Why do teens follow or set trends?

Question

Why do teens follow or set trends?

Answer 1

because our culture values youth and they're the "it" factor.

Unfortunately.

Answer 2

because they can't be their own person.

Answer 3

They just want to have fun and experience different things. They want to get known.

Answer 4

it gives them a sense of identity

Answer 5

A need to fit in due to inner insecurities. This is the reason things like "Punk", "Emo", and especially "Prep" fashions spread like wildfire. For instance, the "emo" population has grown radically since it's roots in the 80's, because teenagers will see it as a way to belong.

Humans are primarily pack animals, and if one teen sees a large group of people dressed in an "emo" fashion, they will adopt this too, (sometimes). The person now belongs to something, sort of like a club. It's a way for them to get their bearings on the world around them, and see the world from a constant, unchanging perspective.

Answer 6

they don't. but the advertisers know they are a group that has free money to spend, so they target them to sell things.

as you get older, your money gets earmarked for certain things like savings, car payments, mortages, etc so your not targeted as much.

Answer 7

Teens follow trends because the media makes it look cool; boys wear makeup because their favorite bands do it, and both genders almost entirely change their wardrobe to match what they see. Why? Because to us, the media are superheroes. The bands we listen to are...that's who we want to be. And why not start by looking like them, regardless of if we have the talent? It's one step closer to being THEM.

Of course, you can't argue with the blunt power of the mass media, no matter what is being advertised. Decades ago, poor people would save up money to buy fancy suits like businessmen would wear; the media saw this, and started selling ripped and acid-washed jeans for $60, started making it the new expensive trend. The businessmen never changed their suits, but the poor people flocked to the ripped jeans- the media successfully made the poor look poor again.

Teenagers, in my opinion, don't really START that many trends; they mostly don't have the confidence to break out into anything on their own. As a teenager, I can honestly say I don't know anyone who dresses in a way that is all their own; all of it can be traced back to other sources.

Answer 8

Trends are only trends if other people follow them, so no one can intentionally set a trend.  Teens do different stuff because they want to reject what the previous generation (their parents) do.  Others follow suit because they are lemmings.  Pretty soon, what was once cool and different is being done by everybody so someone has to come up with something new to try.

Answer 9

we cant really explain why we do it.

i guess its pressure...

you dont have stylish clothes, people accuse you of being poor. you dont have friends, people accuse you of being a loner. you dont have the right cell phones, people accuse you of being a little kid. well, they arent people...they are the ones who make your teen years baaadd. i call them your peers & your friends- OR...the public.