I chose 2012. I feel like everything that represents the early 2010s was present in it. Electropop, rage comics, Dubstep, Gangnam Style, Slenderman, Minecraft etc... were all popular. And, it was the last year where it was still normal for someone to not own a smartphone (in my area at least). It was also the last full year for 7th generation consoles before the PS4 and the Xbox One were released in late 2013.

Probably 2011. 2010 still had some late 2000's holdovers.

Probably 2011. 2010 still had some late 2000's holdovers.

I agree with this. 2010 still had late 2000's holdovers, whereas 2012 was the very first year with signs of mid/core 2010's influences, like Instagram being popular, especially at the very end of the year, putting 2011 in the very middle of the quintessential early 2010's year.

Season: 2010-11

Year: 2011

I agree with this. 2010 still had late 2000's holdovers, whereas 2012 was the very first year with signs of mid/core 2010's influences, like Instagram being popular, especially at the very end of the year, putting 2011 in the very middle of the quintessential early 2010's year.



Season: 2010-11

Year: 2011

Yeah, I'd say the 2011 was the only full year that was culturally the early 2010's. Both the 2010-2011 & 2011-2012 school years were fully early 2010's culturally.

I agree with 2011. It was right in the middle of the early '10s, and for me personally it was my only full year in middle school. I remember people using a lot of bizarre catchphrases from YouTube that year. In the US it was also a ways into Obama's first term as president, but the 2012 election campaign did not have much going on until towards the end of the year. The biggest American political story I remember was the debt ceiling debate in the summer. Worldwide the biggest news was the Arab Spring. iPads were very popular that year. There was a lot of attention on the royal wedding.

I would say 2012.

Yeah, I'd say the 2011 was the only full year that was culturally the early 2010's. Both the 2010-2011 & 2011-2012 school years were fully early 2010's culturally.


I'm okay with this. 2011-12 had the first core 10's influences IMO (especially Spring 2012), but 2010-11 was definitely the peak of early 2010's culture just as all of 2011 as a year was. I was a freshman in high school throughout the 2010-11, and that entire season was peak early 2010's. The music that came out throughout that season along with the shows that were on and the shows that premiered. The peak of Jersey Shore was 2010-11. The Walking Dead started that year. Electropop music and the hip hop revival era before trap took over was at its peak. I could go on and on.

I'm okay with this. 2011-12 had the first core 10's influences IMO (especially Spring 2012), but 2010-11 was definitely the peak of early 2010's culture just as all of 2011 as a year was. I was a freshman in high school throughout the 2010-11, and that entire season was peak early 2010's. The music that came out throughout that season along with the shows that were on and the shows that premiered. The peak of Jersey Shore was 2010-11. The Walking Dead started that year. Electropop music and the hip hop revival era before trap took over was at its peak. I could go on and on.
Yep that pretty much describes my 9th-grade year. 2000s culture was still in tact but with the popularity of smartphones, social media and online gamming shows that we were in the 2010s.

Definitely 2011.

2012

2011 hands down.

2012 doesn't qualify in my opinion because Lady Gaga wasn't as popular that year.  Lady Gaga defined the early '10s musically.  She was much more popular in 2010 and 2011 than she was in 2012.

Source: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=lady%20gaga

I won't be able to say this without Slim95 getting upset with me (because he strongly disagrees with this) but I think 2012 was the first year that saw mid '10s culture start to trickle in.  It was still predominantly early '10s, but I associate things like The Hunger Games, Macklemore, Ed Sheeran, 50 Shades of Grey, etc more with the mid '10s than the early '10s.  The shooting of Trayvon Martin happened in 2012 as well as Obama coming out for the first time in favor of same-sex marriage, both significant events for SJW culture which was really starting to kick into gear around that time.

https://mic.com/articles/20760/12-pop-culture-phenomenons-that-were-so-2012#.JXUzpTi3c

2012 was the beginning of a lot of mid 2010's influences despite the year still being early 2010's culturally, therefore, there's no way that can be the peak of early 2010's culture. 2012 was the start of core 2010's movies culturally with The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, 21 Jump Street, Ted, Avengers, and The Amazing Spider Man. Plus, when Trevon Martin got shot by Zimmerman that's when the seed was planted for the political tensions, police brutality, and other corruption around our country that's been going on consistently since the mid 2010's. Jersey Shore ended in 2012 which was a huge part of early 2010's culture and Breaking Bad's last season started that year. I believe 2009 and 2012 are opposite early 2010's years. 2009 was the baby early 2010's year with still a lot of late 00's influences left over while 2012 was the elderly early 2010's year with a lot of mid 2010's influences coming in. 2010 and 2011 were the peak of early 2010's culture but anyone would obviously pick 2011 as a whole.

2012 was the beginning of a lot of mid 2010's influences despite the year still being early 2010's culturally, therefore, there's no way that can be the peak of early 2010's culture. 2012 was the start of core 2010's movies culturally with The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, 21 Jump Street, Ted, Avengers, and The Amazing Spider Man. Plus, when Zimmerman got shot by Trevon Martin that's when the seed was planted for the political tensions, police brutality, and other corruption around our country that's been going on consistently since the mid 2010's. Jersey Shore ended in 2012 which was a huge part of early 2010's culture and Breaking Bad's last season started that year. I believe 2009 and 2012 are opposite early 2010's years. 2009 was the baby early 2010's year with still a lot of late 00's influences left over while 2012 was the elderly early 2010's year with a lot of mid 2010's influences coming in. 2010 and 2011 were the peak of early 2010's culture but anyone would obviously pick 2011 as a whole.


I agree 100%.

It was pretty much that way in my personal life as well.  The early '10s began when when I moved to North Carolina in late summer 2009 and ended when I moved back to Oklahoma in summer 2012.

http://www.sparkminute.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011YearEnd.jpg

http://www.sparkminute.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011YearEnd.jpg
Agree

I jumped on the 2011 bandwagon.

Twenty-Eleven ^.^

There’s no way on this beautiful planet of earth that 2013 was the quintessential early 2010’s year. That’s like saying 2009 was the quintessential late 2000’s year.

There’s no way on this beautiful planet of earth that 2013 was the quintessential early 2010’s year. That’s like saying 2009 was the quintessential late 2000’s year.

Yeah, same for 2010. The first year or the last year of an era are very rarely the peak of it.

Yeah, same for 2010. The first year or the last year of an era are very rarely the peak of it.


No, 2010 was very strong culturally when it came to the early 2010's. Just think of the music that was big on the billboards throughout the year, the games that came out, and the shows that were coming out. 2010 is definitely more early 2010's culturally than 2012 that's for sure. I've already explained how 2009 and 2012 are opposite years when it comes to the early 2010's culturally. 2011 as a FULL year was the peak, but the peak season was Fall 2010-Summer 2011. I was a freshman in high school at the time so this was from my perspective being 14 and 15 at the time.

No, 2010 was very strong culturally when it came to the early 2010's. Just think of the music that was big on the billboards throughout the year, the games that came out, and the shows that were coming out. 2010 is definitely more early 2010's culturally than 2012 that's for sure. I've already explained how 2009 and 2012 are opposite years when it comes to the early 2010's culturally. 2011 as a FULL year was the peak, but the peak season was Fall 2010-Summer 2011. I was a freshman in high school at the time so this was from my perspective being 14 and 15 at the time.

I think probably because even though 2010 was still more culturally early 2010's, there were still plenty of late 2000's holdovers.

Still surprised 2013 is more picked than 2010. There was hardly anything relevant from 2010-2011 as soon as in 2013, things were shifting very quickly and heavily in the 2012-2013 period.

If I had made this thread, I'm not sure I would have even included that year ;D.

Still surprised 2013 is more picked than 2010. There was hardly anything relevant from 2010-2011 as soon as in 2013, things were shifting very quickly and heavily in the 2012-2013 period.

If I had made this thread, I'm not sure I would have even included that year ;D.

Cars in 2013 were more or less more in line with 2010-2011 ones rather than the ones that started debuting circa 2015 with the edgier straight lines.

Also the dreaded flat GUI and website design trend was not as huge in 2013 yet. W8 was a fiasco so most people skipped it and flat design was mostly found on Windows Phones (Lumia), where it actually made sense somewhat. And still I missed my Android 3D icons. Now almost every website is flat with dull colors.