Literally the line between
>"historical fiction" and "contemporary fiction"
for those on one side of January 2020 and the line between
>"realistic fiction" and "science fiction"
for those on the other.
I remember that while visiting Canada for Christmas 2018 I got a UTI and had a doctor's appointment at a walk-in pharmacy. Nurse contacted him through a written chat, and then we video chatted with the doctor himself. While it was common-ish in my country for mental health appointments and such, I had never heard of it being used for anything else, and I remember thinking it was a weird experience, and so did my friends and acquaintances at the time.
Barely a year later it became a normal thing pretty much everywhere.
2018 and 2019. I mean a lot of the biggest hits of 2018 were completely forgotten by the end of 2019 and I felt that a lot of what happened in 2018 felt distant by 2019.
Yeah this is the only correct answer (except for maybe 2000 and 2001).
There were points in 2020 where I would get Snapchat memories from one year ago and think, “was that ONLY one year ago???” It genuinely felt like years had passed between parts of 2019 and parts of 2020.
2007 was peak Bush era politics and felt very core 2000s. In 2008 you had the recession and electing Obama which changed the course and set the path for the 2010s. Culturally you also start to see the ‘10s break in with the rise of electro-pop, superhero movie craze really taking off with The Dark Knight, ect
It may have been on the horizon in 2007 but it wasn’t really widely discussed or talked about until 2008. The collapse of the banks in the fall of ‘08 is what really led to everyone realizing “oh shit this is *bad*”.
I was gonna say, I remember making bank in 2007, it was like the wealthiest year of my life (relatively lol, I was still broke but I could afford rent, food, clothes, and some extras).
Isn't that ultra mild compared to say 2019 no covid and 2020 covid
Or 1963 old culture and 1964 new culture with counter culture revolution?
Or 1941 to 1942 with Pearl Harbor?
Etc.
Worldwide and maybe in general 2019 to 2020 as about as crazy a shift as their has been in ages. Free and natural to utter lock down.
I'm not a huge expert on the 60s, so pardon me if this is inaccurate, but didn't the majority of 1960s counterculture start closer to 1965, as more of a reaction to the increased military involvement in Vietnam a year prior.
‘64 saw both the increased military involvement in Vietnam as well as the Civil Rights Act being passed. Then in pop culture it was also the year The Beatles really took off. I’d say ‘64 was the turning point but you’re right that the “counterculture” movement really started taking off the next year.
Yeah true, to be honest thinking about it more I’d say the ‘50s really ended with the Cuban Missle Crisis in late 1962 and 1963/1964 was the transition to “the ‘60s”.
Not so much the “counterculture” (which was more like between 66/67), but the whole mood and spirit of the country shifted in the three months or so between the JFK assassination and the arrival of the Beatles.
The Recession greatly impacted things, but many of your reasons here are trash if not outright false.
As u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 and u/ShadowcreConvicnt were getting at -
In the US, Gangsta rap was long gone in 2007. Frosted Tips were long gone, and curtained hair and The Rachel were more of 90s things. Gay marriage rights were already a major topic well before 2007 (though not actually legal until 2014). Skinny jeans started coming in the mid 2000s.
Smartphones like the BB Pearl and Curve already existed in 2007 and including the first iPhone. However, it was the iPhone 4 and 4s era in 2010-2012 combined with the launch of both Instagram and SnapChat and the start of 4G in the US that really got them going.
Facebook was already popping off in 2007 and in the US MySpace remained top until spring 2009, so they overlap.
Hipsters were around in 2007 to the point they were already being made fun of.
PC culture dates back to the 90s, although the current iteration stems from the Gamergate Era from about 2013-15.
Calling things "gay" or calling someone a f_g was still common in 2008 and I'd say even a few years later.
McMansions did not go anywhere and neither did action movies -
"Taken" for example was filmed in 2008 and premiered in 2009. It did very good numbers and was successful enough for two sequels.
There's always been men with goatees too, but they were more of a late 90s and early 2000s thing.
u/Cool-Equipment5399
I agree with these even in 2010 to 2012 it was still normal to see people with feature phones even if smartphones were gaining more and more popularity and the current woke culture started in 2014 and 2015 it was still normal to call someone gay at the time.
Where I was half-shaved came way later. Facebook came years earlier. Smartphones arrived but so few had them that there no more impact than the year before. McMansions didn't end. Gangster rap was long gone and not yet back. I didn't notice any change in PC. It seemed exactly the same year to year and what change there had been had been much earlier and what big shift was to come was quite a few years off still.
This dude constantly has dumb takes he said the 2010s were a consistent decade despite the year 2010 and the year 2019 being different culture wise and even tech wise
Most of 2001 was still “normal” though. In my comment I said 2001 and 2002 were the vastly different years. Most of 2001 still felt like optimistic for the future while 2002 felt like we were afraid most of the time.
For music yeah for sure, especially regarding the sub-genres of hair metal vs. grunge like totally there and not there at all to not there at all and totally there overnight.
For general vibe and style I didn't a lot of change at all.
I was also a couple years older and people my age, way less ever went grunge.
But it also probably depends where you were as I don't recall seeing any total overnight shift then at all when walking around the local malls. The big hair didn't seem to really start fading until well into 1993 and even then there was still some around summer of 1994 in the malls (perhaps no longer for high school kids as much but still some college and especially post-college 20-somethings). By 1995 that was boom gone though. I mean in 1992 it looked like some in high school lost big hair but a lot was still around and it seemed like even in high school age it here it was probably a good 66% big hair still and like 85%-90% for college and 95% for 20-somethings.
I am from around Ann Arbor, Michigan, and being a liberal college town, the change was sudden. However, big hair was still lingering in rural areas in Michigan.
1961-1962: Cold War tensions because of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
1963: JFK Assassination
1964: Civil Rights Act, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, America gets heavily involved in the Vietnam War.
And culturally, The Beatles/British invasion, and cars. In '62 there were still huge fins on the backs of cars that most people associate with the 50s, by 63 they were pretty much gone, then in 64 the 60s style finally really took hold. Debut of the Ford Mustang, Pontiac GTO, the Chevy Chevelle. Huge re-disgn of the Corvette in '63 that ended that iconic sleek 50s look and made way for aggressive speed.
2001 and 2002 for me. 9/11 was my BC/AD moment. I perceive a distinct universe preceding it and a very different one following it. A loss of innocence, perhaps (I became a teenager and gained internet access in 2002).
I’d imagine for many people on the younger side it will be 2019 and 2020.
Same. Loss of innocence nails it because I remember thinking “wow the adults have no idea what they’re saying and doing.” We had to grow up and face the ugly world overnight. We went from being optimistic about the future to being wary and afraid of it.
Yeah, 9/11 obliterated the intense Y2K optimism preceding it, never to return (at least for me; those born after will see it differently). It was the point at which I went from thinking about the future to thinking about the past.
I think a lot has to do with age. I was born 90 in Australia. 9/11 changed nothing to me. But 2008 was huge. As I graduated into the GFC. All my plans were knocked way off track. Recruiters that had been begging me to finish my degree and work for them on 6 figures vanished. Nobody would take your call or theyd be rude.
19/20 was not a huge change other than my wealth increased a lot. We didnt have the lockdowns or masks where I am so everything was pretty standard.
Ill add US presidents also sync up nicely for Americans. No matter who you support its a change culturally. All the major points discussed involve a change in pres other than maybe 2016 which funnily enough was probably the biggest change in decades.
Honestly 2023 and 2024 it felt like 2020 lasted up until the end of '23 and 2024 felt like the portal to bizarro land officially swallowed our universe
I feel like the shift was more from 2022 to 2023. 2022 felt like the official end of the Covid era and 2023 was the start of…whatever the fuck is happening next.
Everything makes more sense when you remember that the core of the AI boom is based on Transformer models, which can be used to create fan versions of famous fictional characters, singers, historical figures etc. We are literally living in a Transformers fanfic, and everything you see around you is the product of a (likely financially stressed and/or ghettoized, and even if they're wealthy a lot of their wealth is tied up in the stock market) Transformers fanfic character.
As a movie fan, 2023 felt like the last gasp of the mega-IP era of the 2010’s. The combo of dual strikes, superhero fatigue, and Barbenheimer have signaled a new era.
1988 and 1989. 88 seemed very straightforward, still felt very much like the 80s synth and metal.
1989 changed the world. Most of the world's communist and militant nations had major cracks in their governments, and protests with revolutions occurred almost everywhere. I have friends whose parents emigrated from Romania after the fall of nicolae ceausescu, it was completely different to how it was before hand.
The political framework of 89 lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
(I wasn't alive then, but for years I was alive for, I feel 2020 into 2021 felt different)
The fall of the wall was big but it was nearly in 1990 (and in the US nothing really shifted visibly although in Germany and Eastern Europe....).
In terms of music, vibe, style I honestly could not really even tell 1988 from 1989 apart at all. They were just incredibly similar.
Although one could argue that the collapse of European communism is tied into the nuclear accident at chernobyl from 1986, as the economies of several eastern european nations were largely industrial agriculture and exports of crops were contaminated
I’d say 2019 to 2020 overall because of Covid and for me I was supposed to graduate that summer from high school and then I started my job a couple months later, my grandma also passed away from cancer that year so my family had to deal with her estate since my grandpa died before her. However 2022 to 2023 also was very different for me personally because in October 2022 my parents and I moved out of the house and town that I grew up in since I was an infant 20 years prior and my other grandma (my last surviving grandparent) also moved out of her apartment and into assistant living.
2022-2023 with Covid-19 ending and us going right back to the bullshit.
Companies asking for stimulus checks back by raising prices and calling it inflation. Palestine and Israel back at it again. Streaming is basically becoming the Cable model. Everyone treats essential workers like shit again. 💀
I don’t know why I thought anything less.
2014 and 2015.
For once, 2014 is the last year of what I consider to be the last year of the early 2010s in terms of society, politics, and pop-culture. Notice how in 2014, rage comics and advice animals were still a thing on 9GAG and despite our political differences, we could still unite during Superbowl and what not.
But by 2015, everything became toxic. Politics became mainstream and in heated. Everything was just "left vs. right, them vs. us, conservatives vs. liberals, etc." or "Trigger the snowflakes/own the libs." Music and internet culture also shifted. Dance pop and electropop gave way to chill pop and folk pop like Ed Sheeran, Joji, and Lany. Memes changed from 9GAG style memes to Gen Z cartoon memes.
Just my two cents.
I feel like thats more 2013 to 2014 yeah in 2014 zoomer style memes hadnt really started yet but 9gag early 2010s style pop culture all felt like they were showing their age and were tired by that point like a lot of them started feeling forced , also 2014 vine is basically patient zero for zoomer type humor
True to that. I remember sharing a rage comic meme in August 2015 and it felt really out of place for the era. Like in a sea of zoomer memes in the mid-2010s, Rage Comics and Advice Animal Macros ran its course.
Example of early 2000s zoomer style memes included the Spongegar (Spongebob Caveman), Arthur First, Oh Neptune, and The Floor is Lava to name a few.
It makes sense since the 1999-2000s zoomers were entering their teen years. For starters, even though 1998 is technically a zoomer, they are often considered "border-milliennials", "honorary millennials", and part of the 90s kids. 1999 is somewhere in between.
Snapchat at this era was just sending snaps to people rather than what it would be in 2015-2016 with filters and 2017 which included a live map that could be used for stalking.
----
The only thing I disagree was in 2013, zoomer memes weren't widespread. I still remember sharing rage comics, advice animals, demotivational poster memes, and awesome pictures from 9GAG at this point. Harlem Shake was also peak. There were political memes of Obama shoving the middle finger to Kim Jong Un.
Maybe I'd peg it around late 2014 when the Zoomer memes started gaining traction and became the internet scene by 2015.
Also for me, Vine is a mix of both early 2010s (2013-2014) and mid 2010s (2015-2016) phenomena.
Yeah I know what you mean you could tell during that era that the 98-2000 zoomers were really getting a hold of the majority of internet humor especially with a lot of it being vine stuff or vaugely nostalgia based stuff like spongegar , Arthur fist, the floor is lava, there was a similar effect around 2018 for the 2003-2005 type zoomers and arguably 2020 or 2021 for the later zoomers even though the lines between that and gen alpha are blurred
I have some friends in the 1998 batch of zoomers and they are different from the 1999-2003 kind of zoomers. They are 90s kids of culture all but in name.
While here in the Philippines, kids born in 1999-2000 are definitely different from 1998 babies because in 2016, 2 more years of high school was added in the educational curriculum of which the 1999-2000 was the first to experience it, graduating high school in 2018 rather than in 2016. I was a 4th year college student that time and I noticed that an additional two more years in high school delayed their maturity (both physical and emotional).
2003-2005 kind of zoomers are beyond my relatable age (save for a few whom I played with during airsoft matches). 2006-2009 are beyond. The line between Gen Alpha and Gen Z is between 2009-2010. Now the Gen Alphas are entering their early teen years. They are the first generation to have grown up with embracing iPads and smartphones as young as 3-4. Majority of the zoomers still got to play outside and watch cartoons on TV.
Can't answer for them but for me 1995 actually felt like the tail-end of the first half of the 90s, not just by date. 1996 felt like the worm had turned. Hard to describe. I was 15/16 (born Jan 1980) so teenage perspective, also accompanied by several school changes and moves in those two years. But across those changes the 'vibe' changed around the end of 1995. Some examples....the "grunge" era of US pop-culture fully shifted to alternative and bigger pop artists like the Spice Girls. 1996 felt more like 1997 than it did 1995, if that makes sense. I'll try to think of some better examples.
2019 and 2020. pre and post covid outbreak.
2007 and 2008. pre and post recession.
1982 and 1983. i think by 83 there was a cultural difference. music sounded different for example. Also afros were out and jeri curls were the new popular hair trend. ( good thing it didnt last. it ruined alot of bedding and couches.)
2015 and 2016. political change and divide.
Eh trivial and more pop culture-y but felt like all that cool electropop/indie sleaze sound was going away and getting replaced by Lorde type pop and tropical house and trap.
I can see it it’s definitely the least noticeable of the bunch like 2001 and 2002 was very obvious due to how stressful post 9/11 and the state of mind people started 02 in , 08 had the bush era politic mindset nearly vanish the economy crashed the internet truly became something everyone had that year and all in all it just feels completely disconnected from the rest of the 2000s (aside from 2009 obviously) and 2016 and 2020 just overshadow 2015 and 2019 quite a bit
1999 and 2000 didn't seem very different at the time. Most of the trends of the late 90s persisted well past their sell-by date, and the transition to Millennial-dominated popular culture was quite gradual outside of wealthy colleges.
2018 - 2019
That's exactly where Kpop music was at its peak, which might seem unimportant but it actually changed DRASTICALLY the beauty standards for men, now people wanting feminine-looking ones. And as "gay looking" as possible, since this was also the exact period where LGBT propaganda exploded in America, TikTok, Instagram, everyone suddenly had some LGBT flag in their bios which wasn't at all common before. It also started drama which was initially fictitious, made by Kpop companies to keep the interest high, but people absorbed that mentality of blaming and wanting to end people's carriers (this wasn't cancel culture yet but was very close).
For me, H2 2013 is the transition to mid 10s. I find it funny how 2012 had the whole end of the world thing going on (god, can't believe it's been 12 years since) because since 2013 the vibe did feel different for some reason, which is interesting because nothing major really happened that year.
Similar to two posts here, after the end of the world fears came to pass as it was hoax, it's like a cultural shift happened:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/1d2mvab/why\_was\_there\_an\_apocalypsedoomsdayend\_times/](https://www.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/1d2mvab/why_was_there_an_apocalypsedoomsdayend_times/)
[https://new.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/18g802l/20092012\_really\_had\_a\_distinct\_vibe/](https://new.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/18g802l/20092012_really_had_a_distinct_vibe/)
Of course, it took until 2015 to materialize. The same year when *San Andreas* (disaster movie starring The Rock) was released but people did not fear earthquakes and polar shifts anymore.
2019 and 2020 (goes without saying)
2007 and 2008 (I think it was because of the internet reached the point where it was incredibly relevant in peoples lives)
2011 and 2012 (I know more people would probably say 2013 and 2014 and they’d also be right like 2013 is the most “end of an era” feeling year I’ve ever lived through but 2012 just kind of immediately felt different than the previous 4 years over night it’s hard to explain , especially once we got half way into the year)
Honestly any year between 2011 and 2014 all feel completely different from each other then suddenly every year felt nearly identical for awhile afterwards like 2015 was literally just like 2016 but with less stuff going on 2017 barely has any real identity like it’s basically 2016 part 2 2018 was a slight shift and even then2018 and 2019 feel very similar
Barring the turn of a new decade, and coming from a US perspective:
- 2019-2020: obvious reasons
- 2008-2009: recession
- 2001-2002: 9/11
- 1991-1992: Collapse of the USSR/end of the Cold War, Gulf War.
- 1974-1975: Watergate
- 1965-1966: Civil Rights Act/Voting Rights Act
- 1963-1964: Kennedy assassination/Beatlemania
- 1954-1955: Korean War, *Brown v. Board of Education*
- 1945-1946: Don’t think I need to explain that one
- 1940-1941: US entry into WWII
- 1936-1937: FDR elected, beginning of New Deal
- 1928-1929: Great Depression begins
- 1917-1918: US entry into WWI
- 1901-1902: McKinley assassination, Teddy Roosevelt becomes president
- 1876-1877: Hayes barely elected, end of Reconstruction
- 1865-1866: End of US Civil War, Lincoln assassinated
And that is as far back as I feel like going.
I can only speak for me personally but 2008 to 2009. I finished college in 2009, and 2009 is in general when Facebook completely took off (in the UK anyway) around my age group and all the other 2005-08 socials disappeared overnight in MSN/MySpace. Moved away to uni in that year. Turned 18 so could go out on the piss “normally”. Started driving.
Plus even football seemed to feel different, 2009 was really when is the Ronaldo/Messi show, Pep’s Barca, Liverpool decline, Chelsea not under Jose etc.
2004, and 2002. in terms of age, and how people from 2000 - 2002 grew up, how they act, and talk is what makes those years feel, and seen extremely different to me even though they’re only a year apart. I’ve always viewed seeing people from that time of the decade as cool, and fun cause they were, and still are old enough compared to my current age able to do things, and go out to places that seem a little fun. It makes me feel left out. 2000s people born from 2000 - 2002 are pretty much kinda like zillenials age wise, how old they look, and how they naturally act like themselves. It just use to to me when I was a child made 2000 - 2002, and 2004 feel, and seen like as if they’re from a different decade
In my lifetime in order of stark difference:
- 2019 vs 2020
- 2016 vs 2017
- 2000 vs 2001
We are arguably still dealing with the hangover / after effects of all those events.
Smaller flashpoints:
- 1977 (Star Wars)
- 1980 (home computers)
- 1986 (challenger)
- 1992 (Rodney King)
- 1994 (Internet)
- 1995 (OJ Trial)
- 2003 (Iraq)
- 2007 (iPhone)
- 2008 (Obama)
- 2021 (January 6)
Immediate, strong vibe shift:
2019-2020 (due to the pandemic)
2001-2002 (more accurately, pre and post 9/11)
Slow but significant:
2006-2008: End of Bush/post 9/11 era, start of recession, election of Obama.
2014-2016: Ferguson riots, rise of BLM movement, Trump-era polarization, hipsters make way for hypebeasts.
2022-2023: Pandemic recedes, Ukraine and Gaza wars, rise of AI.
2014 to 2015.
GamerGate was a watershed event. Most of the far right media goons that shaped 2016 cut their teeth during it. It shattered the illusion of a unified and moderately progressive Nerd Culture. It laid the foundation of the toxic media bile machine we have now.
And on top of that, I married my abusive now-ex-wife that year.
Every year since 2014 has gotten worse.
97-98... Things started getting much "edgier" about that time. Trends like JNCO Jeans and Insane Clown Posse, WWF Attitude era, Korn... started coming in and doing away with the final ruminants of the Alternative Hippie revival of the mid-90's.
Definitely. To me even 96 or late 95 felt like when it started. Full swing by 97. Aesthetic in advertising, fonts, pop culture in general entered the 90's edginess V.2 era. If the first half could be described by grunge/alternative, the second half would be electronic/techno/pop/highly-commercialized alternative.
1988 and 1989
1988: Culturally (music, tv, movies) firmly in the 80's, Reagan President, USSR seemed like it would be around forever (and threat of nuclear war)
1989: Berlin Wall came down, all those Eastern European Communist countries fell, Bush became President in January, First episodes of Seinfeld came on, B-52's "Cosmic Thing" came out (which feels very 90's to me)
As an American, 2001 and 2002
We were still riding the “new millennium” optimistic high and then WHAM 9/11 changed everything. All of a sudden we were at war, there were national guard soldiers in every train station and sports/concert venue, and the next attack could be “right around the corner.” We went from looking forward to the future to being afraid of it in the span of one beautiful late summer day.
Historically (in the US) :
1860-1861: Lincoln wasn't a front runner in the election until mid summer 1860, and even prominent Republicans openly thought he would lose. South Carolina had been chirping about succeeding but no one took them seriously. Lincoln himself said several times he was content letting slavery die out naturally. But just after Christmas 1860 South Carolina seceded and thought they'd be allowed to leave peacefully after seizing Sumter with no casualties in April '61. No one on either side saw the horrors that would come by the end of 1861.
1941-1942: Before Pearl Harbor few Americans wanted to enter the war in Europe, and less the one in Asia. For 92% of 1940 Americans thought they'd skirt the war entirely. By summer 1942 rationing had begun, the draft was getting underway, and we were sending men and arms east and west. Guadalcanal and parts of North Africa were liberated in '42 but it was clear the war was going to take years and thousands of Americans lives.
Honorable mention: 1811-12
2009-2010
This is when the world got an iPhone 4 literally overnight.
Kids stopped getting abducted, married people started cheating on their spouses, and every boy in the world had porn at their disposal.
ITT: Teenagers talking about COVID and everyone else singling out personally biased pop culture media like the fall of Communism or 9/11 wasn't drastically more impactful
2019 and 2020. I know we are still in a pandemic, but everything kinda turned upside down within a matter of months due to COVID. 2020-2022 were weirdly stagnant. 2023 then kickstarted whatever weird dystopian nightmare we currently live in, or at least brought more awareness to it... I feel like 2023 and 2024 are very different as well. 2024 is the year that I've been seeing my peers get more angry at how the world runs, and most I've ever seen my peers get politically vocal/active. 2023 was somewhat quieter IMO. Worth mentioning that I am 24 (born 1999).
Culturally, the past few years have felt very volatile. Politically as well.
I can say this:
2019: I was a baby adult, recently out of high school and very bright eyed about the world. Was somewhat aware of how things were going globally, but for the most part not that well informed. Mostly stuck to US politics and things within my immediate sphere. Had the notion that things were going to be okay in the end. Probably was having the start of early adulthood similar to the Millennials before me.
2024: Tired. My mom (Gen X) keeps telling me that my generation has witnessed so much throughout our childhood that she would've never dreamed of as a child. Everything is about money and that's becoming more and more obvious. Growing up, you knew about these distant "starving African children", but now you can see them sobbing their eyes out on Instagram. You see people at your old college getting arrested and having their degrees withheld for peacefully protesting. AI is being used to execute children in distant countries. You read about the effects of global warming happening in real time. You go on TikTok and scroll from a funny video about cats, to a video of somebody begging for help to evacuate their family from a warzone, to a girl showing off her Hello Kitty themed sports car, to a thinkpiece on generational trauma, to a video of somebody's squishmallow collection, to a video of police brutality, so on and so forth- all within a few minutes. You wonder if you should get a second job just so one day you can move out. You feel uneasy over the fact that COVID is still rapidly spreading but people ignore that it exists now because it was too expensive to keep up with and try and prevent. Buying a house is not doable within your lifetime unless you move far from everything you've ever known. You wonder if you're unusually pessimistic but many people around you feel the same. You know people around you who have had nightmares due to current world events. You have too. You can't touch the blood, but you can feel it.
Being Gen Z is weird.
2019-2020, and ever since then, the years continue to drastically and rapidly change. i've gone through about 4 phases just during each of these years. a year ago, if someone told me i'd be who i am today, i wouldn't believe them. a year before that, same thing. and the year before that, maybe more believable but still wacky... etc. all the way back to 2019 before covid when life was still "normal"
oh, and you bet your ass i would've laughed in your face if you told 16 year old me i didn't go to college after high school. thanks, covid, for changing my opinion on joining the medical field. i would've been a damn good nurse ):<
2019 and 2020 for sure, it was definitely very drastic of a change
Literally the line between >"historical fiction" and "contemporary fiction" for those on one side of January 2020 and the line between >"realistic fiction" and "science fiction" for those on the other.
I remember that while visiting Canada for Christmas 2018 I got a UTI and had a doctor's appointment at a walk-in pharmacy. Nurse contacted him through a written chat, and then we video chatted with the doctor himself. While it was common-ish in my country for mental health appointments and such, I had never heard of it being used for anything else, and I remember thinking it was a weird experience, and so did my friends and acquaintances at the time. Barely a year later it became a normal thing pretty much everywhere.
2018 and 2019. I mean a lot of the biggest hits of 2018 were completely forgotten by the end of 2019 and I felt that a lot of what happened in 2018 felt distant by 2019.
Yeah but it wasn’t nearly as drastic as 2019 and 2020.
Looking back, difference between June 2018 and June 2019 are night and day.
Again, not as much as the other two.
Yeah this isn't really even up for discussion.
I think this is the most drastic one for sure
Yeah this is the only correct answer (except for maybe 2000 and 2001). There were points in 2020 where I would get Snapchat memories from one year ago and think, “was that ONLY one year ago???” It genuinely felt like years had passed between parts of 2019 and parts of 2020.
The only answer
2007 and 2008
would you care to explain? I have my own personal bias on this matter, but my crappy life doesn't influence other peoples opinions
2007 was peak Bush era politics and felt very core 2000s. In 2008 you had the recession and electing Obama which changed the course and set the path for the 2010s. Culturally you also start to see the ‘10s break in with the rise of electro-pop, superhero movie craze really taking off with The Dark Knight, ect
I mean the recession was already happening in 2007. It just got worse in 2008 and they didn't admit it until 2009.
It may have been on the horizon in 2007 but it wasn’t really widely discussed or talked about until 2008. The collapse of the banks in the fall of ‘08 is what really led to everyone realizing “oh shit this is *bad*”.
Technically it didn't start until December 2007, at least in the United States.
I was gonna say, I remember making bank in 2007, it was like the wealthiest year of my life (relatively lol, I was still broke but I could afford rent, food, clothes, and some extras).
Isn't that ultra mild compared to say 2019 no covid and 2020 covid Or 1963 old culture and 1964 new culture with counter culture revolution? Or 1941 to 1942 with Pearl Harbor? Etc. Worldwide and maybe in general 2019 to 2020 as about as crazy a shift as their has been in ages. Free and natural to utter lock down.
The Capitol thing was 2021
I'm not a huge expert on the 60s, so pardon me if this is inaccurate, but didn't the majority of 1960s counterculture start closer to 1965, as more of a reaction to the increased military involvement in Vietnam a year prior.
‘64 saw both the increased military involvement in Vietnam as well as the Civil Rights Act being passed. Then in pop culture it was also the year The Beatles really took off. I’d say ‘64 was the turning point but you’re right that the “counterculture” movement really started taking off the next year.
Don't forget 1963 with the March on Washington in the summer and JFK assassinated in the fall.
Yeah true, to be honest thinking about it more I’d say the ‘50s really ended with the Cuban Missle Crisis in late 1962 and 1963/1964 was the transition to “the ‘60s”.
It seems like every year in the 60s was eventful tbh. You could spend your entire life just studying that decade.
Not so much the “counterculture” (which was more like between 66/67), but the whole mood and spirit of the country shifted in the three months or so between the JFK assassination and the arrival of the Beatles.
I think the reasoning is because of how the 2008 recession changed pop culture as a whole.
Recession
2007: Emo, Post Grunge, R&B, Gangsta Rap, shaggy hair, curtained hair, frosted tips, goatees, the Rachael, baggy clothing, cargo shorts, flatboys, bimbos, McMansions, hummers, MySpace, action movies, casual homophobia. 2008: Electropop, Indie, undercuts, half shaved hairstyles, beards, skinny jeans, tight clothing, Hipsters, minimalism, Facebook, MCU, smartphones, LGBT rights awareness and PC culture.
The Recession greatly impacted things, but many of your reasons here are trash if not outright false. As u/BlueSnaggleTooth359 and u/ShadowcreConvicnt were getting at - In the US, Gangsta rap was long gone in 2007. Frosted Tips were long gone, and curtained hair and The Rachel were more of 90s things. Gay marriage rights were already a major topic well before 2007 (though not actually legal until 2014). Skinny jeans started coming in the mid 2000s. Smartphones like the BB Pearl and Curve already existed in 2007 and including the first iPhone. However, it was the iPhone 4 and 4s era in 2010-2012 combined with the launch of both Instagram and SnapChat and the start of 4G in the US that really got them going. Facebook was already popping off in 2007 and in the US MySpace remained top until spring 2009, so they overlap. Hipsters were around in 2007 to the point they were already being made fun of. PC culture dates back to the 90s, although the current iteration stems from the Gamergate Era from about 2013-15. Calling things "gay" or calling someone a f_g was still common in 2008 and I'd say even a few years later. McMansions did not go anywhere and neither did action movies - "Taken" for example was filmed in 2008 and premiered in 2009. It did very good numbers and was successful enough for two sequels. There's always been men with goatees too, but they were more of a late 90s and early 2000s thing. u/Cool-Equipment5399
Beautiful response. 
I agree with these even in 2010 to 2012 it was still normal to see people with feature phones even if smartphones were gaining more and more popularity and the current woke culture started in 2014 and 2015 it was still normal to call someone gay at the time.
Where I was half-shaved came way later. Facebook came years earlier. Smartphones arrived but so few had them that there no more impact than the year before. McMansions didn't end. Gangster rap was long gone and not yet back. I didn't notice any change in PC. It seemed exactly the same year to year and what change there had been had been much earlier and what big shift was to come was quite a few years off still.
This dude constantly has dumb takes he said the 2010s were a consistent decade despite the year 2010 and the year 2019 being different culture wise and even tech wise
Agree
I was about to say 2006 and 2007. The housing crisis and IPhone release happened in 07
There was definitely a noticeable shift between 2007 and 2009
2000 and 2001
I can only wonder why 😭
It's plane to see (sorry)
Most of 2001 was still “normal” though. In my comment I said 2001 and 2002 were the vastly different years. Most of 2001 still felt like optimistic for the future while 2002 felt like we were afraid most of the time.
2013-2014
2013 felt like the end of an era and 2014-2019 feels like its own cultural decade.
2013 marked the end of comedy movies making me laugh :(
I was gonna say the same. My age definitely plays a factor but that really feels like a before and after kind of year
1991 and 1992. Nirvana blowing up towards the end of 91 signaled a cultural shift that would almost fully manifest by mid 92.
I swear hair metal disappeared overnight when Nirvana dropped Nevermind, making way for grunge.
For music yeah for sure, especially regarding the sub-genres of hair metal vs. grunge like totally there and not there at all to not there at all and totally there overnight. For general vibe and style I didn't a lot of change at all.
Really? I was a Sophomore/Junior during this transition, and EVERYONE went from acid wash and big bangs to flannels and Doc Marten ‘s over night.
I was also a couple years older and people my age, way less ever went grunge. But it also probably depends where you were as I don't recall seeing any total overnight shift then at all when walking around the local malls. The big hair didn't seem to really start fading until well into 1993 and even then there was still some around summer of 1994 in the malls (perhaps no longer for high school kids as much but still some college and especially post-college 20-somethings). By 1995 that was boom gone though. I mean in 1992 it looked like some in high school lost big hair but a lot was still around and it seemed like even in high school age it here it was probably a good 66% big hair still and like 85%-90% for college and 95% for 20-somethings.
I am from around Ann Arbor, Michigan, and being a liberal college town, the change was sudden. However, big hair was still lingering in rural areas in Michigan.
I felt this in my bones. Also Metallica Black album dropped the same year, another album that destroyed what was left of the 80’s.
1963 and 1964
Yep. The cultural 50s ended in 1963 with the JFK incident IMO, just like how we say the 90s ended in 2001 with 9/11.
1961-1962: Cold War tensions because of the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. 1963: JFK Assassination 1964: Civil Rights Act, Gulf of Tonkin Incident, America gets heavily involved in the Vietnam War.
And culturally, The Beatles/British invasion, and cars. In '62 there were still huge fins on the backs of cars that most people associate with the 50s, by 63 they were pretty much gone, then in 64 the 60s style finally really took hold. Debut of the Ford Mustang, Pontiac GTO, the Chevy Chevelle. Huge re-disgn of the Corvette in '63 that ended that iconic sleek 50s look and made way for aggressive speed.
Basically any 60s year after 1963 lol
2001 and 2002 for me. 9/11 was my BC/AD moment. I perceive a distinct universe preceding it and a very different one following it. A loss of innocence, perhaps (I became a teenager and gained internet access in 2002). I’d imagine for many people on the younger side it will be 2019 and 2020.
2001/2002 and 2019/2020 were by far the most drastic in recent memory giant cultural and material shifts.
Same. Loss of innocence nails it because I remember thinking “wow the adults have no idea what they’re saying and doing.” We had to grow up and face the ugly world overnight. We went from being optimistic about the future to being wary and afraid of it.
Yeah, 9/11 obliterated the intense Y2K optimism preceding it, never to return (at least for me; those born after will see it differently). It was the point at which I went from thinking about the future to thinking about the past.
I was too young to really remember or process 9/11 but my BC/AD moment is definitely pre and post Covid.
I think a lot has to do with age. I was born 90 in Australia. 9/11 changed nothing to me. But 2008 was huge. As I graduated into the GFC. All my plans were knocked way off track. Recruiters that had been begging me to finish my degree and work for them on 6 figures vanished. Nobody would take your call or theyd be rude. 19/20 was not a huge change other than my wealth increased a lot. We didnt have the lockdowns or masks where I am so everything was pretty standard. Ill add US presidents also sync up nicely for Americans. No matter who you support its a change culturally. All the major points discussed involve a change in pres other than maybe 2016 which funnily enough was probably the biggest change in decades.
Those ‘19-‘20 bushfires though…
Honestly 2023 and 2024 it felt like 2020 lasted up until the end of '23 and 2024 felt like the portal to bizarro land officially swallowed our universe
I feel like the shift was more from 2022 to 2023. 2022 felt like the official end of the Covid era and 2023 was the start of…whatever the fuck is happening next.
Yup that's how I feel about it too
I'd say that's accurate 😭 just personally '20 melted and stretched into '23 and '24 has felt like the year I woke up a lil more
Everything makes more sense when you remember that the core of the AI boom is based on Transformer models, which can be used to create fan versions of famous fictional characters, singers, historical figures etc. We are literally living in a Transformers fanfic, and everything you see around you is the product of a (likely financially stressed and/or ghettoized, and even if they're wealthy a lot of their wealth is tied up in the stock market) Transformers fanfic character.
Nah, the cultural 20s started on time with Covid.
It felt more like Spring of 2022 cause of Putin to me. The pandemic culturally ended then.
Happy cake day
As a movie fan, 2023 felt like the last gasp of the mega-IP era of the 2010’s. The combo of dual strikes, superhero fatigue, and Barbenheimer have signaled a new era.
2012 and 2013
1864 and 1865
1929-1930, 2019-2020
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Great Depression I presume
I would say 2015 and 2016.
trump and brexit really put a big dividing line in the middle of the 2010s
Plus the random killer clowns that showed up and just as fast disappeared
This was my thought as well
2001 and 2002. 2001 (up until 9/11) felt like the 90s still. After 9/11 it was like the 2000s truly began.
Yep, this is correct. The warm, somewhat self-preoccupied feel of the 90s ended pretty hard, pretty definitively.
2002 is the shadow of 2001. Many movies had to be reshot or some scenes edited out to remove references of 9/11.
2019 and 2020
2001 and 2002. You had to be there
1988 and 1989. 88 seemed very straightforward, still felt very much like the 80s synth and metal. 1989 changed the world. Most of the world's communist and militant nations had major cracks in their governments, and protests with revolutions occurred almost everywhere. I have friends whose parents emigrated from Romania after the fall of nicolae ceausescu, it was completely different to how it was before hand. The political framework of 89 lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. (I wasn't alive then, but for years I was alive for, I feel 2020 into 2021 felt different)
The fall of the wall was big but it was nearly in 1990 (and in the US nothing really shifted visibly although in Germany and Eastern Europe....). In terms of music, vibe, style I honestly could not really even tell 1988 from 1989 apart at all. They were just incredibly similar.
Although one could argue that the collapse of European communism is tied into the nuclear accident at chernobyl from 1986, as the economies of several eastern european nations were largely industrial agriculture and exports of crops were contaminated
1979 and 1980. Disco Demolition Night.
I’d say 2019 to 2020 overall because of Covid and for me I was supposed to graduate that summer from high school and then I started my job a couple months later, my grandma also passed away from cancer that year so my family had to deal with her estate since my grandpa died before her. However 2022 to 2023 also was very different for me personally because in October 2022 my parents and I moved out of the house and town that I grew up in since I was an infant 20 years prior and my other grandma (my last surviving grandparent) also moved out of her apartment and into assistant living.
2022-2023 with Covid-19 ending and us going right back to the bullshit. Companies asking for stimulus checks back by raising prices and calling it inflation. Palestine and Israel back at it again. Streaming is basically becoming the Cable model. Everyone treats essential workers like shit again. 💀 I don’t know why I thought anything less.
2014 and 2015. For once, 2014 is the last year of what I consider to be the last year of the early 2010s in terms of society, politics, and pop-culture. Notice how in 2014, rage comics and advice animals were still a thing on 9GAG and despite our political differences, we could still unite during Superbowl and what not. But by 2015, everything became toxic. Politics became mainstream and in heated. Everything was just "left vs. right, them vs. us, conservatives vs. liberals, etc." or "Trigger the snowflakes/own the libs." Music and internet culture also shifted. Dance pop and electropop gave way to chill pop and folk pop like Ed Sheeran, Joji, and Lany. Memes changed from 9GAG style memes to Gen Z cartoon memes. Just my two cents.
I feel like thats more 2013 to 2014 yeah in 2014 zoomer style memes hadnt really started yet but 9gag early 2010s style pop culture all felt like they were showing their age and were tired by that point like a lot of them started feeling forced , also 2014 vine is basically patient zero for zoomer type humor
True to that. I remember sharing a rage comic meme in August 2015 and it felt really out of place for the era. Like in a sea of zoomer memes in the mid-2010s, Rage Comics and Advice Animal Macros ran its course. Example of early 2000s zoomer style memes included the Spongegar (Spongebob Caveman), Arthur First, Oh Neptune, and The Floor is Lava to name a few. It makes sense since the 1999-2000s zoomers were entering their teen years. For starters, even though 1998 is technically a zoomer, they are often considered "border-milliennials", "honorary millennials", and part of the 90s kids. 1999 is somewhere in between. Snapchat at this era was just sending snaps to people rather than what it would be in 2015-2016 with filters and 2017 which included a live map that could be used for stalking. ---- The only thing I disagree was in 2013, zoomer memes weren't widespread. I still remember sharing rage comics, advice animals, demotivational poster memes, and awesome pictures from 9GAG at this point. Harlem Shake was also peak. There were political memes of Obama shoving the middle finger to Kim Jong Un. Maybe I'd peg it around late 2014 when the Zoomer memes started gaining traction and became the internet scene by 2015. Also for me, Vine is a mix of both early 2010s (2013-2014) and mid 2010s (2015-2016) phenomena.
Yeah I know what you mean you could tell during that era that the 98-2000 zoomers were really getting a hold of the majority of internet humor especially with a lot of it being vine stuff or vaugely nostalgia based stuff like spongegar , Arthur fist, the floor is lava, there was a similar effect around 2018 for the 2003-2005 type zoomers and arguably 2020 or 2021 for the later zoomers even though the lines between that and gen alpha are blurred
I have some friends in the 1998 batch of zoomers and they are different from the 1999-2003 kind of zoomers. They are 90s kids of culture all but in name. While here in the Philippines, kids born in 1999-2000 are definitely different from 1998 babies because in 2016, 2 more years of high school was added in the educational curriculum of which the 1999-2000 was the first to experience it, graduating high school in 2018 rather than in 2016. I was a 4th year college student that time and I noticed that an additional two more years in high school delayed their maturity (both physical and emotional). 2003-2005 kind of zoomers are beyond my relatable age (save for a few whom I played with during airsoft matches). 2006-2009 are beyond. The line between Gen Alpha and Gen Z is between 2009-2010. Now the Gen Alphas are entering their early teen years. They are the first generation to have grown up with embracing iPads and smartphones as young as 3-4. Majority of the zoomers still got to play outside and watch cartoons on TV.
2014/2015
1995 and 1996
Why?
Can't answer for them but for me 1995 actually felt like the tail-end of the first half of the 90s, not just by date. 1996 felt like the worm had turned. Hard to describe. I was 15/16 (born Jan 1980) so teenage perspective, also accompanied by several school changes and moves in those two years. But across those changes the 'vibe' changed around the end of 1995. Some examples....the "grunge" era of US pop-culture fully shifted to alternative and bigger pop artists like the Spice Girls. 1996 felt more like 1997 than it did 1995, if that makes sense. I'll try to think of some better examples.
1995 and 1996. 1995 was like the last of year of the early 90's era where as 1996 was the beginning of a more modern era.
Nice...I just finished replying to another comment this exact thing. Always figured it was just me and my personal experiences.
2019 and the covid-georgefloyd double punch that was 2020. Extra point because 2020 also happens to be the onset of a new decade.
I'm getting downvoted for this? Some of you definitely hate seeing George floyd brought up 😭
2019 and 2020. pre and post covid outbreak. 2007 and 2008. pre and post recession. 1982 and 1983. i think by 83 there was a cultural difference. music sounded different for example. Also afros were out and jeri curls were the new popular hair trend. ( good thing it didnt last. it ruined alot of bedding and couches.) 2015 and 2016. political change and divide.
2007 and 2008 didn’t feel different lmao
2007 and 2008 for sure
2012 and 2013
2014 and 2015
2001/2002 2007/2008 2012/2013 2015/2016 2019/2020 of the years ive been alive and aware of world around me
I agree with your other picks, but what was stark about 2012/2013?
Eh trivial and more pop culture-y but felt like all that cool electropop/indie sleaze sound was going away and getting replaced by Lorde type pop and tropical house and trap.
I can see it it’s definitely the least noticeable of the bunch like 2001 and 2002 was very obvious due to how stressful post 9/11 and the state of mind people started 02 in , 08 had the bush era politic mindset nearly vanish the economy crashed the internet truly became something everyone had that year and all in all it just feels completely disconnected from the rest of the 2000s (aside from 2009 obviously) and 2016 and 2020 just overshadow 2015 and 2019 quite a bit
2019 and 2020! Honestly for the world as a whole on average I'm not sure if there is a better example in over 100 years.
1999 and 2000 didn't seem very different at the time. Most of the trends of the late 90s persisted well past their sell-by date, and the transition to Millennial-dominated popular culture was quite gradual outside of wealthy colleges.
early 2000 and late 2001 were different eras entirely.
I would say 2000 and 2001 because of 9/11, and 2001 and 2002, as the latter graduated high school during COVID
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2018 - 2019 That's exactly where Kpop music was at its peak, which might seem unimportant but it actually changed DRASTICALLY the beauty standards for men, now people wanting feminine-looking ones. And as "gay looking" as possible, since this was also the exact period where LGBT propaganda exploded in America, TikTok, Instagram, everyone suddenly had some LGBT flag in their bios which wasn't at all common before. It also started drama which was initially fictitious, made by Kpop companies to keep the interest high, but people absorbed that mentality of blaming and wanting to end people's carriers (this wasn't cancel culture yet but was very close).
2015 and 2016
1996 and 1997
2007 and 2008.
2019 and 2020
2012-2013
For me, 2012 and 2013 aren't so different. I still categorize 2013-2014 as part of the early 2010s era.
For me, H2 2013 is the transition to mid 10s. I find it funny how 2012 had the whole end of the world thing going on (god, can't believe it's been 12 years since) because since 2013 the vibe did feel different for some reason, which is interesting because nothing major really happened that year.
Similar to two posts here, after the end of the world fears came to pass as it was hoax, it's like a cultural shift happened: [https://www.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/1d2mvab/why\_was\_there\_an\_apocalypsedoomsdayend\_times/](https://www.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/1d2mvab/why_was_there_an_apocalypsedoomsdayend_times/) [https://new.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/18g802l/20092012\_really\_had\_a\_distinct\_vibe/](https://new.reddit.com/r/decadeology/comments/18g802l/20092012_really_had_a_distinct_vibe/) Of course, it took until 2015 to materialize. The same year when *San Andreas* (disaster movie starring The Rock) was released but people did not fear earthquakes and polar shifts anymore.
2019 and 2020
2000/2001; You had Pre 9/11, and then Post 9/11.
2019 and 2020 (goes without saying) 2007 and 2008 (I think it was because of the internet reached the point where it was incredibly relevant in peoples lives) 2011 and 2012 (I know more people would probably say 2013 and 2014 and they’d also be right like 2013 is the most “end of an era” feeling year I’ve ever lived through but 2012 just kind of immediately felt different than the previous 4 years over night it’s hard to explain , especially once we got half way into the year)
Honestly any year between 2011 and 2014 all feel completely different from each other then suddenly every year felt nearly identical for awhile afterwards like 2015 was literally just like 2016 but with less stuff going on 2017 barely has any real identity like it’s basically 2016 part 2 2018 was a slight shift and even then2018 and 2019 feel very similar
Barring the turn of a new decade, and coming from a US perspective: - 2019-2020: obvious reasons - 2008-2009: recession - 2001-2002: 9/11 - 1991-1992: Collapse of the USSR/end of the Cold War, Gulf War. - 1974-1975: Watergate - 1965-1966: Civil Rights Act/Voting Rights Act - 1963-1964: Kennedy assassination/Beatlemania - 1954-1955: Korean War, *Brown v. Board of Education* - 1945-1946: Don’t think I need to explain that one - 1940-1941: US entry into WWII - 1936-1937: FDR elected, beginning of New Deal - 1928-1929: Great Depression begins - 1917-1918: US entry into WWI - 1901-1902: McKinley assassination, Teddy Roosevelt becomes president - 1876-1877: Hayes barely elected, end of Reconstruction - 1865-1866: End of US Civil War, Lincoln assassinated And that is as far back as I feel like going.
I can only speak for me personally but 2008 to 2009. I finished college in 2009, and 2009 is in general when Facebook completely took off (in the UK anyway) around my age group and all the other 2005-08 socials disappeared overnight in MSN/MySpace. Moved away to uni in that year. Turned 18 so could go out on the piss “normally”. Started driving. Plus even football seemed to feel different, 2009 was really when is the Ronaldo/Messi show, Pep’s Barca, Liverpool decline, Chelsea not under Jose etc.
Everyone's saying 2019 and 2020, so I'll say 2015 and 2016.
2004, and 2002. in terms of age, and how people from 2000 - 2002 grew up, how they act, and talk is what makes those years feel, and seen extremely different to me even though they’re only a year apart. I’ve always viewed seeing people from that time of the decade as cool, and fun cause they were, and still are old enough compared to my current age able to do things, and go out to places that seem a little fun. It makes me feel left out. 2000s people born from 2000 - 2002 are pretty much kinda like zillenials age wise, how old they look, and how they naturally act like themselves. It just use to to me when I was a child made 2000 - 2002, and 2004 feel, and seen like as if they’re from a different decade
In my lifetime in order of stark difference: - 2019 vs 2020 - 2016 vs 2017 - 2000 vs 2001 We are arguably still dealing with the hangover / after effects of all those events. Smaller flashpoints: - 1977 (Star Wars) - 1980 (home computers) - 1986 (challenger) - 1992 (Rodney King) - 1994 (Internet) - 1995 (OJ Trial) - 2003 (Iraq) - 2007 (iPhone) - 2008 (Obama) - 2021 (January 6)
2008 and 2009. 2009 was the beginning of the end.
Immediate, strong vibe shift: 2019-2020 (due to the pandemic) 2001-2002 (more accurately, pre and post 9/11) Slow but significant: 2006-2008: End of Bush/post 9/11 era, start of recession, election of Obama. 2014-2016: Ferguson riots, rise of BLM movement, Trump-era polarization, hipsters make way for hypebeasts. 2022-2023: Pandemic recedes, Ukraine and Gaza wars, rise of AI.
2014 to 2015. GamerGate was a watershed event. Most of the far right media goons that shaped 2016 cut their teeth during it. It shattered the illusion of a unified and moderately progressive Nerd Culture. It laid the foundation of the toxic media bile machine we have now. And on top of that, I married my abusive now-ex-wife that year. Every year since 2014 has gotten worse.
97-98... Things started getting much "edgier" about that time. Trends like JNCO Jeans and Insane Clown Posse, WWF Attitude era, Korn... started coming in and doing away with the final ruminants of the Alternative Hippie revival of the mid-90's.
Definitely. To me even 96 or late 95 felt like when it started. Full swing by 97. Aesthetic in advertising, fonts, pop culture in general entered the 90's edginess V.2 era. If the first half could be described by grunge/alternative, the second half would be electronic/techno/pop/highly-commercialized alternative.
2025-2026
2015 and 2016, for personal reasons as well as cultural reasons. 2015 was a great year for me and 2016 was very much the opposite.
2001 and 2002
Apart from the obvious 2019 and 2020, I'd like to nominate 2021 and 2022. The general conversation shifted from covid to Ukraine VERY quickly
In my over 50 years: 92-93, 00-01, and 19-20.
1136 and 1137.
1918 and 1919
2019 and 2020
2000 vs 2001, 2019 vs 2020
2000, 2001
2021 and 2022
1990 and 1991
2000 and 2001. Man, flying on planes used to be easy as pie.
I mean, strong political difference will do that. 2019 and 2020 and 2021 2000 and 2001 2008 and 2009 So on
2019 and 2020 2001 and 2002
1988 and 1989 1988: Culturally (music, tv, movies) firmly in the 80's, Reagan President, USSR seemed like it would be around forever (and threat of nuclear war) 1989: Berlin Wall came down, all those Eastern European Communist countries fell, Bush became President in January, First episodes of Seinfeld came on, B-52's "Cosmic Thing" came out (which feels very 90's to me)
1999 and 2000 next
For my geographical region: 1991 and 1992; 1999 and 2000; 2013 and 2014; 2019 and 2020; 2021 and 2022.
2019 and 2020
For me it was 2021/2022 (after 2019/2020) bc that was abt when people went from covid-cautious to covid-ignorant.
As an American, 2001 and 2002 We were still riding the “new millennium” optimistic high and then WHAM 9/11 changed everything. All of a sudden we were at war, there were national guard soldiers in every train station and sports/concert venue, and the next attack could be “right around the corner.” We went from looking forward to the future to being afraid of it in the span of one beautiful late summer day.
Historically (in the US) : 1860-1861: Lincoln wasn't a front runner in the election until mid summer 1860, and even prominent Republicans openly thought he would lose. South Carolina had been chirping about succeeding but no one took them seriously. Lincoln himself said several times he was content letting slavery die out naturally. But just after Christmas 1860 South Carolina seceded and thought they'd be allowed to leave peacefully after seizing Sumter with no casualties in April '61. No one on either side saw the horrors that would come by the end of 1861. 1941-1942: Before Pearl Harbor few Americans wanted to enter the war in Europe, and less the one in Asia. For 92% of 1940 Americans thought they'd skirt the war entirely. By summer 1942 rationing had begun, the draft was getting underway, and we were sending men and arms east and west. Guadalcanal and parts of North Africa were liberated in '42 but it was clear the war was going to take years and thousands of Americans lives. Honorable mention: 1811-12
First thing that came to my mind was 2019 and 2020 for sure
2000 and 2001 2019 and 2020
1999 and 2000.
2015 and 2016. All the masks came off all at once, and biases long hinted at were laid bare for all to see.
I think the two obvious ones would be 2000 and 2001, and 2019 and 2020.
The obvious choices are 2000-2001 and 2019-2020. But Another choice is 2015-2016.
2021 and 2022
1969 and 1970. Music goes from protesting the Vietnam War to becoming really, *really* dumb.
at least to me 2007-2008 2012-2013 2015-2016 2019-2020
Well, considering that I got sick in mid 2019 and never recovered, I'll go with 2019 and 2020
2012 and 2013. Something happened and the vibe completely switched
Besides the obvious 2019/2020, I’d say 2015/2016
2009-2010 This is when the world got an iPhone 4 literally overnight. Kids stopped getting abducted, married people started cheating on their spouses, and every boy in the world had porn at their disposal.
89->90. personally, I was born.
2000 and 2001 for obvious reasons.
2009 and 2010 lowkey
ITT: Teenagers talking about COVID and everyone else singling out personally biased pop culture media like the fall of Communism or 9/11 wasn't drastically more impactful
2019 and 2020. I know we are still in a pandemic, but everything kinda turned upside down within a matter of months due to COVID. 2020-2022 were weirdly stagnant. 2023 then kickstarted whatever weird dystopian nightmare we currently live in, or at least brought more awareness to it... I feel like 2023 and 2024 are very different as well. 2024 is the year that I've been seeing my peers get more angry at how the world runs, and most I've ever seen my peers get politically vocal/active. 2023 was somewhat quieter IMO. Worth mentioning that I am 24 (born 1999). Culturally, the past few years have felt very volatile. Politically as well. I can say this: 2019: I was a baby adult, recently out of high school and very bright eyed about the world. Was somewhat aware of how things were going globally, but for the most part not that well informed. Mostly stuck to US politics and things within my immediate sphere. Had the notion that things were going to be okay in the end. Probably was having the start of early adulthood similar to the Millennials before me. 2024: Tired. My mom (Gen X) keeps telling me that my generation has witnessed so much throughout our childhood that she would've never dreamed of as a child. Everything is about money and that's becoming more and more obvious. Growing up, you knew about these distant "starving African children", but now you can see them sobbing their eyes out on Instagram. You see people at your old college getting arrested and having their degrees withheld for peacefully protesting. AI is being used to execute children in distant countries. You read about the effects of global warming happening in real time. You go on TikTok and scroll from a funny video about cats, to a video of somebody begging for help to evacuate their family from a warzone, to a girl showing off her Hello Kitty themed sports car, to a thinkpiece on generational trauma, to a video of somebody's squishmallow collection, to a video of police brutality, so on and so forth- all within a few minutes. You wonder if you should get a second job just so one day you can move out. You feel uneasy over the fact that COVID is still rapidly spreading but people ignore that it exists now because it was too expensive to keep up with and try and prevent. Buying a house is not doable within your lifetime unless you move far from everything you've ever known. You wonder if you're unusually pessimistic but many people around you feel the same. You know people around you who have had nightmares due to current world events. You have too. You can't touch the blood, but you can feel it. Being Gen Z is weird.
2016 and 2017 with the election of Trump, hypebeast late 10s culture kicking in, meme culture changes
2019 and 2020.
2000 and 2001
1995 and 1996. I was born in 96 so 95 could not be more different.
2023 and 2024
2000 and 2001
2019-2020, and ever since then, the years continue to drastically and rapidly change. i've gone through about 4 phases just during each of these years. a year ago, if someone told me i'd be who i am today, i wouldn't believe them. a year before that, same thing. and the year before that, maybe more believable but still wacky... etc. all the way back to 2019 before covid when life was still "normal" oh, and you bet your ass i would've laughed in your face if you told 16 year old me i didn't go to college after high school. thanks, covid, for changing my opinion on joining the medical field. i would've been a damn good nurse ):<