From every decade, culture is redefined as a historical makeup of that time period. In the Roaring Twenties, jazz music emerged from black artists and women, often dressed in skimpy outfits with short hair, rapidly showcasing the prosperity and wealth of the United States. During the 1960s, the counterculture was introduced to the youth, bringing in rock and folk artists alongside the growth of social movements, including the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam War protests. Even in the 2010s, social media became a dominant part as smartphones grew more advanced, along with the rise of social media networks like YouTube and Tumblr, as a new generation entered the scene. Yet when it comes to the current decade, there isn’t a clear path to its culture. Of course, this is mainly affected by the continuous rise of social media, with TikTok being the main contributor, but when naming continuous ideas and behaviors that have become a core part of the new generation, there aren’t many that stick around. With that, trends fade quickly with less impact socially, since many of these trends repeatedly are copycats, with no moments for great progression for people, as it adds to the endless fatigue from the audience who have less hope to be reignited again as the world slowly descends to be more chaotic. 

Often, when it comes to trends, they are often found to be copycats of one another, with nothing new or innovative rising to the scene. The newest arrivals from a store only contain the same design as previous collections. The newest album released is a direct reminiscence of past popular albums. This is only uninteresting to the public, as one is aware of another similar object that is also trending and has the decision to purchase that instead. For example, a continuous cycle of trends includes reusable water bottles. From HydroFlasks to Stanleys to Owalas, all more expensive than other competitors, they contain palatable color schemes that consumers can enjoy and personalize for themselves, to even the point of collecting. Of course, there cannot be any judgement on choosing a more popular water bottle, but the issue lies in the fact that there have already been chances to get one in the past, so why would it be necessary to get a new one? That’s entirely up to the person themself, but at the same time, it goes to show how much fads end up fading away soon with a targeted product being completely renewed in different form to the public and being rejected again when it’s no longer “cool” to have it. And this would work, had it not been for the fact that this is an overly common occurrence of replacement, without giving enough time for the hype of a product to be enjoyed and savored.  With that, imitation in trends only provides less innovation, which drives the attention of the public away as there are no key factors as to why some products should be bought as the trends change immediately after a short period of hype. 

To add on, the trends often play it safe towards the public, which only insists on boredom from the public. Most of these trends appeal to the large consumer audience, taking what the majority wants rather than what is best from the creator. When taking a look back on the album Brat by pop singer Charli XCX, it became incredibly influential for balancing the lifestyle of a millennial party girl and the vulnerabilities when it comes to being a smaller yet known artist in the music industry. This album became a huge cultural phenomenon in the summer of 2024, with “Brat Summer” making the ways of people online through trending songs, remixes with well-loved collaborators, and of course the album cover being green in the background with the text of “brat” displayed. This isn’t to say that companies shouldn’t appeal to the audience since that is primarily the reason for their jobs to prosper. But if one is pursuing greatness and success, one must be willing to share a part of themselves to the public. The reason why the album brought a massive audience to Charli is because it celebrated the diligence she has for a decade been carrying on for many years, through usage of genres such as hyperpop to develop her craft. She was willing to put what she believes is the best in her release, which brought in a bright outlook to the audience towards her. People don’t want artists to put on a performance of inauthenticity through believing in what sells, they want a true culmination of artistic integrity. If that is neglected, then that results in mutual disbenefits for both the artist and the fans. In general, trends do not have an identity of their own, leading to limited acclaim for themselves, as they have not proven artistic merit in what they achieve. 

Undeniably, a major part of trends fading quickly is most likely in cause of the fatigue of the primary audiences. Normally, there would be those to quickly get ready for a sale or follow up consistently on a franchise to release a new movie, but that excitement has only decreased recently. This can be seen online on Tiktok, where there are new controversies over celebrities and influencers arise. Most people online build a person’s platform up only to greatly hate on them when they do not meet the audience’s expectations. Now, this is only seen in more designated spaces, but they only blow up only to cause casual Tiktok users to be annoyed at how their feed would not stop catering to a controversy, because it is incredibly unsuitable and even disingenuous to the present times. Right now, people are suffering and losing hope every day from how the world is continuously de-escalating in front of everyone’s eyes, and the main topic  of discussion is about how a person had performed a mildly offensive action outside of social media appears wasteful, as there are no connections towards the current outside world. And it’s undeniable how trends help people to cope through entertainment, but how can something be entertaining when they are consistent as issues more important than the world. How can someone be utterly focused on miniscule details when they forget the bigger future. This only leads to further disengagement with audiences, as current discussions do nothing to help the people around them but only leading to more catastrophic negligence of the real world’s problems. 

The short-lived trends of the current decade are only caused by the importance of pleasing the general public, rather than making a stance to help and support other people. One can compare how fads, like people, would rather choose a half-hearted distraction rather than a full-hearted reality. It’s vital to find a balance within oneself, from maintaining one’s realism while allowing diversions from time to time. The thing is that people have to be willing to accept both sides, the harsh and the soft, in order to maintain oneself as society dilutes.