2000-2001 was pretty much the late 90s extended 2002-2003 was like a y2k era/early 00s culture hybrid. 2008-2009 was pretty much setting up the 2010s. seemed like the mid 00s flowed together pretty well no major shifts and if there were it was nothing major.

What do you mean by the cultural period being "most consistent"?

Mid 2004 through late 2006 had a consistent cultural vibe all the way through with virtually no changes.  2013-Present is similar in that respect, in my opinion.

Honestly, the mid-2000s were one of the most inconsistent decade sub-eras in modern history.  The 2005-2006 school year felt like a very different world from the 2004-2005 school year.

Technologically, iPods and MySpace were well-known by 2004, but they were even bigger towards the end of 2005.  Wikipedia emerged as a primary database for the coming generation in late 2005/early 2006, something it still was not at the beginning of the mid-2000s.  Broadband Internet was also much more prevalent by late 2005 than it was at the beginning of 2004.  YouTube also first became public around spring 2005, with Smosh posting their first web video by the end of the year.  The mid-2000s in general represent the main transition between the Web 1.0 era and the Web 2.0 era, so of course the two ends of the period are quite distinct from each other.

In music, the pop punk scene was still mostly controlled by bands such as blink-182, Good Charlotte, and Bowling for Soup in 2004, but had progressed to more emo-leaning groups like Fall Out Boy and the All-American Rejects by the autumn of 2005.  Pop and urban also changed a lot during this period, with 2004 being all about Usher, Beyoncé, and Lil' Jon but 2005 and early 2006 seeing the fast emergence of new artists like Rihanna, the Pussycat Dolls, and Chris Brown, not to mention snap music beginning to overtake the more holistic, Lil' Jon-pioneered crunk sound.  2005 was also defined by an abnormal number of musical comebacks, including 90s favorites like Mariah Carey, Weezer, and Green Day.  2004 was still the golden age of the Shady/Aftermath era of hip hop, but a string of disappointing releases in late 2004 and 2005, including those by Eminem and 50 Cent, quickly began shifting the pendulum more in Kanye West's favor.

2004-2006 were also huge times of change for television, with Cartoon Network's golden age and Nickelodeon's Klasky Csupo era both wrapping up in 2004, but the new generations of shows becoming completely established by the end of the mid-2000s.  Friends and Frasier finally concluded in 2004, while shows such as Hannah Montana, The Office, Naruto, Weeds, and Bones made their premieres later on.

In gaming, 2004 saw the debut of the Nintendo DS, but was mostly dominated by the peak of the sixth generation of gaming, the Game Boy Advance SP, and the height of PC gaming.  By late 2005, the DS was much more popular than GBA, the XBOX 360 was released, and Guitar Hero made its debut, eventually dethroning Dance Dance Revolution as king of music games, though from what I remember it may have taken a full year before everybody was talking about GH.  The influence of MMORPG's and other online games were also rapidly making their presence felt as the mid-2000s rolled along.

Even in international politics, the mid-2000s went from seeing Bush '43 elected to a second term in 2004, to dramatically losing popularity in late 2005 due to the horrendous government response to Hurricane Katrina, not to mention Iraq was now nothing but an unwanted burden, with no WOMD having been found and Saddam Hussein being sentenced to execution for the following year.  America still seemed to be in a pretty patriotic, post-9/11 mindset for most of 2004, but the backlash against Bush quickly grew overwhelming as the President entered the first year of his second term in office.

Even though I still consider the mid-2000s to be a distinct era of the 2000s, separate from the early 2000s and late 2000s, change was the primary factor that defined the period, reflecting in general the rapid strides society was making as the 21st century began to really unfold.

I don't see the mid 2000s being consistent. I like it, but I wouldn't judge it politically, technologically, entertainment-wise and social-wise. I was just a kid back then, so I was just really peaceful back then.

Mid 2004 through late 2006 had a consistent cultural vibe all the way through with virtually no changes.  2013-Present is similar in that respect, in my opinion.

Funny to think that the 2000s as a whole was never consistent.
2000-2001 = late 1990s part 2 (Only way I can describe it)
2002-2003 = early 2000s (2000s years that were trying to shake off them 1990s leftovers)
2004-2006 = core 2000s
2007 = late 2000s (it's the only late 2000s year that still felt 2000s to me)
2008-2009 = 2010s before 2010

To answer the question I didn't find 2004-2006 to be consistent. There were too many big changes coming in between 2004,2005, and 2006. Now these years all core 2000s, but they were different in things such as fashion, internet, gaming, music and other things.

I would lump 2003-2007 as one cultural period. Nothing is ever "consistent" though as changes generally don't happen overnight and gradual changes occur little by little every year.

I would lump 2003-2007 as one cultural period. Nothing is ever "consistent" though as changes generally don't happen overnight and gradual changes occur little by little every year.


I sorta disagree with 2003 being part of 2004-2007, that's just me. Again, I feel like 2002 & 2003 weren't that much different culturally (except for late 2003), while 2004-2007 was the whole core 2000's, although 2004 though most of 2006 was mid 2000's culture, and while late 2006 & 2007 was late 2000's culture it's still part of the core 2000's. Really you could say late 2001-mid 2006 was one whole era of its own, or late 2001-mid 2008 was the entire cultural 2000's.

Not really. There were a good amount of changes in 2004, 2005 and 2006 but they're still the same era. You know, rise of social media, HDTV, Facebook, Youtube etc. I don't think any era is actually year-to-year consistent but they just have enough in common to make them feel like one cohesive era. Also, strongly disagree with your 2002 and 2003 hybrid post. 2003 was the transition into 2004 where as 2002 was continuing the trends from 2000 and 2001.

I sorta disagree with 2003 being part of 2004-2007, that's just me. Again, I feel like 2002 & 2003 weren't that much different culturally (except for late 2003), while 2004-2007 was the whole core 2000's, although 2004 though most of 2006 was mid 2000's culture, and while late 2006 & 2007 was late 2000's culture it's still part of the core 2000's. Really you could say late 2001-mid 2006 was one whole era of its own, or late 2001-mid 2008 was the entire cultural 2000's.

ALL of THIS. Late 2001-mid 2006 was it's own big era. and late 2001-2008 was the entire cultural 2000s.

I sorta disagree with 2003 being part of 2004-2007, that's just me. Again, I feel like 2002 & 2003 weren't that much different culturally (except for late 2003), while 2004-2007 was the whole core 2000's, although 2004 though most of 2006 was mid 2000's culture, and while late 2006 & 2007 was late 2000's culture it's still part of the core 2000's. Really you could say late 2001-mid 2006 was one whole era of its own, or late 2001-mid 2008 was the entire cultural 2000's.

2003 was definitely core 2000s to me. In Da Club and Lose Yourself are classic 2000s songs. MySpace was invented in 2003 and the classic IPod was already popular. These are all core 2000s things. 2003 and 2007 do have differences but the differences aren't as big as 2009 and 2005 for example. Which is why I say it was one big era.

2003 was definitely core 2000s to me. In Da Club and Lose Yourself are classic 2000s songs. MySpace was invented in 2003 and the classic IPod was already popular. These are all core 2000s things. 2003 and 2007 do have differences but the differences aren't as big as 2009 and 2005 for example. Which is why I say it was one big era.

Musically and even politically it probably was. BUT tv wise, sports, and kid culture wise it was definitely still early 2000s.  Also even though 50 cent broke through that year, R&B still sounded early 2000s like and nu metal was on it's last legs before metacore took over.

2003 was definitely core 2000s to me. In Da Club and Lose Yourself are classic 2000s songs. MySpace was invented in 2003 and the classic IPod was already popular. These are all core 2000s things. 2003 and 2007 do have differences but the differences aren't as big as 2009 and 2005 for example. Which is why I say it was one big era.


I'm not a big expert on music pre-2007, since most of the time as a kid it was only mainstream music old or new that my parents exposed me to. The iPod didn't start getting big until 2004 according to most sources and people. Myspace was just getting started in August 2003 so most of 2003 it wasn't around yet. 2004 was also the first full year broadbands became more popular than dial-up. Same thing could be said about 2008 too. Spring & Summer 2008 could still be part of the core 2000's (like late 2000's culture extended from 2007) but it doesn't mean 2008 was a core 2000's year. 2003 was the transition year into the core 2000's kinda like how 2008 was the transition year out of the core 2000's. It doesn't make 2003 or 2008 core 2000's years since those were transition years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPod

Though the iPod was released in 2001, its price and Mac-only compatibility caused sales to be relatively slow until 2004. The iPod line came from Apple's "digital hub" category, when the company began creating software for the growing market of personal digital devices. Digital cameras, camcorders and organizers had well-established mainstream markets, but the company found existing digital music players "big and clunky or small and useless" with user interfaces that were "unbelievably awful," so Apple decided to develop its own.