Identifying trends in society has always been a tricky yet important task in order to identify upcoming business opportunities early on. But keeping an eye on these many different factors is cumbersome task and without a global network of individuals, it is impossible to identify major trends in other areas of the world.

Luckily “trendwatching” is not just a term but also a job description with professional trendwatchers screening the environment and identifying changes that might have substantial impact on your life and also your business.

Here is a list of “must-read” web-sites that identify and describe consumer trends which might help you in coming up with new ideas and staying ahead of your competition:

• Trendwatching.com: Founded by Reinier Evans, uses a global network of trendwatchers and aggregates their findings in monthly trend reports.
• Springwise.com: The unfiltered version of trends reported by the 8000+ trendwatchers of Trendwatching.com
• TheCoolHunter.net: “The Cool Hunter is an Internet-based hub for the best and coolest of everything. Created and engineered for today’s demanding and discerning pop-culture audience – highly invested in stylistic and cultural trends.” That says it all….
• PSFK.com: PSFK.com is a lens of changes in cultural behavior that influence all of us. In a world with unparalleled access to endless content, it’s hard to know where to begin your search for insightful information.

These are the most important sites that I am aware of, any sites missing? Let me know!