It's never a great idea to blindly follow trends, but it's good to know what they are. It's kind of similar to the old maxim that 'you have to know the rules to break the rules'. But in fractured and disjointed world, working out what the latest visual design trends actually are can be difficult.
Some of these trends we are seeing over and over, but "filtered" is new to me. Glad to see the death of "sock" photos. Those Stepford pics have to go .