There hasn't really been a major pop culture shift since 1997, and not a revolutionary one since 1991.  When will the next one be?

I'm going to guess 2009.  I've really lost all faith in a "real" 2000s decade.  It's 2006, and it's the same old shhh.  It's like, get real.  It's all here to stay.

That's what I've thought too. Very late 2000's or early 10's.

The 00's is shaping up to be the way the 70's was to the second half of the 60's (but even closer in relation. I mean, something from 1968 would've still been outdated in 1973). Don't ask me why, but 2008 or 2009 especially, seems significant.

Music is just one thing, but I've noticed, you can always gauge pop culture shift by a drastic change in popular music, because every other aspect tends to change with it (it influences slang, fashion, movies and such too).

Let's see:

1955 - Elvis, uprise of rock and roll in general
1964 - The Beatles and rest of the British Invasion start the real "60s"
1976 - Disco and arena rock
1982 - The 80's really begins with Thriller and explosion of MTV
1991 - Grunge and post-MC Hammer rap.
1997 - Beginning of boy bands and mainstream rap (exploded by 1999)

If we follow that, it's anywhere from 6 to 12 years. So 2009 will be 10 years since 1999 and 12 years since 1997.

That's what I've thought too. Very late 2000's or early 10's.

The 00's is shaping up to be the way the 70's was to the second half of the 60's (but even closer in relation. I mean, something from 1968 would've still been outdated in 1973). Don't ask me why, but 2008 or 2009 especially, seems significant.

Music is just one thing, but I've noticed, you can always gauge pop culture shift by a drastic change in popular music, because every other aspect tends to change with it (it influences slang, fashion, movies and such too).

Let's see:

1955 - Elvis, uprise of rock and roll in general
1964 - The Beatles and rest of the British Invasion start the real "60s"
1976 - Disco and arena rock
1982 - The 80's really begins with Thriller and explosion of MTV
1991 - Grunge and post-MC Hammer rap.
1997 - Beginning of boy bands and mainstream rap (exploded by 1999)

If we follow that, it's anywhere from 6 to 12 years. So 2009 will be 10 years since 1999 and 12 years since 1997.


Sounds right to me.  That's so sad, the '00s have done the impossible: copied the '90s more than the '70s copied the '60s!  I'm thinking 2010 actually might be on the money this time around, except we'll basically be skipping from a 90s/00s megadecade to the 2010s (which I think will probably be almost the same as the 2020s).

I think that even in the '70s, '60s hippie music was considered to be cheesy.  In the 2000s, the only aspects of the '90s considered cheesy are the dance music and some of the early '90s fashions.  Everything else '90s ranges from tolerable to trendy; in the '70s the '60s were probably started to be seen as passe. 

^ From what I've gathered, the "hippie" era was basically over by 1971. Maybe a couple remants here and there, but basically it had ended pretty fast. For most of the rest of the 70's, I think the "totally 60s" stuff, such as hippie music, was made fun of or thought as cheesy.

It was simply the mindset of the 60's which was still around as late as 1976 (i.e. smoking weed, crusing, and the laid back nature of it all).

Perfect example: The movie Dazed and Confused takes place in '76, but from what I know of the times, it could've been 1972 just the same. Whereas, it would feel totally out of place in 1978 or '79 since things were already starting to become "80s".

I do wonder if once we get to 2010 or so, it's just going to blast forward at an unbelievable pace, creating a totally new generation of pop culture - making it suddenly feel like 1999 was over 10 years ago. Or will it just slowly inch away a bit more than it is now?

I'm leaning towards the latter, for better or worse (I feel it's good and bad, in a way).

Oldest debate on the site ever...

All we can do is just sit and wait.  No point in trying to pinpoint it.

Anyway, I believe we've already changed in other ways. 
The 90s and 2000s are both different in huge ways(any teens on here who want to quote and add to this, feel free):

*In the 90s, only Texas dealt with George W. Bush; nowadays, we're all dealing with him.
*In the 90s, the most advanced game systems were the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation(with a hint of Dreamcast near the end); now we're getting the XBox 360, PS3 and Nintendo's codenamed "revolution".
*In the 90s, the WTC was bombed and noone made a huge deal about it except those who were there; now we're still talking about 9/11.
*The 90s started out as gay-vicious as the rest of the century, but eventually became more accepting; now we're either more or less friendly towards the community.
*In the 90s, boys had their hair in medium length and split down the middle to both sides of their forehead; now we're seeing more crewcuts and faux-hawks.
*The 90s had Calvin and Hobbes and Family Circus; today we have Get Fuzzy and Family Circus.
*The 90s were only merely rap-eccentric; now it's EVERYWHERE(and it's horrible too).
*In 1998, NSYNC's songs(and others) were really poppy, like the 1989 stuff; by 2000 and 2001, though, their sound changed very much.
*Comic books of the 90s were still fairly simplistic, and less expensive; today they've advanced very much and are far more expensive.

I'm guilty of saying it's still like 1997 or 1998, but that's only because I was 18 in 98, so it does still feel like yesterday to me in that aspect.  But if you know where to look, it's not. 

An interesting quote I'd like to throw in:
It was simply the mindset of the 60's which was still around as late as 1976 (i.e. smoking weed, crusing, and the laid back nature of it all).

I've seen people still doing that to this very day.  I guess, with that, you can say we never really left the 60s!  ;D

I'm thinking 2008, but that's really a pure guess. The last one was in 2001 or 02, even though it wasn't a huge one, there was a change there.

I think that it will be late in this decade.  Things will start to change in 2007, but it will really kick in during '08/'09

But just for sake of the argument I'll say this year: 2006.

I really think it started in 2005 but it won't start to really kick in till this year.
MartyMcfly talked about how music shows one that a pop culture revolution is upon us. I have two examples that this is already the case.

1. Crunk
            This is a form of music that has been around for awhile, and many would claim it is just plain old rap. However I beg to differ. For instance the song Yeah! By Usher featuring Lil' Jon and Ludacris, and of course much more recently the Ying Yang Twins with Wait, Badd, and Shake. This all sounds alot different from the 90s style of rap that reached the billboard charts. Considering that when Yeah! reaches number one on the charts, then that show you that crunk is here to stay.

2. Reggaeton
            I have one great example of music for everyone to listen to: Gasolina by Daddy Yankee.
This is a song which is truly different than any previous music by far IMHO. I ask you all to find it and listen to it, if you are unfamiliar with it. My friend calls it Latin Crunk. Now, I don't know if that's true or not, but it certainly has a lot of energy and power to it.

Besides these there is the infamous Emo, which has now evolved into Screamo. Considering Fall Out Boy is "Emo" and they are now mainstream than that is way different than the Alternative, Grunge, and Boy Bands of the 90s. Also Latin influence is increasing more and more year by year now. My predictions for this year are that a rapper named Pitbull will indeed make it big. He is a Latin Rapper. Of course Shakira has also shown us all that Latin is here to stay. Whereas in the 90s, many loathed the "Latin" music being made by such people as Ricky Martin, and of course the "Macarena"

Hairstyles definetly are different like Chrisrj said. I wear my hair in a fauxhawk and I plan to grow it out from here as well, to look like that guy on the MTV show There & Back. That show right there shows you that there are differences from late 90s/early 00s and the present day.

Also Politically we are in a sort of revolution, the starts of one anyway. Never have so many people been for a president while at the same time having an equal or greater number of people hating the guy. G.W. Bush truly has changed the political game. And we still have 2 more years of this guy! Who knows what'll happen!?

Also guys wear pink now, (yes I know they did in the past too) but you would'nt of been caught dead wearing pink in the 90s or even early 00s. Not with the strong Grunge, Punk, and Goth movements.

I think if everyone on this board was truly immersed in the culture ( keeping up with fashion, listening to new and popular music, etc.) then everyone on this board, wouldn't even be debating any of this. I think this is more a thing of Baby Boomers & Gen Xers versus Gen Y.