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Obviously, before anyone inevitably points this out, the 2010's began on January 1st 2010, and will end on January 1st 2020, but I'd like to hear people's views as to when they believe that the decade began in a cultural sense. I think we're now deep enough into the decade to allow us enough historical hindsight to come to some accurate judgments.
Personally, I see the 2010's as a very long decade that began with the combination of a number of factors that coalesced. These being the explosion of social media, the introduction of smartphones, the global financial crisis, and Obama's victory in the US presidential election. This all occurred roughly in 2008.
Many of the key watershed moments leading up to these large cultural changes were recent at the time, such as the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, along with the introduction of major social media websites such as Myspace (2003), Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), and an honorary mention for YouTube, which although not strictly a social media website, it's 50/50 in that regard, its influence has been just as profound. On the other hand, many of the factors that led to the financial crisis stretched back decades.
Obviously, before anyone inevitably points this out, the 2010's began on January 1st 2010, and will end on January 1st 2020, but I'd like to hear people's views as to when they believe that the decade began in a cultural sense. I think we're now deep enough into the decade to allow us enough historical hindsight to come to some accurate judgments.
Personally, I see the 2010's as a very long decade that began with the combination of a number of factors that coalesced. These being the explosion of social media, the widespread adoption of smartphones, the global financial crisis, and Obama's victory in the US presidential election. This all occurred roughly in 2008.
Many of the key watershed moments leading up to these large cultural changes were recent at the time, such as the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, along with the introduction of major social media websites such as Myspace (2003), Facebook (2004), Twitter (2006), and an honorary mention for YouTube, which although not strictly a social media website, it's 50/50 in that regard, its influence has been just as profound. On the other hand, many of the factors that led to the financial crisis stretched back decades.
I would say 2009 at the earliest.
In 2008, Bush was still President, emo fashion was still popular, MySpace was still a thing, Iraq was still going on, and nobody had tablets. The iPhone was out but it was more of a novelty. Smartphones didn't become standard until 2010 when Android phones started appearing.
A lot of people forget how many things we take for granted today in terms of technology weren't around in 2008. The standard way to access the Internet back then was a laptop running Windows XP or maybe Vista. In terms of music, it was far more '00s than '10s in 2008. Lady Gaga's debut late that year started to change that.
The groundwork for the cultural change was laid in 2008, but it took a couple of years for the change to fully take hold.
In 2008, Bush was still President, emo fashion was still popular, MySpace was still a thing, Iraq was still going on, and nobody had tablets. The iPhone was out but it was more of a novelty. Smartphones didn't become standard until 2010 when Android phones started appearing.
A lot of people forget how many things we take for granted today in terms of technology weren't around in 2008. The standard way to access the Internet back then was a laptop running Windows XP or maybe Vista. In terms of music, it was far more '00s than '10s in 2008. Lady Gaga's debut late that year started to change that.
The groundwork for the cultural change was laid in 2008, but it took a couple of years for the change to fully take hold.
But Obama did win the election in 2008, and his victory was a moment of immediate cultural significance. The election itself showcased just how big social media had become, it was the first real election that was largely fought over social media, and commentators at the time were in agreement that the Obama campaign's recognition of the importance of social media was a huge factor in his victory. Social media shifted from a novelty into a commodity.
The iPhone was very popular, I knew a lot of people who had them, although I think you're probably right that the widespread adoption of smartphones came a bit later, largely down to Androids (first launched in 2008) and Blackberry (remember them?).
At least from my European perceptive, the financial crash and its immediate aftermath brought about a huge change to our way of life. Economic insecurity, higher unemployment, the acceptance of austerity, etc. These are all things that have really defined to decade for many of us so far, and they were things that we really began to feel in 2008.
History isn't just about great men and great battles, it's also about culture. Although I must point out that I have made no mention of fashion, celebrities, or what music was in the charts
Since this is 2016, that means we are still in the 2010s. Be definition, now is not History. If this doesn't become a History thread pretty quickly, it may very well be viewed as "off topic" for the History forum.
Since this is 2016, that means we are still in the 2010s. Be definition, now is not History. If this doesn't become a History thread pretty quickly, it may very well be viewed as "off topic" for the History forum.
Except it isn't about NOW. We're trying to pinpoint the developments that brought about where we are now, i.e. History.
Although if you have a suggestions over a more suitable place for this discussion, then please share them.
I think that's the most important point. We can agree that 2008 in particular was a defining year.
I would still say 2009. That was the year that Obama was inaugurated and there were significant shifts in music and fashion. Most of 2008, especially prior to the final quarter of the year, wasn't much different from 2007 from a cultural perspective. All the way into summer of 2008, we knew a recession was coming but there were still disagreements in terms of how bad it was going to be.
Except it isn't about NOW. We're trying to pinpoint the developments that brought about where we are now, i.e. History.
Although if you have a suggestions over a more suitable place for this discussion, then please share them.
This is the thing (just my opinion) - you have a thread on the Russo-Finnish War, a thread on the civil war and slavery, a thread on the Reconstruction, a thread on the Black Death, a thread on the Six Nations Native American history...And then - "Is 2010 like 1990 or is it like 2000?"
Yeah, so what doesn't fit?
Sure you can call it "history" - using a generic definition any topic can be history. 5 minutes ago is "history", but really it's not the type of objective study of events that you see when going back a few decades or, better yet, beyond the current lifetimes (although that's not required) where opinions aren't colored by current events, politics, and pop culture.
Even then, these threads are very popular since they seem to appear on the short list in CityData and people click on it from various other areas of the forum, talk about there first experience with facebook and cell phone, then sometimes (*shudder") the politics forum guys come in and it goes on with just nonsense topics for 20 pages.
Simply enough, and maybe this is unfair or appears as exclusive behavior, but these topics just irritate those that come in here regularly and want to discuss historical (i.e. 30 or 40 years and prior) topics. It's just the preference of the forum...it's a judgement call (not my judgement exclusively, but the moderators, based on the wishes of those who post here often probably, based on the comments I have seen).
Where to post as an alternative? Maybe "current events" (although then you get in the discussion of "what is current), maybe "great debates", maybe in this case one of the technology forums since it seems focused on that...or at least add it to the existing "is 2010 like 2000" thread.
Last edited by Dd714; 10-18-2016 at 04:03 PM..
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