The trick is not in finding possible new trends, the trick is having the DISCERNMENT to pick the words/phrases wisely. There are new 'possible trends' popping up by the hundreds every week. Everybody seems to be tossing their 'new thing' into the mix online. You can check sites daily, like TrendHunter, Gizmodo, even just type into google phrases like 'latest trend' or 'new invention' or 'latest gadget' or 'new word' or a dozen other phrases like that. Also just watch the news, check news online daily, watch shows like Dragon's Den and Shark Tank on their first airing (some domainers watch those shows just to pick up any new terms and reg them before anyone else. I have done it myself, regged 3 or 4 domains while watching those DD and ST shows. The only one I made a sale from: some company was pitching a product called Bioflavia, which was their branded term for 'grape skin powder'. I liked what they were doing, thought this generic term had traction, so I regged GrapeSkinPowder.com. I contacted the company, they bought my domain for I think it was $700 and are still using it now, 5 years later).
You're not looking to register new branded terms, of course, but generic descriptive terms of whatever that new thing is. Stay away from the branded term someone has come up with for it, just see if the generic descriptive term is available to reg.
Once you find these each day - and there are a ton of them, I see them all the time - then you have to make very smart gambles/guesses. Because if you don't have a good trend-reader inside you, you can reg new possible trend domains all day long, and end up broke and with a bunch of non-selling domains. It's not about finding nascent new trends - they are everywhere - it's about your discernment. It's about ratios: how often you can discern a good possible new trend, from one that is going to go nowhere fast.
There are so many factors to look for that I could write a book right here and now, but I won't. A couple things I look for specifically: does the term, even if it's generic, sound 'cool', does it just have a nice sound and look to it and anyone involved with that product/service might like the generic term as well as their branded term... or is it long and clunky and looks really unattractive? This isn't necessarily a 'rule' for me, sometimes I will reg an ugly domain if I really believe the term will still be important.
Another big checkmark for me is: how recently does that term seem to be 'getting traction' on the internet? A term might be around for years or decades, but if you only start seeing a lot of news articles or mentions on websites for it in the last year, or last few days or weeks, then you know it's a term that may be catching on recently. Again, this is still about discernment, because 'a lot of mentions lately' can also mean a quick flash-in-the-pan, like a brief fad or meme that takes off for a few days or weeks and after that no one wants anything to do with it.
One of my recent pick-ups a few months ago was BikeRave (dot com). That term fits those above criteria: it looks very slick to read (Bike Rave!!), and there are very few mentions of that term more than a couple years ago. But starting the last couple years, you see bike raves popping up in some cities... with thousands of participants. It's the exact kind of term and event that excites people - gatherings, exercise, fun, google it in images and you'll see how neat the events look, it's all about lights and color. Looked like this term was gathering traction, so I picked it up via a dropcatcher, I'll sit on it for a few years and see if it develops into a larger trend. I feel strongly that it will.
Another thing to watch for: what kind of industry is your potential term related to? Is there longevity and chance for a lot of growth, or does it seem a very isolated and limited area? You know, if someone invents a radical new surveillance camera that hides in cufflinks... that's cool, but you're never going to sell the generic term for it in a domain name, for any decent amount of money. Might be cutting edge technology, but as far as becoming a trend... no. Separate 'cutting edge technology' or 'lastest cool invention/word' from 'possibly trendworthy'. You're talking about trendworthiness here, so 'latest' and 'coolest' and 'cutting edge' don't necessarily translate into 'trendworthy'.
Yet one more criterion I look for sometimes: does it have the potential to become a catchword or catchphrase, either generally in the public or specifically within a large industry? Another of my recent pick-ups from the drop is Fashiongasm (dot com). It's been around for awhile. But it's being said a little more lately. It's cool, it's sexy, it's a well-known term within the fashion industry, all it needs is for some celeb to say it at the right time and place, and it explodes into mainstream. There are a lot of terms that you could say that about, of course, thinking 'if someone famous says this on national TV, my word will become mainstream and my domain will make me rich!' Once again... it comes down to the word DISCERNMENT. Tons of words to pick from, but how well do you put all the factors together, read the possibilities, sort out the duds from the real potential, and make quality guesses? I'm making a guess that this is exactly the kind of cool word that gets picked up eventually within a large industry, and can easily jump to mainstream use, and then easily... what, become the name of a TV show? It might be a dud, it might go nowhere, I might be completely mistaken, it might remain a worthless domain even if the term does become more mainstream. But my discernment tells me this one is worth taking a chance on, so I did.
There are dozens of other things I look for when regging names based on 'possibly becoming a trend', but those are three to start you off with. Others can jump in and tell you more. But with all the tips they give you, it will still boil down to one word: your own DISCERNMENT.
Good luck
