What defines the 2010s?

Every decade has its defining qualities culturally, the 70s/late 60s for disco and hippies, the 80s for Reagonomics and Spielberg era of movies, the 90s for grunge and pop culture and I guess you could say the 2000s for political turmoil above all else.

Considering this decade is almost over I guess we can make an accurate assessment of its defining qualities thus far. I'll start,

- Death of Osama

- Television is getting pretty amazing (Game of Thrones, House of Cards, the OA, Stranger Things and so many Netflix originals).

- Music IMO sucks now, everything seems either industrialized or underground

- Gaming Headsets and VR

- First black president and also the Trump Presidency (unfortunately..)

- Rise of smartphones

- Social Media is rampant

So far Id argue this decade is the Golden Age for TV. Other than that Im finding trouble finding redeeming qualities about this decade.

Bunch of whiny brats.

Minecraft.

The cult of outrage where everyone is offended by everything. And fidget spinners.

The age of the smartphone and social media.

The decade is far from over though, still 25 percent to go.

What they said. Its incredible how sensitive and delicate the world has become.

Conformation of the Higgs boson existing

I'm gonna have to second all of this. I wish I could ignore it and focus on the good things of this modern age, and I usually can, but the most iconic and cultural thing I can think of that encapsulates the 2010s is just the incessant amount of whining be it on the internet or out in public. I'm sorta old school (even though I'm only 25) in that I don't have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. where I can see it all and take part in all of the whining that goes on about anything, so I've cut out a good amount because of that. But every time I come to these forums or go on the Steam community forums there is just so much whining and anger towards people over simple things like asking questions such as "why is this indie game worth $25" for example. Maybe the user really is just curious but you have such a rabid fanbase for that game and in come the assholes to bash the TC.

I also still laugh and shake my head whenever I see a news report online or on TV that focuses on somebody's tweet (and no, I don't just mean Trumps' tweets although they are pretty dumb). I never thought going to high school back in the late 2000s that Twitter was ever such a big deal and whenever I see how crazy people get bent out of shape over a TWEET (as reported by whatever news channel) I am in shock and awe at how such a simple little quote from someone could ignite such anger. But that's the power of social media.

And yes, I know I'm whining myself on a forum at a gaming website, but seriously, I cannot think of much more to describe this decade in a nutshell. Maybe if that Pokemon Go fad lasted a few more years or if VR really really took off and got everyone buying those strap-on visors to take part in some unique experience, then it would be a cool win for gaming to define the 2010s...

What if I'm offended by fidget spinners?

-Byshop

I'm going to have to disagree. Wasn't that long ago showing a white person kiss a black person on TV was considered too offensive to show.

People have always been offended by stupid stuff. Stop pretending it's something new.

Isis. Unfortunately.

Then this is NOT a good time for you to be alive, my friend.

I'd say it's the era where we've changed our learning habits; knowledge is disposable, bite-sized. We learn things, read things, understand things....and then toss them out to replace them with the next new, popular, or relevant thing.

I won't say this is "good" or "bad", it's just the way things are going. Maybe we've reached the point where our rate of discovery is advancing so fast we need to be flexible with how we digest and divest our knowledge; maybe we have developed really short attention spans to compensate; maybe humanity is slowly developing ADD en masse; I don't know...but it just seems like this is the one stand-out thing of the 2010's that I have noticed.

I long for the day of brain implants, computer chips or something, where we can more or less have photographic memories of all the things we learn. There is so much information at our fingertips now, it's incredible, and quite literally overwhelming a lot of the time. It's awesome that I can google how to build a really intricate wooden table, watch youtube videos of it, and maybe even do a good job at it after a couple tries...but it'd be even better if I could remember how to do it.

I don't want to go with what everyone is going to say, so I'm going to say PC gaming.

Really, it is. PC gaming really started to thrive this decade.

PC gaming's golden age was the late 90's. They only new genre we've got since then is MOBAs.

Social justice and its legion of fools.

1. Fidget Spinners

2. Snapchat

3. Selfie

4. Xbox One

5. PS4

6. Terrorism in Marawi City

7. some 2010s music are pure crap

8. Battlefield 1

9. Kingdom Hearts 3 to be released in 2018

10. Musical.ly

11. Vine

12. PewDiePie

Exactly! Whenever cultural or social norms start to change there will always be a small minority that is against it and vocal about it. The only difference today is that now those people have an outlet to complain about change on that reaches a wider audience. But the people for change have the same outlet and thus the two opposing sides clash.

15 years ago we didn't have this ability, the only place we saw it was on Television and Radio.

• CRISPR
• Automation really kicking in. Nearby stores have automated the clerks.
• 3D printing looking more and more like its the future of manufacturing.
• Augmented Reality.
• Solar power catching up, if not surpassing coal in several parts of the world, in terms of cost efficiency.

All in all, if there is one thing I can remember 2010s for it is that the signs of the next era is drawing upon us. Whether it will be marked by genetics, AI or 3D printing remain yet to be seen.

Offensive decade. Anything you say it offends people these days.

SJW's and new age feminists

they all can DIAF now please

@br0kenrabbit:

Very true, PC's "Golden Age" was 1997 - 2000 inclusive, 4 amazing years.

Yeah, too much whining this decade from the younger crowd especially.

@luckylucious:"the 90s for grunge and pop culture"

Is this a joke? Everybody knows hip-hop and r&b was way more popular than grunge/pop in the 90's.

Anyway, the 2010's is define by the PC era.

Haha....my kid has one of those.

One of my students had one. Not the smartest of kids but clearly clued up on his fads.

@PSP107: I forgot, the 90s was the golden age of hip hop as well,

- It Was Written, illmatic, ready to die, reasonable doubt etc.

Look at us all posting in this thread together like it's 2006 again.

Yet everyone thinks about nirvana when they think about the nineties.

Not to mention electronic music.

-powerful GPUs

-Thriving PC community

-Porn

Fidget spinners have been around for a few months and they are already losing steam. We're talking about a decade here.

@commander:"Yet everyone thinks about nirvana when they think about the nineties.Not to mention electronic music."

They only appealed to a certain crowd though.

Who never heard of biggie and pac during the 90's?

I know this isn't exactly new, but how about the decade of software and big data. We're doing more with software than ever thought possible, and it's being influenced by big data. We're also using the same amount of data collection faster than ever before.

Also 3D printers have suddenly become super cool and useful as well in ways that are revolutionizing manufacturing.

shouldn't we be talking about this in the mid 20s at the earliest?

@PSP107: Not really, Biggie Smalls and Nas are my favorite rappers

Illmatic, it was written, reasonable doubt all have their hits.

Illmatic (Memory lane, NY state of mind)

It was written had the message, shootsoits, affirmative action and my personal favorite if I ruled the world. Oh and also street dreams.

For reasonable doubt Id have to say dead presidents or feelin it and I didnt even mention Big L or Big Pun. Probably 100% is my favorite Big Pun song along with Aint a player no more.

I listen to 90s rap everyday, it doesnt mean I cant also rock out to In Utero gee

That doesn't matter, the nineties are pretty much defined by nirvana , the whole grunge movement and the dance movement. It was the whole alternative/rock vs house music era.

Hip hop was certainly a thing (and still is, I quite like hip hop) but saying that the nineties were about hip hop and r&b is like saying that heavy metal and (hard) rock defined the eighties. Hip hop was already a thing in the eighties as well, and so was r&b . They became a part of pop culture in the nineties.

Grunge became a part of pop culture in the nineties as well, but it was new thing. Electronic music wasn't exactly new but it skyrocketed in the nineties in terms of complexity and by that also in popularity.

@foxhound_fox: You had to reopen those old wounds :(

@commander:"That doesn't matter, the nineties are pretty much defined by nirvana , the whole grunge movement and the dance movement. It was the whole alternative/rock vs house music era."

A suburban kid who likes Nirvana probably also heard of biggie and pac. I don't think alot of 90's kids in inner cities who like biggie and pac heard of Nirvana.

I personally never heard of them untill guitar hero.

"but saying that the nineties were about hip hop and r&b is like saying that heavy metal and (hard) rock defined the eighties. Hip hop was already a thing in the eighties as well, and so was r&b ."

Some dude name Michael Jackson dominated the 80's so let's get that out the way. But not saying you're wrong, I'm sure 90's hip hop & r&b was more popular. And we're talking the whole decade so with that said, grunge lasted probably 2-3 years.

"They became a part of pop culture in the nineties."

I see what you saying, but hip hop was its own culture. I wouldn't necessarily put it in the pop culture category.

Seems like polotics with the Obama and Trump presidencies always in the news.

Nice to see someone has a similar view on this decade as I have.

Some kid crying in a college campus aint gonna go down in the history books. But doctors successfully printing entire living organs will. Same will go for Tesla's automated vehicles.

Back when OT was entertaining. :(

Yeah I thought about saying the organs thing, but left it out because it hasn't happened yet. I think it's fair to say that automated cars are most definitely going to happen, and personally I can't wait.

According to this scientific study:

The three ages of modern pop: Scientists pinpoint musical 'revolutions' over past 50 years - and hip hop reigns supreme

Hip hop dominated the '90s, while rock dominated the '80s.

In the '80s, hip hop was still underground. It was the '90s when hip hop exploded into the mainstream. The '90s hip hop revolution was the biggest revolution in the history of modern popular music, bigger than even the '60s rock revolution.

As for rock, the '80s was the peak of its mainstream popularity, before its mainstream popularity began declining in the '90s. In the '90s, rock started becoming more underground.

@Jag85:

There's no way that 90's hip-hop revolution was bigger than the 60's rock revolution, no chance at that. Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix Experience, and The Velvet Underground changed the course of music. If you think those 60's bands sound quaint today, that is because their revolution in music is incorporated as the norm today. Sort of like the revolutionary changes in 1998's Half-Life are taken for granted in today's games.

And Nirvana, Pearl Jam, STP, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Oasis, et all were more defining of the 90's was than rap. Hell, even Alanis Morrisette was!

there was once a scientific study that dark chocolate could make you lose weight, it was to prove that scientific studies aren't always telling the truth.

Even if it was true, the amount of songs produced and sold doesn't define an era. The statement rock dominated the eighties is the proof of that. There will be a lot of people that will say queen when you talk about the eighties but the likes of michael jackson, madonna and prince say otherwise. Not to mention queen was as much rock as it was pop and let's not forget about all those iconic eighties pop songs.

Hip hop wasn't underground in the eighties I suppose you never heard of de la soul, public enemy and salt n pepa. Rock was certainly not underground in the nineties, not with the like of guns'n roses, the scabs, red hot chili peppers, sound garden and so many many more.

Hip hop was a major part of the nineties and so was r&b, but it didn't define the nineties, grunge and dance did, and like somone else said here, a whole bunch of pop.

@commander: @AFBrat77:

Those are just popular opinions, not backed by any kind of statistical data. The statistical data analysis of the Billboard charts show otherwise:

The three ages of modern pop: Scientists pinpoint musical 'revolutions' over past 50 years - and hip hop reigns supreme

What the data shows:

• The '90s hip hop revolution had a bigger impact on the Billboard charts than the '60s rock revolution did.
• Rock dominated the Billboard charts in the '80s more than it did in the '60s, when the most popular genre was blues/jazz.
• In the '80s, rock was the most popular genre (Prince mostly falls under rock), followed by disco/dance music (which Michael Jackson and Madonna mostly fall under).
• In the '90s, hip hop was the most popular genre, followed by disco/dance music (which includes '90s dance-pop).

It's worth noting that the Billboard data is only for American popular music. This doesn't necessarily reflect what was most popular outside of America.

@Jag85: Scientific study on pop culture? LOL that is opinion dude. Yes hip hop became mainstream in the 90's but I would not say it was bigger than the beginning of rock. Rock changed the course of music......hip hop only added to it.

It's a statistical data analysis of the Billboard charts, not just mere opinion. In fact, it goes against the opinion of the very academics who carried out the research, who initially held the opinion that the '60s rock revolution was bigger, until the data analysis showed otherwise.

It doesn't necessarily mean hip hop was more influential in the long term, but that it had a bigger impact on the Billboard charts. You could still argue that rock was more influential in the "butterfly effect" sense, where it paved the way for the later musical revolutions that followed.