable audio players today can

trace back their roots to the Walkman.

5. Consequence refers to the considerable impact or influence of a trend. Social

networking has become an encompassing trend that tends 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. Currently, these social media platforms

and their messaging and video conferencing features are finding their relevance

today especially for the students and teachers. For example, due to the pandemic,

teachers, students and parents use these features for the virtual teaching and

learning process. However, this trend can also create a rather negative

consequence among its followers. One example is depicted on the illustration

below. Quality time among family members to share one another’s presence is

being diverted to other less relevant concerns brought about by the social media.

They can literally be described as “near yet so far” which means that they may be

physically near each other, in fact, sharing food on the same table, yet their

attention is far from the family moment.

Characteristics 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. Just like predicting an incoming rain or storm, it is quite

difficult to measure its impending aftermath. It may yield a good outcome for the

farmers especially when they are in great need of water for their crops, but at the

same time it can also yield damages to other areas.

Rehn and Lindkvist (2013) mentioned 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. To better

explain this, here is the tabular representation of these characteristics with some

examples.