My family was quite prolific in the 1990s with shooting home videos. We have 12 tapes which span from June 1990 through 2000 and each tape is approximately 2 hours in length. My parents' very first home video spans from around June 10th through June 19th 1990 and is 40 minutes in length. The next, which spans from 11/24/1990 through the end of March 1991 is two hours, and so on. Even prior to that, there exists around 35 minutes of footage my grandparents shot on their silent 8mm camera between 1962 and 1968 (with some missing reels that would've added up to around an hour).

Today though, it seems home movies - making them or viewing them - is very, very uncool, and not something people do anymore. Sure, you'll have a person share a 30 second IPhone video of their kid on FB - But from what I've observed with my Gen X sister, they don't save that footage on any long lasting medium outside of Facebook; and their old tapes from the 1990s sit in drawers, not viewed or converted to more modern storage mediums.

So am I alone in feeling making home videos has been utterly unpopular?

If so, why?

And also, why were home videos such a big thing from the 1960s-1990s? Was it simply because the technology was so novel? Or were the GI Generation and Baby Boomers more sentimental than Gen X and my generation?

It's been replaced by Facebook Live and YouTube videoing.

It's been replaced by Facebook Live and YouTube videoing.

It's been replaced by vlogging.

Yeah, I've definitely noticed this. People don't really make a lot of home videos like they used to anymore. I remember when I was at the mall with my friends to go see the movie "Love Simon". We were in a line waiting to get Chick Fil A before we watched it. While I was waiting in the line, I saw this woman recorded her baby on Snapchat with a filter. Times have definitely changed.

I thought the problem was that people are always taking home videos now.

I thought the problem was that people are always taking home videos now.

Exactly lol. The only thing that has changed are the devices used to record.

None of it has any meaning though. It's not meant for nostalgia, it's only meant to share with others - in the moment- to say "Look at me, I was at X or Y concert/movie/event" - and then after that it's not saved, it has no meaning - no real sentimentality behind it.

None of it has any meaning though. It's not meant for nostalgia, it's only meant to share with others - in the moment- to say "Look at me, I was at X or Y concert/movie/event" - and then after that it's not saved, it has no meaning - no real sentimentality behind it.

Yeah, that's true for most.

None of it has any meaning though. It's not meant for nostalgia, it's only meant to share with others - in the moment- to say "Look at me, I was at X or Y concert/movie/event" - and then after that it's not saved, it has no meaning - no real sentimentality behind it.


Eh...you have a point to an extent but I still think you're assuming quite a bit. Whether it has meaning or real sentimentality is kind of up to them at the end of the day.

Plus...if it's shared on social media or uploaded to the cloud...that material will last as long as the net.

It depends on what kind of "movies" we're talking about.  :o :o :o

It hasn’t been popular since before the rise of YouTube, Twitter, etc.

I would say 2005-2008 is when your typical 8MM “family movie” craze died out.

Home movies would be too emotional for me. I rather blurred memories.

Video snippets from Snapchat and Instagram are the new home movies.

Not for me. I still occasionally record home movies so I can look back at them in the future. I often wonder if I watch it 20 years in the future, will it still have that nostalgic effect with low quality video like looking at a video 20 years ago today. Maybe if holographic videos replace standard video. I use my smartphone to record the videos though.

Exactly lol. The only thing that has changed are the devices used to record.


people made home movies from back in the 1970's and 80's.

If posting family videos on youtube counts then it is still popular.

If posting family videos on youtube counts then it is still popular.


I think people these days use a smartphone to record home movies.