Today’s millennials are captivated with the current trends and always looking up for the updated ones. This is all because of the present philosophies of both FOMO (fear of missing out) and YOLO (you only live once). Millennials don’t want to feel left out and to the fact that they crave for different perks and interesting sorts of trends. Hence, let’s check out what are the common factors that instigate them to follow the trends.

1. Technology

It can’t be denied that technology develops briskly these days. This can be one of the reasons why millennials prefer to always updating their gadgets just for the sake of following the trend and to look cool. For them, it is important to keep up to date with the new technology. Some may didn’t think twice to purchase as they only think that buying this new gadget or smartphone is more important than saving money for their monthly expenses. For example, every time Apple is releasing their new iPhone and iPad, some of them will ardent to find and save money to purchase it. Thus, think and make decision wisely guys. It is better to find ways to control yourself and overcome the addiction of buying new smartphones/gadgets. You don’t want to get running out of money before the end of the month.

2. Fashion

Millennial generation will normally look for the latest new styles of clothing, hair, bags, accessories or anything that make them look trendy and sassy. Online shops, outlet and regular stores always succeed in attracting their customers because they regularly will offer discounts for their numerous products. Millenials, particularly will go for stores that offer awesome discounts and lower prices. Moreover, they can easily browse through dozens of websites just to get the best prices. Those who love to browse all online stores and walking in the mall for several hours may end up buying various things. Normally, at the end of semester usually then they only realize that they bought so many clothes until they know that all their favourite clothes do not fit their bag to bring back home. Nevertheless, it is okay to look fashionable and presentable every time you go out, it is just that do make sure you constantly follow your budget and attain your financial goals too.

3. Lifestyle

Lifestyle is basically a way of life in which a person lives in a society. As a tertiary student, you probably may encounter a situation in which you feel that others’ lifestyle are better than yours. For instance, driving a car or riding a motorcycle to university/college is definitely a dream list as you can go anywhere you want comfortably. However, not all students can afford to own one. In this case, you should be thankful for what you have now. The most important thing is to be grateful for what you are now and do keep fighting for what you want. Just follow your heart and trust your interests, activities, opinions and values. Thus, don’t force yourself to follow others’ lifestyle just because of the current trends. It is okay if you don’t have ample finance to buy your own motorcycle/car and branded items during your studies. Once you have a proper job later after graduation, then only you can start saving, managing and investing your money to buy anything that you dream to own in life.

4. Social Media

Mostly every millennial has social media accounts. Social media is an interaction platform in which each user can share, create and exchange information in cybernetics networks and communities. Examples of social media sites include websites and applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram and others. It is through various social media platforms that we will get new information and keep updating on the current trends from all over the world. It can be said that we do access to diverse social media channels regularly. By getting a fleeting glimpse on the social media, we can get numerous information and trending at our fingertips. For young millennials, if they found any new and interesting trends that are relevant for the present time, they assuredly will follow and adapt the trends into their daily lives. For example, latest trends and style from their favourite celebrities, the K-POP fever or Korean wave, trending videos on TikTok, becoming a YouTuber, playing PUBG and many others.

5. Popular interests and trends

The phenomenon of popular trends and interests that embedded in our society nowadays can be interrelated and referred to as the bandwagon effect. This happens when people do or follow something because other people are doing it, despite of their own beliefs, interests and ideas. For instance, millennials tend to buy or wear the same type of shawls or clothes that their close friends and families are wearing. This is all because they want to feel and show that they are following the latest fashion trends. In the sense that they don’t want to feel that they are left behind, as a result they always wanted to keeping up with the trends.

Apart from that, travelling is also another example and one of the popular interests among the young millennials these days. Travelling encourages us to learn new things and discover new cultures. Some may go on for a trip to relieve stress, meanwhile others prefer to travel with their friends just to have memorable happenings and explore new adventures. You don’t have to go far for travelling if you want to save money and time. The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy with your friends on the vacation even though you can’t afford to choose or go to a place that you dream of. You need to make sure that you do not exceed your spending limits on your vacation. This is to ensure that you still have sufficient savings for emergency cases and daily expenditures although the vacation is over.

6. The time evolution

Looking back 20 to 40 years ago, the outfits that our parents wore were different as compared to the present time. This same goes to the hairstyles for men and women. Year after year, we develop and adapt to the current trends that are most suitable with the current condition. As time goes by, many aspects change tremendously in terms of education, economy, lifestyle, law, types of occupation, medication and almost every aspect of life, especially since technology was introduced to the world and how it reshapes the way we live our lives until today. All in all, with the evolution of time, everyone, even the current young millennials tend to follow the latest styles and developments. In other words, it will only be awkward if we still follow the 80’s outfits and fashion. People will think that we probably attend an 80’s party outfits or 80’s theme party.