The best things in life - music, movies, news, etc. - are user generated. Nothing would be popular in the world if the masses didn't make it so. With Twitter, Facebook and blogging, the people reading, viewing or listening to something can more easily tell the creators what they want. Remember when Anna Nicole Smith passed away and it stole news headlines for months while there was a war going on in addition to all sorts of other crises? It's because that's what people wanted to read about. Granted, user-generated content isn't always good because sometimes society needs to know about or see things they don't want to acknowledge. I know that after the first week, I had more than enough of Anna Nicole Smith, but maybe that's just me. For the most part, crowd-sourcing keeps people tuned in and most importantly, highlights what those people care about in the world.

Also, life would not be nearly as interesting if people just created what they wanted to and disregarded the rest of the world. So it would be a bit foolish of me not to use this semi-new fad to my (but mostly your) advantage.

While I am keeping my eyes peeled for all sorts of fascinating trends, as well as abhorrent ones, it isn't as fun to do it alone. I mean, really, you guys don't want to hear me, in my microcosm, talk about what I notice each week. I want to mix it up.

This is where you come in.

What have you noticed that you can't help bringing up over dinner at least once a week? Or what have you started to do, only to find that you are just one of the masses who is doing that thing now?

I want to know about it and so does the rest of the world - at least the internet users. E-mail me at asanders@nhregister.com or direct message me on Twitter at asanders88 if you want to write about a trend in society - even if it's not yet a booming one but you think it might become something big, maybe even at your own hands. And please, we all know the tired rant about Ugg boots and mini skirts. I think you guys can do better than that. Happy trend hunting!

Charlie Brown: We've got another holiday to worry about. It seems Thanksgiving Day is upon us.

Sally Brown: I haven't even finished eating all of my Halloween candy.

~A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

 Every Thanksgiving I briefly rattled off why I was thankful for my family as I rolled my eyes and salivated over my plate. I gripped my fork eagerly as others said what and whom they were thankful for, waiting to dive into the endless side dishes in front of me. It wasn't until about a day ago that I paused and thought, "huh, I am pretty lucky." And others are thinking that way too.

More and more adolescents and twenty-somethings are feeling this and doing something about it, even in harsh economic times.

Helping those less fortunate than you is becoming incredibly trendy. There are fashion shows for charity, shoulder bags with peace logos or "Save Darfur" messages. Have you realized how many things are made from recyclable materials? Saving the world in the name of fashion is one new trend that should stick around. Let it be noted that a lot of this stuff is worn and created by teens. My parents, as much as they donate and help out the world by giving time, money and positive messages, wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of TOMS wrap boots.

For every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair to a child in need

These are the TOMS that I sport. Makes walking feel a little bit more charitable.

There are as many causes in the world as their are fashion statements. Who would have ever thought that trying to cure hunger or stop genocide could be so fashionable? You can save the world this thanksgiving and be the best dressed at the table.

On that note, I would like to briefly wax nostalgic and tell the endless world of the web that I am thankful for everything in my life that keeps me smiling daily. Thanks for my family, my boyfriend, my friends, my job, my health and you guys, who click on this link to read my weekly ramblings. It is appreciated.

Hope you all have a trendy turkey day.

The people have spoken: they want more. Alcohol isn’t enough anymore. People want caffeine too. Thanks to drinks like Four Loko, peoples’ appetites and energy levels can be sated. If you're itching to try this beverage, you better act fast because they are being banned by different states as fast as people are pulling them out of liquor store refrigerators.

Four Loko banned in New York

I had trouble finding one of these loaded drinks in nearby liquor stores but finally happened upon Four Loko’s sister drinks Joose and Earthquake. I found Joose to be sickeningly sweet as expected by it’s Jolly Rancher pink color, yet temporarily addicting. Earthquake is almost beer-like with an amber coloring and is less appealing - mostly because it isn’t an intriguing, tainted rose color.

I’ll admit that I didn’t drink the whole 23.5 oz can alone. I had about half of it. With my petite stature and lack of a coffee addiction, I could have run a marathon. I was hyper-alert and buzzing at the same time. Later on, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I closed my eyes and didn’t budge all night. While I didn’t drink nearly enough to merit a hangover, I woke up dehydrated and shaky, wanting nothing more than to lie in bed for the rest of the day. No more of this stuff for me.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

But it was all in the name of fun and journalism.

What you should know about Four Loko

As Four Loko is disappearing, it will be interesting to see if people can enjoy the drinking experience without the extra jolt of caffeine to keep them going. I’m sure that Red Bull and vodka will continue to be a favorite bar drink for those who want to party into the wee hours of the morning. But both drugs in one can makes it so convenient. Maybe drinkers will tone down their at-home consumption and save their wild drinks for the bar. Could this trend expand into more risky combination? What's next? Maybe a new alcoholic version of purple drank?

Now that all these drinks exist enabling even the biggest homebodies to become party animals, it is easy to notice the blossoming trend of relaxing drinks to take your mind down from its high. I'll try that next.

Want a drink to chill you out?

I have started to notice that tweeters of the world are flirting via this fairly new social networking sensation either blatantly by direct messaging other tweeters and typing the equivalent to “A/S/L?”

I once had a star-struck interest (I wouldn’t call it a crush) in a basketball player and found myself answering questions he posted on Twitter by @mentioning him. I paid attention to his tweets more than any others until my friends pointed out that it was a little out of the ordinary. With the billions of Twitter accounts that add to the vast information highway daily, why would I focus on one person?

Retweeting is another subtle way that people flirt on Twitter. If you follow someone closely enough and get all atwitter (!) about their posts, you may have a twush, or a Twitter crush.

I am still a firm believer in flirting in person when possible, and I find it a little odd when someone sends me an interested message based on my bio or photo. But is it that different from walking up to a stranger in a bar and asking to buy him or her a drink?

While Twitter is an excellent social tool, I want to suggest that instead of tweeting about the new #pumpkinspicelatte @Starbucks that the #hotbarista made you, try going up to her and asking what kind of latte she recommends.

Oh, and oversharing goes for Twitter too. Just don’t do it. For a hilarious and insightful peak at what that looks like, see the College Humor video below.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

These days, everyone has Facebook. Seriously, some people are even creating accounts for their pets and unborn children. But one thing all of these Facebookers have in common is oversharing.

I’m not talking about peoples' daily routines or anything, but oversharing that is inappropriate, humiliating or just plain mean. There should be an assumption that everyone has a Facebook account and everyone can read what you write or view the pictures you post, yet people continue to blog about a classmate they dislike or the amount they drank over the weekend.

 

A few weeks ago, a group of teen girls at Choate Rosemary Hall school in Wallingford wrote a thread of Facebook posts detailing their sexual activates in addition to harsh criticism of their peers, thinking that no one would see them, but they were wrong. See the story below.

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/10/23/news/metro/doc4cc3b2253241a806288012.txt

Not posting these things on the Internet will not stop hateful comments and salacious speech between teen girls, but there will be less of a chance of hurting others. People have quit their jobs or been fired for things that they have posted on Facebook assuming that no one will read them. Fellow Facebookers will read your posts, just as you read theirs when you have nothing better to do and there could be repercussions as a result.

There is also another type of oversharing. The kind that is a blatant status update. The person posting it thinks makes them look cool but really, it makes the reader cringe a bit.

Oversharing can be hurtful, rude and potentially dangerous to peoples' employment opportunities or academic lives. Quit the trend and help reverse it by posting positive things that you want others to know about. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, but not hate speech. And positive posts will get better responses from everyone, or at least your mom who does not want to know what you did with your boyfriend last Friday or the last time you got black out drunk.