I feel we are at peak '10s culture right now.  Trends from the early '10s are still with us for the most part though they are getting long in the tooth.  Meanwhile the culture established in the mid '10s has reached maturity.  Nothing hinting at the '20s has really shown up yet.  I think right now we are experiencing peak '10s culture.  Within the next few years we should see a probably rather sudden shift into the '20s.  That may not be a good thing, looking at how global affairs are shaping up.  I've warmed a lot to this decade myself and I think we really all will miss it ten years from now.

The '20s will be better than the '10s. And yeah I think we're probably in the peak, or have been for a while at least.

I feel we are at peak '10s culture right now.  Trends from the early '10s are still with us for the most part though they are getting long in the tooth.  Meanwhile the culture established in the mid '10s has reached maturity.  Nothing hinting at the '20s has really shown up yet.  I think right now we are experiencing peak '10s culture.  Within the next few years we should see a probably rather sudden shift into the '20s.  That may not be a good thing, looking at how global affairs are shaping up.  I've warmed a lot to this decade myself and I think we really all will miss it ten years from now.
How can you tell for the '10s are not over yet?

I don't think the 2010s zeitgeist is at its height without Obama in office, post-Fame Monster electropop being huge, YouTube declining in popularity, or certain shows like Gravity Falls being off the air. I think either 2015 or 2016 will go down as the strongest representation of the 2010s because they did already have Trump and the Alt-Right, but stuff from the first half of the decade wasn't really petering out yet.

I don't think the 2010s zeitgeist is at its height without Obama in office, post-Fame Monster electropop being huge, YouTube declining in popularity, or certain shows like Gravity Falls being off the air. I think either 2015 or 2016 will go down as the strongest representation of the 2010s because they did already have Trump and the Alt-Right, but stuff from the first half of the decade wasn't really petering out yet.


Youtube is declining in popularity? I'm not being facetious, but really am curious if it is, why it is, and why you say it's declining.

I don't think the 2010s zeitgeist is at its height without Obama in office, post-Fame Monster electropop being huge, YouTube declining in popularity, or certain shows like Gravity Falls being off the air. I think either 2015 or 2016 will go down as the strongest representation of the 2010s because they did already have Trump and the Alt-Right, but stuff from the first half of the decade wasn't really petering out yet.


I honestly believe that 2016 is the definitive year of this decade as a whole, with the election, Gen Z-oriented social media outlets hitting their peak usage (this was, however, Vine's last year before shutting down), and the peak of SJW vs. Alt-right wars (they're still everywhere, but especially after the Charlottesville incident, it definitely seems "past its prime").

I honestly believe that 2016 is the definitive year of this decade as a whole, with the election, Gen Z-oriented social media outlets hitting their peak usage (this was, however, Vine's last year before shutting down), and the peak of SJW vs. Alt-right wars (they're still everywhere, but especially after the Charlottesville incident, it definitely seems "past its prime").


2016 was also a pretty sorry year for music.  It definitely represents the mid '10s well.  You had a few great songs but it was mostly garbage.  You have a point that 2016 was peak and not 2017 though because Obama was still in and culture as a whole was still a little more liberal.  2017 has been a much better year for music..the best in a long time at that.  I am however quite frightened by the direction I see our politics going.  It really feels like the crap is going to hit the fan at some point between now and 2020.  What that looks like, I don't know.  Whether or not its nuclear war with North Korea, an economic collapse, a right-wing coup that initiates a Handmaid's Tale style theocracy, I don't know.  I have a bad feeling something bad is coming in the near future.

Youtube is declining in popularity? I'm not being facetious, but really am curious if it is, why it is, and why you say it's declining.


YouTube peaked roughly around 2012, the year Gangnam Style came out and also one year before Netflix launched its first batch of original series. According to Wikipedia, 4 billion hours of YouTube were watched daily in January 2012. However, in February 2017, only 1 billion hours were viewed daily, a drastic drop and far less than even 2010, when in May, over 2 billion hours were watched every day.

A good example of just how badly YouTube has past its glory days is the contrast between the number of views for ERBOH's Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney video and their Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton battle. The former currently has over 134 million views on YouTube and is the channel's most watched episode. The former, however, has merely 52 million views, less than half that figure, despite the fact that Trump in general is far more of a click magnet than Obama and Romney ever were. You could partially blame this decline on ERBOH's seasonal rot – the series officially ended a few months after the Trump vs Clinton episode, which had lots of dislikes anyway – but the drop in viewership is just so drastic that I think it perfectly illustrates how much less integral YouTube is to popular culture nowadays, regardless.

YouTube peaked roughly around 2012, the year Gangnam Style came out and also one year before Netflix launched its first batch of original series. According to Wikipedia, 4 billion hours of YouTube were watched daily in January 2012. However, in February 2017, only 1 billion hours were viewed daily, a drastic drop and far less than even 2010, when in May, over 2 billion hours were watched every day.

A good example of just how badly YouTube has past its glory days is the contrast between the number of views for ERBOH's Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney video and their Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton battle. The former currently has over 134 million views on YouTube and is the channel's most watched episode. The former, however, has merely 52 million views, less than half that figure, despite the fact that Trump in general is far more of a click magnet than Obama and Romney ever were. You could partially blame this decline on ERBOH's seasonal rot – the series officially ended a few months after the Trump vs Clinton episode, which had lots of dislikes anyway – but the drop in viewership is just so drastic that I think it perfectly illustrates how much less integral YouTube is to popular culture nowadays, regardless.


I am not so sure YouTube is in decline, its just different.  YouTube fads come and go like MTV and music fads do.  Epic Rap Battles of History is a late '00s/early '10s thing and I wouldn't expect it to still be popular (I never liked it to be honest).  I think one of the real problems with today's YouTube is that its so commercialized its hard for an amateur just wanting to make stupid funny videos to get noticed.  It's becoming more of a streaming service and less of a "Broadcast Yourself" platform.  It has been headed in that direction for a long time but I think when Anthony departed from Smosh, that was the moment that the old YouTube died.

I am not so sure YouTube is in decline, its just different.  YouTube fads come and go like MTV and music fads do.

In a sense, yes, but then again, isn't MTV itself nowhere near as culturally significant today as it was in the 80s and 90s? The fact that you have a raw statistic stating YouTube is ¼ as popular as it was in 2012 is concrete proof the website has drastically declined. The entertainment novelty of YouTube seems to have really worn off since Netflix and Amazon streaming series became a huge thing, and nowadays the site seems to have garnered a reputation as almost a media ghetto.

Epic Rap Battles of History is a late '00s/early '10s thing and I wouldn't expect it to still be popular (I never liked it to be honest).

No, it debuted in 2010. It's one of the quintessential YouTube shows of the 2010s, even though really it was most popular during the early 2010s. It was polished and HD from the very start, so there's absolutely no way I would associate it with 2000s culture.

I think one of the real problems with today's YouTube is that its so commercialized its hard for an amateur just wanting to make stupid funny videos to get noticed.  It's becoming more of a streaming service and less of a "Broadcast Yourself" platform.  It has been headed in that direction for a long time but I think when Anthony departed from Smosh, that was the moment that the old YouTube died.

I suppose in many ways, the career of Smosh is like totally contingent with the history of YouTube. Throughout the mid-to-late 2000s, Ian and Anthony were just a couple of dorks posting cute, silly videos for fun that managed to charm lots of people. In 2009, they made the jump to HD and began to feel more like a legitimate, budgeted series, garnering more popularity than ever before, yet throughout the early 2010s, they still retained the same goofy heart and sense of subtle satire that catapulted them to fame in the first place. However, as the 2010s progressed, they slowly grew more and more commercialized, first beginning with their explosion of unnecessary side-channels, then an unusual decline in quality around 2013, then the creation of Smosh: The Movie, and finally, in general, shifting the channel's focus from just Ian and Anthony to the entire ensemble they've since hired; they're okay, but nothing special. The heart of Smosh was pretty much a shell of what it once was by the start of this year, making it no surprise to me that Anthony finally decided to leave. Today, both YouTube and Smosh are still culturally relevant, but they're no longer at the forefront of things like they were in the early 2010s.

I'd say 2013 was the peak.

In a sense, yes, but then again, isn't MTV itself nowhere near as culturally significant today as it was in the 80s and 90s? The fact that you have a raw statistic stating YouTube is ¼ as popular as it was in 2012 is concrete proof the website has drastically declined. The entertainment novelty of YouTube seems to have really worn off since Netflix and Amazon streaming series became a huge thing, and nowadays the site seems to have garnered a reputation as almost a media ghetto.

No, it debuted in 2010. It's one of the quintessential YouTube shows of the 2010s, even though really it was most popular during the early 2010s. It was polished and HD from the very start, so there's absolutely no way I would associate it with 2000s culture.

I suppose in many ways, the career of Smosh is like totally contingent with the history of YouTube. Throughout the mid-to-late 2000s, Ian and Anthony were just a couple of dorks posting cute, silly videos for fun that managed to charm lots of people. In 2009, they made the jump to HD and began to feel more like a legitimate, budgeted series, garnering more popularity than ever before, yet throughout the early 2010s, they still retained the same goofy heart and sense of subtle satire that catapulted them to fame in the first place. However, as the 2010s progressed, they slowly grew more and more commercialized, first beginning with their explosion of unnecessary side-channels, then an unusual decline in quality around 2013, then the creation of Smosh: The Movie, and finally, in general, shifting the channel's focus from just Ian and Anthony to the entire ensemble they've since hired; they're okay, but nothing special. The heart of Smosh was pretty much a shell of what it once was by the start of this year, making it no surprise to me that Anthony finally decided to leave. Today, both YouTube and Smosh are still culturally relevant, but they're no longer at the forefront of things like they were in the early 2010s.


Yeah, I get your point about the decline in total hours watched and that this also means a decline in relevance. However, unlike Amazon and Netflix, it's still the main place for more or less regular people to post videos of their own making. When I want commentary on a show I like, I look at channels on youtube.

Youtube has lost viewing hours due to the rise of new outlets for HBO-type shows and the rising popularity of these series, not because any other site like it has grown to challenge it. Which is kind of a shame, considering the "adpocalypse" that's ongoing.

And considering the decline of The History Channel (is it even called that anymore?), youtube is now my main destination for documentaries. Channels like scholagladiatoria and Metatron are great for medieval weaponry, for example, and Amazon and Netflix aren't covering that topic.

So the decline in youtube seems more like people preferring more large-budget programming than they did in, say, 2011 and there being more of it available that suits their interest, rather than them losing a share of the audience that's focused on the smaller self-produced videos/channels. The awfulness in youtube comment sections is nothing new, and there's plenty of intelligent commenters too, so I'm not sure if that's such a big factor.

Youtube doesn't monetize your videos if they find your subject (s) controversial.  ::)  ::)  ::)

Without Obama, and with a synchronized cyclical upswing in the global economy, there's not much left about this year that feels very 2010s. The peak 2010s year to me is 2014 or 2015.

I don't think the 2010s zeitgeist is at its height without Obama in office, post-Fame Monster electropop being huge, YouTube declining in popularity, or certain shows like Gravity Falls being off the air. I think either 2015 or 2016 will go down as the strongest representation of the 2010s because they did already have Trump and the Alt-Right, but stuff from the first half of the decade wasn't really petering out yet.

2013, 2014, and 2015 can all be considered the quintessential years of the 2010s. I don't think 2016 is though. Even though it is still very 2010s, it was not as representative of this decade as the years before that were.

Without Obama, and with a synchronized cyclical upswing in the global economy, there's not much left about this year that feels very 2010s. The peak 2010s year to me is 2014 or 2015.

Yeah I agree. At the moment I would say 2014 if we had to pick one year. And I think 2004 was the quintessential year of the 2000s so it seems like the 5th year of the decade is usually the quintessential year.

Youtube is declining in popularity? I'm not being facetious, but really am curious if it is, why it is, and why you say it's declining.

Personally I don't think it is. No matter how much bit*hing conceited YouTubers do they know that YouTube is still the main platform for internet video and know other website comes even close to matching it.

Without Obama, and with a synchronized cyclical upswing in the global economy, there's not much left about this year that feels very 2010s. 


I agree. I would say that 2011 was the quintessential year of the 2010s.

I agree. I would say that 2011 was the quintessential year of the 2010s.

I am all on board the early decade train and agree with your points that it defined the culture the most (for both the '00s and the '10s), but I do believe 2013 - 2015 is more realistic as it is closer to the actual middle of the decade.

I am all on board the early decade train and agree with your points that it defined the culture the most (for both the '00s and the '10s), but I do believe 2013 - 2015 is more realistic as it is closer to the actual middle of the decade.


What about '16 ?

I am all on board the early decade train and agree with your points that it defined the culture the most (for both the '00s and the '10s), but I do believe 2013 - 2015 is more realistic as it is closer to the actual middle of the decade.


I'm also biased for the early 2010s in this regard. In 2011 we had Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, LMFAO and Justin Bieber all being household names and chart toppers. Everyone was dancing to electropop and dubstep. iPad sales weren't in decline, smartphones were still fresh and exciting, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad were on the air. For video games, Steam was exploding in popularity, and we got Minecraft StarCraft 2, Skyrim, 3DS and the PSN hacking. In politics, we had Obama, the Great Recession, Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party, Arab Spring, Euro Crisis etc.

In contrast, 2017 doesn't have Obama (except the first month), the economy is doing really well, a lot of the big 2010s superstars have overstayed their welcome, the hipster trend is waning, iPad and smartphone sales are in decline (a combination of market saturation, but also lack of improvements) etc.

2011 is more 2010s than 2017 is imo.

I'm also biased for the early 2010s in this regard. In 2011 we had Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, LMFAO and Justin Bieber all being household names and chart toppers. Everyone was dancing to electropop and dubstep. iPad sales weren't in decline, smartphones were still fresh and exciting, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad were on the air. For video games, Steam was exploding in popularity, and we got Minecraft StarCraft 2, Skyrim, 3DS and the PSN hacking. In politics, we had Obama, the Great Recession, Occupy Wall Street, Tea Party, Arab Spring, Euro Crisis etc.

2011 is way more 2010s than 2017 is imo.


The problem is we don't have any concrete idea of what the 2020s will be defined by, so the type of stuff at its height right now may seem completely and utterly outdated by the time 2021 rolls around.

2011 is more 2010s than 2017 is imo.

I agree. It feels like we are in the final chapters of this decade now.

I agree. I would say that 2011 was the quintessential year of the 2010s.


I disagree.  There was so much that would define the mid '10s that were either in their infancy or didn't exist in 2011.  2011 also still had too many ties with the '00s.  I would say 2014 might be a decent contender (though I still think 2017 is going to go down as the quintessential year).  2014 was the year that Guardians of the Galaxy came out and the year #Selfie were popular.

N. I don't think so. I'm going with 2016. That will be the year that most people will look back on, and say that was the most defining year of the entire decade even if it was horrible.

What about '16 ?

No I already said it wasn't.

No I already said it wasn't.


Well it's just that you said that 2013-2015 is realistic because it's close to the Middle of the decade, but so is 2016.

Well it's just that you said that 2013-2015 is realistic because it's close to the Middle of the decade, but so is 2016.

No 2016 is not the quintessential 2010s year. The early '10s define the decade the most, up to 2015, not 2016. Most likely 2014 but 2013 is also acceptable. 2016 isn't acceptable imo, that already goes through the second half. 2015 is the middle but still not too far ahead. It has nothing to do with being right in the middle. It has to do with being close to the early '10s but still in the middle, which 2016 isn't. Plus, I only said that because early '90s guy said 2011 is the quintessential year, while 2013 - 2015 is more realistic. Never did I mention 2016, so we can keep that out.

No 2016 is not the quintessential 2010s year. The early '10s define the decade the most, up to 2015, not 2016. Most likely 2014 but 2013 is also acceptable. 2016 isn't acceptable imo, that already goes through the second half. 2015 is the middle but still not too far ahead. It has nothing to do with being right in the middle. It has to do with being close to the early '10s but still in the middle, which 2016 isn't. Plus, I only said that because early '90s guy said 2011 is the quintessential year, while 2013 - 2015 is more realistic. Never did I mention 2016, so we can keep that out.


Why do you always think the Early years of a decade define it the most?

Why do you always think the Early years of a decade define it the most?

Because in the case of the '00s and '10s it is when culture popped out the most and it has a definitive culture. Maybe in other decades they don't apart from the '90s, '00s and '10s, but I have found this is usually the case.

I disagree.  There was so much that would define the mid '10s that were either in their infancy or didn't exist in 2011.  2011 also still had too many ties with the '00s.  I would say 2014 might be a decent contender (though I still think 2017 is going to go down as the quintessential year).  2014 was the year that Guardians of the Galaxy came out and the year #Selfie were popular.

I agree. I feel 2011 is too early to be a core 2010’s year. There were still some late 2000’s influences left.

I agree. I feel 2011 is too early to be a core 2010’s year. There were still some late 2000’s influences left.

I would say 2011 was definitely a core 2010s year. That's when smartphones took off, tablets took off, Game of Thrones started, some hipster culture was showing its signs. Even trap was around that year though it wasn't super popular in the mainstream yet. Not to mention electronic music and Lady Gaga were huge, which is all seen as 2010s things. So was dubstep and other electronic subgenres. 2011 is as core '10s as you can get lol. All 2000s leftovers were gone by this year as well, including the closure of Blockbuster and increase in popularity of Netflix. The core 2010s will be seen as 2011 - 2017 I think.

I would say 2011 was definitely a core 2010s year. That's when smartphones took off, tablets took off, Game of Thrones started, some hipster culture was showing its signs. Even trap was around that year though it wasn't super popular in the mainstream yet. Not to mention electron8c music and Lady Gaga were huge, whixh is all seen as 2010s things. 2011 is as core '10s as you can get lol. All 2000s leftovers were gone by this year as well, including the closure of Blockbuster and increase in popularity of Netflix. The core 2010s will be seen as 2011 - 2017 I think.


I've been in High School for all of 2011-2017 and I don't really feel that 2011 is a core 2010s year. With that being said it definlty is a 2010s year if you know what I mean :P. If you wanted to start it that early, then I would at least wait until 2012 to start the core 2010s. Personally I think that is 2013 is instead, and 2018 could be aswell for all we know.

I've been in High School for all of 2011-2017 and I don't really feel that 2011 is a core 2010s year. With that being said it definlty is a 2010s year if you know what I mean :P. If you wanted to start it that early, then I would at least wait until 2012 to start the core 2010s. Personally I think that is 2013 is instead, and 2018 could be aswell for all we know.

2014 is the start of the mid '10s (or late 2013), but core '10s, when the culture is most defined, starts at 2011. I would say earlier but there were some late 2000s leftovers and some 2010s culture still needing to come even though the decade's culture on the whole started in late 2008. So I would say the core '10s so far are 2011 - 2017, but later years may be added if not much changes.

I've been in High School for all of 2011-2017 and I don't really feel that 2011 is a core 2010s year. With that being said it definlty is a 2010s year if you know what I mean :P. If you wanted to start it that early, then I would at least wait until 2012 to start the core 2010s. Personally I think that is 2013 is instead, and 2018 could be aswell for all we know.


Slim95's definition of '10s culture is a little bit different than most people on this board.  To him, we were already fully in '10s culture by 2008 which I don't agree with.  Where I really disagree with him is he focuses on what is cutting edge and not what is embraced by the mainstream.  I personally don't feel the cutting edge defines the culture.  For example, in 2007 and 2008 the iPhone was out, but it was a novelty and it was mostly geeks who had them.  The mainstream had not yet embraced smartphones.  Slim95 mentions trap emerging in 2011 which is true, but I would say 2016-17 is peak trap so the genre is currently the most popular it ever has been or will be.  Therefore, 2016-17 represents the core trap years, not 2011 when the genre emerged.

To him, we were already fully in '10s culture by 2008 which I don't agree with.

Yeah I think 2010s culture started in late 2008 when the economy crashed and Obama got elected and electropop dance music started on the radio.


Slim95 mentions trap emerging in 2011 which is true, but I would say 2016-17 is peak trap so the genre is currently the most popular it ever has been or will be.  Therefore, 2016-17 represents the core trap years, not 2011 when the genre emerged.

Yes but anyone who was a true rap fan knew about trap in 2011. There is a lot more to music than just the mainstream.

Also in 2011, Game of Thrones was definitely popular in the first season.

Slim95's definition of '10s culture is a little bit different than most people on this board.  To him, we were already fully in '10s culture by 2008 which I don't agree with.  Where I really disagree with him is he focuses on what is cutting edge and not what is embraced by the mainstream.  I personally don't feel the cutting edge defines the culture.  For example, in 2007 and 2008 the iPhone was out, but it was a novelty and it was mostly geeks who had them.  The mainstream had not yet embraced smartphones.  Slim95 mentions trap emerging in 2011 which is true, but I would say 2016-17 is peak trap so the genre is currently the most popular it ever has been or will be.  Therefore, 2016-17 represents the core trap years, not 2011 when the genre emerged.


Yeah. I really don't understand why he thinks 2008 is the start of the 2010s. I know for sure that 2008 is the year where there was a few new trends etc getting bigger which would be popular in the 2010s, however i still definetly consider it a 2000s year. Like you said, when things first emerge they aren't already in their peak. Like smartphones first appearing in 2007/8 but didn't start getting popular until the early 2010s and didn't outsell other cellphones until April 2013.
Also I'm not 100% sure but I think I've seem him mention somewhere that he thinks 2008-2013 is very similar or the same, Imo those years are very different. However he then says the early 00's and the late 90's are very different and have Bascially no similarities ???.

Yeah. I really don't understand why he thinks 2008 is the start of the 2010s. I know for sure that 2008 is the year where there was a few new trends etc getting bigger which would be popular in the 2010s, however i still definetly consider it a 2000s year. Like you said, when things first emerge they aren't already in their peak. Like smartphones first appearing in 2007/8 but didn't start getting popular until the early 2010s and didn't outsell other cellphones until April 2013.
Also I'm not 100% sure but I think I've seem him mention somewhere that he thinks 2008-2013 is very similar or the same, Imo those years are very different. However he then says the early 00's and the late 90's are very different and have Bascially no similarities ???.

I already explained why a couple posts up. It wasn't a few trends. 2008 was completely a transformative year especially with the economy crashing and Obama getting elected. Also the early '00s is not an extension of the '90s. It is most definitely 100% '00s and that era defines the 2000s the most. It is VERY different from the '90s, especially 1998 and before. I hate when people say the early '00s were similar to the '90s. It was completely different culture.

Yeah I think 2010s culture started in late 2008 when the economy crashed and Obama got elected and electropop dance music started on the radio.
Yes but anyone who was a true rap fan knew about trap in 2011. There is a lot more to music than just the mainstream.

Also in 2011, Game of Thrones was definitely popular in the first season.


I do agree with the bolded part, but it's mainstream culture that defines the overall zeitgeist.  In 2011, hip-hop was still dominated by late '00s/early '10s synth-hop and not mid '10s style trap.  Also, if you think 2008 music was similar to today, I encourage you to listen to the songs I posted in the "Forgotten songs of 2008" thread.

Game of Thrones ratings are still climbing.  Yes, the show was popular in its first season but it wasn't as culturally impactful as it is today.  The most popular, well known shows in 2011 were shows like the Walking Dead and network sitcoms like Glee, The Office, Parks & Rec, and the Big Bang Theory.

I do agree with the bolded part, but it's mainstream culture that defines the overall zeitgeist.  In 2011, hip-hop was still dominated by late '00s/early '10s synth-hop and not mid '10s style trap.  Also, if you think 2008 music was similar to today, I encourage you to listen to the songs I posted in the "Forgotten songs of 2008" thread.

I don't know, I think trap elements had been creeping into the fabric of mainstream hip hop for years by then, even though you're certainly right that it wasn't yet the absolute face of rap like it is today.

Game of Thrones ratings are still climbing.  Yes, the show was popular in its first season but it wasn't as culturally impactful as it is today.  The most popular, well known shows in 2011 were shows like the Walking Dead and network sitcoms like Glee, The Office, Parks & Rec, and the Big Bang Theory.


I disagree with The Office still being super popular in 2011 because that was when Carell left the show. The rest you listed are more 2010s than 2000s, including Big Bang Theory, which is doing better than ever despite being a decade old.

Overall, I would say that television in 2010-2012 was overall mostly 2010s, since the big hits of the core 2000s were mostly over or past their peak, but that it was still pretty comfortably 2000s in 2008, albeit in a definite transitional stage due to shows like Veronica Mars and The Wire ending, The Sopranos being over, and there being a decent number of programs that would stay strong well into the 2010s, like Mad Men and Big Bang Theory albeit certainly still not enough to make the year more comparable to the mid-2010s than the mid-2000s. The rise of streamed shows on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. in 2013-2014 was a dramatic shift in television and quickly made the late 2000s feel outdated much more quickly, especially the non-HD stuff.

Without Obama, and with a synchronized cyclical upswing in the global economy, there's not much left about this year that feels very 2010s. The peak 2010s year to me is 2014 or 2015.

Huh? Half the world's economies were in the trash bin in the mid 2010s. So many of my friends lost their jobs.


N. I don't think so. I'm going with 2016. That will be the year that most people will look back on, and say that was the most defining year of the entire decade even if it was horrible.

I agree. It was probably the most talked about year in recent memory, and had the most dated trends. 2017 is like a mellower version of 2016. Crap is still happening, like the rapid decline of Toys r US and the box office doing poorly, but we've learned to accept it by now.

Huh? Half the world's economies were in the trash bin in the mid 2010s. So many of my friends lost their jobs.
I agree. It was probably the most talked about year in recent memory, and had the most dated trends. 2017 is like a mellower version of 2016. Crap is still happening, like the rapid decline of Toys r US and the box office doing poorly, but we've learned to accept it by now.

2016 is the most popular and talked about year, but I don't think it's the quintessential year. I think we are currently in a bridging period between the '10s and the '20s, but still far more on the '10s side at the moment. I think when people will look back at 2017 it will definitely still be a very much 2010s year to them because we still did not witness any drastic changes besides Trump becoming president. That being said, the 2010s are defined mostly by the first half of the decade.

2016 is the most popular and talked about year, but I don't think it's the quintessential year. I think we are currently in a bridging period between the '10s and the '20s, but still far more on the '10s side at the moment. I think when people will look back at 2017 it will definitely still be a very much 2010s year to them because we still did not witness any drastic changes besides Trump becoming president. That being said, the 2010s are defined mostly by the first half of the decade.


I think you are getting ahead of yourself.  We won't know until the 2020-2022 timeframe.

I think you are getting ahead of yourself.  We won't know until the 2020-2022 timeframe.

2017 is undeniably 100% 2010's

2017 is undeniably 100% 2010's


I wouldn’t go that far. It’s still too early to tell, but it seems that 2015 would most likely be the definitive year of this decade.

I wouldn’t go that far. It’s still too early to tell, but it seems that 2015 would most likely be the definitive year of this decade.


I've seen you write 2016 as the definite 2010s year on several other threads.

I've seen you write 2016 as the definite 2010s year on several other threads.


Honestly I go back on forth ;D. But I could realistically see 2015 or 2016 being the defining years of the decade since they both seemed to be the peak of Mid 2010’s culture, the last years to have ties to the culture of the early 10’s, were Obama’s last (and arguably most defining) years in office, the peak of the 2010’s culture war, and also had insight on what the Late 2010’s would’ve become with the rise of Trump in both years.

Honestly I go back on forth ;D. But I could realistically see 2015 or 2016 being the defining years of the decade since they both seemed to be the peak of Mid 2010’s culture, the last years to have ties to the culture of the early 10’s, were Obama’s last (and arguably most defining) years in office, the peak of the 2010’s culture war, and also had insight on what the Late 2010’s would’ve become with the rise of Trump in both years.


I always use to think that 2016 was the definitive year but I've kinda change pd my opinion, now I would have to say that is 2015. Even 2014 could be considered.

I always use to think that 2016 was the definitive year but I've kinda change pd my opinion, now I would have to say that is 2015. Even 2014 could be considered.

I would say 2015 is the perfect definitive year of the 2010's.

2014 and 2015 are both considered the middle of the decade because '10 - '13 are 4 years and '16 to '19 are four years as well.

2014 and 2015 are both considered the middle of the decade because '10 - '13 are 4 years and '16 to '19 are four years as well.


......yes that's fairly obvious. Although with that being said a lot of people think the year ending in 5 is the middle which makes no sense :-\\