The Great American Cool

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Trend brain, as I call it, encourages us to simplify everything online into something either buyable, understandable, or moral (and therefore worthy of consumption). We may tire of trend talk, but there is a devout certainty to the speed at which they’re cycled through. There are more choices than ever today, but seemingly less authority as to what... See more

Terry Nguyen • Trends are dead

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A generation’s currency is measured in trends, the moments that make an era mouthwateringly memorable. Only these fads are no longer dictated by a handful of tastemakers. Instead, what gets crowned as cool is often determined by how well a trend appeals to the rhythms of a specific platform. An idea’s artistic or cultural cachet depends on how easi... See more

Jason Parham Culture • The Age of Everything Culture Is Here

So the choice is now: “I’m going to find this niche obscure thing, or I’ll get the mass market thing.” It’s either Paul Skallas or Malcolm Gladwell. Aesop Rock or ASAP Rocky. Boutique brand or Amazon. You get the idea.

Erik Torenberg • The Death of the Middle

identity. “Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier,” Bourdieu wrote. No wonder that we worry about what to like, and sometimes find it simpler to export that responsibility to machines.

Kyle Chayka • Filterworld

The “taste” of tastemakers means personal preference, the discernment that we all apply to figure out what we like, whether in music, fashion, food, or literature.