Topics to Watch in the United States for June 2017
Discover “the next big thing” to inspire product and creative development.
CONTENTS
In this month’s Topics to Watch, we explore reinvention. All kinds of things, from fabrics and fragrances to motorcycle helmets, are changing shape and form to meet the new demands of people and culture. As we look for the next big thing in creative and product development, it's time to explore the second (and third and fourth) lives of things around us.
American Eclipse
On August 21st, people in the United States will watch as the sun slides behind the moon and daylight turns to twilight. Dubbed the Great American Total Solar Eclipse, America will be witnessing a total solar eclipse. Along the “path of totality,” from Oregon to South Carolina, the skies will be at their darkest. What makes this special? While a solar eclipse occurs every 18 months or so, the last time a total solar eclipse could be viewed from the contiguous United States was 1979. The next one? 2023. Once again, people are coming together on Facebook to get their geek on.
Associated Topics: Cape Girardeau-Missouri, Eclipse (horse), Idaho, Oregon, Saint Joseph-Missouri, Solar eclipse, Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, Sun, The Moon, United States
Related Links: Do It Yourself Biology, History of the World, Education Entertainment
Conversation Volume
Who's Driving the Conversation
Cananga Odorata
This tropical tree, originally from Indonesia, is valued for the fragrant oil extracted from its flowers. Called ylang-ylang, the oil is used in many popular and high-end, floral themed perfumes. Because of its praised medicinal value, ylang-ylang has been expanding from ingredient lists to a stand-alone product. Owing to its gentle fragrance, ylang-ylang has found wide application in aromatherapy for anxiety, stress, blood pressure and depression. People are increasingly seeking products like ylang-ylang and previous Topic to Watch, labdanum, as demand for natural ingredients and holistic remedies grow.
Associated Topics: Bergamot orange, Bushel, Essential Oils, FarmVille (Facebook), Jasmine, Lavender, Lemon, Orange (fruit), Patchouli, Sandalwood
Related Links: Labdanum
Conversation Volume
Who's Driving the Conversation
Chicken Feet
The more people embrace ethic food cuisine, the more likely they are to encounter a dish that will challenge their palette—and their notion of what food is. Enter chicken feet. Long common in Chinese regional cuisine, today the nutritional benefits of chicken feet broth are highly extolled, and cooking chicken feet whole has captured the imagination of chefs. Restaurants are reinventing the humble ingredient, often borrowing from other cultures—from chicken feet adobo to BBQ chicken feet. They have become a springboard for culinary reinvention and the ultimate proof of a foodie's sense of adventure.
Associated Topics: Chicken, Chinese Food, Cooking, Dim sum, Eating, Food, Pork, Recipes, Soup, Stew
Related Links: Adobada, Dosa, Shawarma, South Indian Cuisine, Bangladeshi Cuisine
Conversation Volume
Who's Driving the Conversation
Deep Learning
Deep learning is a kind of machine learning research, all with the aim of enhancing artificial intelligence. People are now seeing artificial intelligence reinvent everyday things, from self-driving cars to language translation. But there's been a counter movement. Today's rise in conversation about different kinds of technology—especially artificial intelligence—is not just about what's possible, but also includes what should be possible. We're once again having the age-old debate of how far technology should be allowed to go.
Associated Topics: Artificial intelligence, Artificial neural network, Autonomous car, Data science, Machine learning, Python programming language, San Francisco-California, Sierra Club, Technology, TensorFlow
Related Links: Dubbing
Conversation Volume
Who's Driving the Conversation
Jeans
Although their origins are much older, blue jeans have been a hallmark of American youth culture since they were embraced by rebellious teenagers in the 1950s. Through the years, jeans have changed shape. Waist lines have risen and fallen, pant legs have widened and narrowed while colors have lightened and darkened. And, of course, they've gotten very expensive. Jeans are being reinvented again: the skinny is no longer the uniform. So, what's next? Super models are at the helm of the future, showcasing a wide range of styles: high-waisted “mom” cuts, short flares, patch work and the most recent reinvention: the crooked fly. We are heading into uncharted, and very blue, waters.
Associated Topics: Clothes, Denim, Dresses, Fashion, Shoes, Shorts, Skirts, THE JACKETS, Top (clothing), Trousers
Conversation Volume
Who's Driving the Conversation
Motorcycle Helmets
Self-driving vehicles are hitting the streets and automated safety features in cars are becoming the norm. This means the functionality of motorcycle helmets are also being re-thought. Smart helmets are on the rise. This includes concepts that feature “heads up display,” through which the driver can instantly view riding speed, fuel level, even caller ID. Some companies, in their pursuit of new motorcycle concepts, might render the motorcycle helmet obsolete. Do we need one if a motorcycle can self-balance and exchanges information with a visor? The future of transportation is (almost) here.
Associated Topics: Bicycle helmet, Goggles, Harley-Davidson, Helmet, Motocross, Motorcycles, Shoei, Sons of Anarchy, Types of motorcycles, Visor
Related Links: Hill-start assist
Conversation Volume
Who's Driving the Conversation
Source: Based on Facebook internal data, US only, June 2016-2017.
About Topics to Watch
Topics to Watch are conversation topics that have shown early growth patterns similar to previous topics with long-term growth (such as kale). Because the conversations around Topics to Watch mirror the volume, variance and measures of past conversations that have shown long-term growth, we predict Topics to Watch will continue to grow in the future.
Based on early testing, we found that 8 of the 10 topics we identified in the past grew as predicted.