they deleted the post so i won’t link to them & it’s not an attack on their character or ideas, just a general trend analysis:
stages of a trend
-inception
-rising / gathering populaity
-peak (Very brief)
-decline / everyone remotely self aware realizes how lame it is
-some dumbass kid tries to continue it
i’ve been thinking lately that the internet is a means of rapid cultural progression because of it’s constant dismissal of trends. the time between peak and decline are the same because everyone who’s on ‘the cutting edge’ of the trend (and probably denies that status, lest be a hipster (a quick definition: someone who is interested in anything, or a person’s self doubt about their level of interest in something, or in other terms ‘characteristics of bourgeois society that i don’t like’)) feels like they have to be so forward thinking for everyone else who’s an idiot (so ‘not self-aware’) member (they don’t exist) of the subculture and announce the trend’s waning moments. Needless to say, these enlightened individuals who herald a trend’s demise are just ruining the peak for themselves to enjoy. A huge part of the particular trends they are involved with promotes the idea of being self aware, critical, and most importantly so over whatever other stupid trend that is happening now. But what the trends lack is a sense of context, when to call for a trend’s end, what in society is the trend a manifestation of. I feel like great critical pieces of analysis can come out of mid-peak study on emerging trends. For example, instead of calling trap music over or trying to kill it, i feel like it should be taken apart in every way and examined.
I dunno, do I have the right idea? Should we stop and think critically about every emerging trend or just keep them coming en masse? Is it more ideal to have long arching periods of progression, or try to get near-instant trends happening? Is there value in trends produced by going viral online? has everyone else already finished their analysis on how they perceive trends for themselves during the trend’s peak and I am just not seeing them? Has trap music (just an example) really peaked and everyone has exhausted all resources in analyzing it? I feel like I don’t really see many honest text posts about these trends, and everyone is kind of just ‘letting it happen to them’. discussion and feedback welcome
