Actually I have to admit as well, another fad that has evolved and may never go away is....exposing fads.
Back in the early to mid twentieth century, most people were concerned with working, feeding their families, and political events when there was time in between (voter turnout was much higher back then, especially during times of war). People kept busy, kept straight lipped, and did what had to be done to survive.
Then came along rebels like James Dean, the Rolling Stones, and the entire hippy movement. this brought pop culture and fads to the forefront of society, and as technology grew, so did our ebbs and flows of mainstream cultural cheese-peddling, and we began worrying more and more about little things in life that bothered us and about the way other people acted. As we grew into the 80's and into the 90's, things like fashion become more apparent, and little 'mini fads' came along to pre-occupy our time, since the advancement of technology eased our primary concerns of food, clothing, and shelter. Well into the 21st century, our pre-occupation with little nuances such as the 'worst fads' is living proof that we have alot more free time than we once did in this world, since the idea of "popped collars" is not something I'm sure my grandfather would give two hoots about when he was pinned down in a bunker in Europe when he was my age.
I look at it as where we sit on Maslow's hierarchy of Needs - we are well past the Physical and Safety need requirements; talking about fads is definitely a psychological matter, which help us justify which groups (and thus, fads) we would like to join (or stay away from), which leads us to the self-actualization stage, where we validate which fads are relevant to us.
I think I'm reading too much into it though, because no matter how fads have evolved, I still love talking about them and venting my frustrations with EMO kids.
<-----Check the Badge bitches. You want some Awesome, you come to me!
