{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.fad","code":"thing-q13427002","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q13427002/","name":"fad","alternateNames":["novelty dance","Bus Stop","The Swim","La Colita","TikTok food trends","media trend"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Activities and processes","entryKind":"thing","plane":"ACT","domain":["ACT.PRC"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A form of collective behaviour in which a practice, product, style, dance, food or media trend spreads rapidly through a population, is adopted enthusiastically for a short period and then fades, distinct from longer lasting fashions and trends, with examples from novelty dances such as the Bus Stop, the Swim and La Colita to toys, diets, slang and social media food trends; fads are studied in sociology, marketing and psychology as instances of social contagion.","purpose":"Let an agent explain fads as collective behaviour, relay research on their dynamics with attribution, describe examples across eras and media, and distinguish fads from fashions, trends and crazes.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Rapid spread","Short duration","Social contagion","Media amplification"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a fad is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is a fad, and how does it differ from a fashion, a trend or a craze?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about fads in general or a specific example?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"examples","name":"Examples","description":"Examples.","findings":[{"id":"examples-finding","name":"Examples","description":"Examples.","questions":[{"text":"What are notable fads, from novelty dances to social media food trends?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific fad?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"dynamics","name":"Dynamics","description":"How fads spread.","layers":[{"id":"research","name":"Research","description":"Research.","findings":[{"id":"research-finding","name":"Research","description":"Research.","questions":[{"text":"What do sociology, psychology and marketing say about how fads rise and fall, with attribution?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"media","name":"Media","description":"Media and platforms.","findings":[{"id":"media-finding","name":"Media","description":"Media.","questions":[{"text":"How do media and platforms such as TikTok accelerate fads?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"apply","name":"Apply","description":"Business and safety.","layers":[{"id":"marketing","name":"Marketing","description":"Marketing.","findings":[{"id":"marketing-finding","name":"Marketing","description":"Marketing.","questions":[{"text":"How do businesses respond to and create fads, in general terms?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits viral marketing?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"safety","name":"Safety","description":"Safety.","findings":[{"id":"safety-finding","name":"Safety","description":"Safety.","questions":[{"text":"What risks arise from dangerous challenges and diet fads, and how are they addressed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the user asking about a risky challenge, which needs a safety-first answer?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"History and culture.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How have fads appeared across history, from tulip enthusiasm to hula hoops?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of popular culture?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"dance","name":"Dance","description":"Novelty dances.","findings":[{"id":"dance-finding","name":"Dance","description":"Dance.","questions":[{"text":"What are novelty dances such as the Bus Stop and the Swim, and how did they spread?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits novelty dance?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe fads and how they spread, with examples from reliable sources.","Warn users that a viral challenge or diet fad carries documented health risks."],"mustNot":["Promote or encourage participation in a dangerous viral challenge.","Present a diet or health fad as medically proven without evidence.","Mock people for following or having followed a fad.","Invent fads or exaggerate their spread to drive engagement."],"requiresHuman":["Publishing warnings about a specific circulating challenge that may spread it further."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Dangerous challenges have injured and killed young people who copied them.","Health fads can lead people to skip real treatment or harm themselves through extreme diets."],"affectedParties":["Children and teenagers","People seeking health advice","Parents and carers"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns it; platforms and public health bodies answer for responses to harmful fads.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q2548752","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"collective behavior","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"fashion","type":"related","note":"which cycles more slowly"},{"target":"social contagion","type":"related","note":"and media"},{"target":"sociology","type":"related","note":"and marketing"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.fad","Wikidata: Q13427002 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13427002)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Short-lived enthusiastic mass adoption","Novelty dances, toy crazes, diet fads, viral media and food trends","Fashions cycle more slowly; trends may be durable; manias involve markets","Not a visible object; a sudden surge of adoption followed by decline."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the phenomenon","relay research","describe examples","distinguish from fashions and trends"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Dangerous viral challenges","Unhealthy diet fads","Confusing fads with lasting change"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation of fads as such","Consumer safety rules for fad products","Platform rules on dangerous viral challenges"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a social phenomenon.","novelty dances such as the Bus Stop, the Swim and La Colita","toy and product fads","diet and health fads","language and slang fads","social media and TikTok food trends","media trends and viral challenges"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q13427002: fad","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13427002","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Fad","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fad","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should novelty dance and viral challenge be separate entries?","How should sociology sources be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases naming specific dances and media trends; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q13427002/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q13427002/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T02:31:45Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:54+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane ACT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}