What happens when a culture no longer has the freedom to have fads? That might seem like a bold statement. Who took that freedom away? More importantly, why would anyone take that particular thing away? Is it possible the answer is an algorithm?

And what is the evidence that fads are no longer allowed? I suppose I’m basing that on the absence of news stories about a ‘fad sweeping the nation.’ That particular slug line lived in newspapers for decades. I don’t recall seeing it in recent years.

What happens when a culture partially institutionalizes a fad? It interrupts the natural life cycle. Institutionalized fads are no longer fads. They are infrastructure.

A culture without dissolving fads doesn’t lose its silliness—it loses its ability to forget together.

By losing that headline, we haven’t found eternal trendiness—we’ve lost our exit strategy.