Everyone wants to make some kind of impact on the world around them. You work as hard as you can, every day, hoping your efforts will be recognized by those around you. It doesn't always have to be so difficult, though. Sometimes to start a trend that shifts the direction of the modern world all it takes is something as simple as creating bathroom paper.
Reddit user, u/Sktrending, wanted to know:
What's a trend that completely changed the world?
Our Noses Thank You
Giphy[Toilets] and pipes for sewers.
Moving human waste away from human settlements was a game changer.
We've Moved Beyond This
The idea of a telephone number being tied to a place, rather than a person.
It used to be, "Call the office, leave a message on the machine", or "call the break room, someone will answer". Now it's mostly just "call or text me" and I'll get the message wherever I am.
A Shifting Generation
Later parenthood.
On the plus side kids are going to grow in often higher income and more stable homes. On the downside many will never know a grandparent and may lose their parents at a much younger age than previously. Their own parents may be too old to help out with child care when their own kids are born.
Folks Need Proper Readin'
The printing press brought literacy and information to much more people, and not just secluded monks who were the only ones who had a need to read.
Who Goes To Brick And Mortar Anymore?
E-commerce
To a slightly lesser extent: technologicalish names & brands. Like the trend of putting lower case "e"s or "i"s in front of things. Throwing in "Net", "Com", "Web", etc into brand names. EdgeComm & InterSlice we're only barely parody even back in the 90s.
We're turning our various activities into verbs. Googling has been a verb for more than 20 years. Texting barely existed 20 years ago, the verb popped up not long after. There are plenty of other examples I'm too lazy to think of.
We Get To Where We Want A Lot Faster
Airplanes.
Imagine having to get on a ship for a week everytime you wanted to go somewhere
This, combined with communication technology.
Imagine sailing across the Atlantic to attend a meeting, being off-line and completely out of touch for 7 or 8 days. And once you finish the meeting, another 7 days to sail home again. You've now been out of the office and out of contact for about 3 weeks.
Absolutely unthinkable in today's business environment. Today, I had several Skype meetings with people in different cities and different countries. The last one was intercontinental, with a guy on the other end of the campus (10 minutes away by bike) and a woman in the USA (10 hours away by plane).
We Never Have To Go Anywhere Ever. It's Pretty Fantastic.
Farming. Yeah I said it, suck on that hunter gatherers!!!
We Hate/Love You
GiphySocial media (yes, I see the irony)
Yeah and mostly its still in lot progress in continuation of the great (lol) change it brought.
It Was A Beautiful Summer...
Pokémon go
for just a few months everyone seemed to be outside walking around with friends.
Yes, that was insane. I've met thirty people in two days with that game. Someone I've met way past that initial hype has even offered me to move in with him.
Some weird things happened during that time and I kind of miss it.
No Black Plague = WIN
Sanitation improvements have almost always changed the world, from the people who bathed and survived the bubonic plague to doctors washing their hands and having child mortality rates plummet
Oh, yeah. Public health measures, and the idea that public health is worth public investment are Revolutionary ideas!
Having sewers, zoning laws, and even building codes that dictated how far an outhouse must be from a well are real life savers.
Ash Stanton/Facebook
Laura Sprinkle/Facebook
Akira Karasu/Facebook
Cevanna Gilbert/Facebook
Troy Adam/Facebook
@GovPressOffice/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social