So here's something that's always rather tugged at me as annoying: people who dislike the norm because it is the norm. Instead they opt for something out of the way in order to be "different." Let me ask you people, why does it matter?
These people are so bent on being an individual and not letting society shape who they are that they'll consciously dodge the things trending in society. But isn't that just a little bit silly? I knew a guy who liked Angelina Jolie as an actress. He claimed that he was a fan of her long before she become REALLY famous. But then he said to me, "but I don't like her anymore. Everyone else likes her now." Excuse me? So you're going to let the fact that other people like her sway YOUR judgment on her into a dislike. That does not scream individualism to me; that screams that you're just as much a "slave" to trends as you think those who follow it are.
Why these people think social trends are so awful is a mystery to me. Most of them say that they refuse to go with the crowd; that they will be their own person. But as I have just pointed out, these people are letting society shape them just as surely as if they were following them. You can't be a social animal (and if you wish to be a human then yes, you are a social animal. I don't care what you think you are. It doesn't even matter if you're an anti-social human; you're still a social animal.) and seek to escape the social trends. You can certainly dislike or disagree with things society does or likes. For instance when rap songs were all the rage I hated them so much. But not because I didn't want to follow a trend but because I honestly didn't like the rap songs. I like songs I can sing along to and with rap songs it's more like... speaking along. I also hated the attitude of "whoa man look at mah bling bling with these ho's dancin' and shakin' their booty."
So yes, you CAN dislike something that's trending. I am certainly not saying you can't. But to run away from trends is just silly. If you REALLY want to be an individual how about making your own judgments? When that new Lady Gaga song comes on the radio, don't let the first thought be "Oh its Lady Gaga, everyone likes her so I must hate this" but try judging it yourself. I have nothing against people who actually don't like her songs and her style. That's fine. Just don't judge everything relative to whether everyone else likes or dislikes it.
Then there's the flip side of people who want to be different but do so in a way that everyone else who wants to be different does it so in fact they end up not being very different at all. That was a bit of a weird, confusing sentence so let's give a really simple example: teenage goth kids. My apologies if you're that way because you like that style or because you think that reflects who you are. Then I have no qualms with you. But what about those people who are like, "I want to be different. Hey, those goth kids are different! I'll be like them." That's rather counter-intuitive of you, newly-turned-goth-kid. You want to be different from one group so you'll be different with another group...? I understand that it's a smaller group but at the same token, it's still a group. You're not being different.
I think a huge problem with these people is that they really want to be different and an individual; they want to be their own person but they don't yet know who that person is. So they just try to be different by avoiding the norm. These people really need to realize this. Their end goal is not to be different but to be an individual. Instead of wasting time running from trends, how about you spend that time trying to find out who are you are? When you first encounter something, always just go with your gut on whether you like or dislike it. No more thoughts on whether anyone else likes it or not because honestly, that's just plain silly.
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