For subscribers
Rise and fall of fads: Where are fidget spinners and Clubhouse today?
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
The Sunday Times documents the rise and fall of six fads since the 2010s.
PHOTOS: ST FILE, BLOOMBERG, THE NEW PAPER FILE
Follow topic:
SINGAPORE – A new year brings about a fresh set of fads. And while it is not known if today’s ChatGPT, non-fungible tokens or Metaverse will be a passing phase or a glimpse into the future, history is littered with fads that captured the public imagination then lost ground just as quickly.
Remember 2021’s Clubhouse? 2017’s fidget spinners? 2016’s Mannequin Challenge or Gangnam Style’s horse-trot dance in 2012? Each was a cultural phenomenon that hogged feeds and conversations for a good while. Fads can take the form of styles, activities or peculiar obsessions, but one commonality is that they do not usually stay popular for long.
