Spotting a Trend
Someone or something starts or causes a 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 increasing 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. (Urgel, 2017) Let us put it this way, in 1986, the Philippines became very popular to the world because of the Edsa People Power Revolution which, as described by historians, a perfect example of a successful peaceful revolution. However, if we will still go a few more decades back, similar peaceful revolution has also become very popular in India by the leadership of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi which eventually brought India’s independence in 1947. What could have been that trend which developed and evolved overtime? Well, obviously those are freedom and democracy in which we may consider Gandhi as the trendsetter in India, while the 1986 Edsa People Power may be attributed to the assassination of the late Benigno Aquino Jr. According to futurists (a futurist is one who studies and predicts the future, especially based on current trends.) Rehn and Lindkvist (2013), trendspotting refers to the study of trends and the way they develop and affect society. According to them, this should be differentiated from cool- hunting which 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 and so they say that to follow a trend, one must not only be conscious of what is currently happening but be wise enough to predict the future. (Urgel, 2017) Arzadon et.al. (2018) mentioned that trends and fads are sometimes used interchangeably, and they are both important for organizations and people to keep abreast with the changing environment. However, it is also important to distinguish the difference between trends and fads to deepen our understanding of survival and adaptability. As members of society, we should know how fads and trends to create changes in our society. Certain fads and trends are created by dominant cultures catering to their own interests. As students, you should be able to analyze how to respond to the issues and challenges brought about by these changes.