Judging by the title, you might say “But 2008 and 2009 are still in the 2000s,” the reason I put both of them is because late 2008 and 2009 had a lot in common with 2010-12.

I know not everything about this era was bright, we had the Great Recession and 2012 Colorado shooting, but let’s just take this era from an optimist’s point of view.

When thinking about 2008-2012 in terms of pop culture, electropop springs to mind. Some of you may find it ‘cheesy’ or ‘overrated,’ but in my opinion, I loved electropop, you’d have that party feeling in you, as music back then was party electronic themed, it was so fun! Listening to Lady Gaga, Kesha, Rihanna, and Katy Perry made you feel motivated and energized with the aggressive synths in their songs!  :D And if you feel sad or depressed about the Great recession, electropop was an escape for some people, just like what disco was in the 70s, synth-pop/new wave in the 80s, and teen pop in the Y2K era. Influences of electropop also spilled into EDM with the aggressive synths and party themes, with LMFAO, Calvin Harris, Zedd, etc. Not only it was electropop or EDM, besides just that, hip hop and R&B sounded far different from today (obviously), because today, we have Trap beats, but before, it was rhythmic. You’d listen to Nothin’ on you, Empire State of Mind, Stereo Hearts, etc., Jay Z, Travie McCoy, Nicki Minaj, Wiz Khalifa, and Kanye West were popular in the hip hop/R&B world. Speaking of R&B, Adele was very popular in the soul pop world, as well as Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, etc., being in the soul game.

In terms of TV and Movies, Glee was at its prime, Big Bang Theory gets its first wave of popularity, and there was Breaking Bad. The office was still at its prime as well. In Doctor Who, David Tenant (10th doctor) was still around, and then Matt Smith (11th), came over, and Donna Noble was still the doctor’s companion, until Amy Pond and Rory came in. In movies, Avengers, Hugo, Iron Man, The Dark Knight, and Sherlock Holmes were successful, and on the animated side, Kung Fu Panda, Despicable Me, Toy Story 3, Wall-E, Up, and Rio were popular. Cartoon shows like Spongebob, Phineas and Ferb, Adventure Time, and Clone Wars were popular. YouTube back then was completely different, YouTubers like nigahiga, Ray William Johnson, Smosh, Shane Dawson, Fred, etc., were on the spotlight, with Pewdiepie just coming in around 2012.

Fashion was very different, 80s-inspired neon clothing ranging from tops to bottoms were very popular, with the classic 2000s somewhat being carried over. In terms of website designs and user interface in technology, any forms of realism and 3D, and skeuomorphism were still popular, with shaders being on toolbars and real or 3D images popping out, and the backgrounds were textures of materials like leather.

Technology had a leap here. We all know Windows Vista flopped for numerous reasons, but Windows 7 came to fix that, and it was a HUGE success, ushering in a new era for PC’s, but sadly, console gaming like Xbox 360 and PS3 systems overtook PC Gaming’s popularity. The iPhone first became popular in sales with the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010, and the success of the first generation iPad was relevant too. Apple was still innovative when Steve Jobs was around. Flip phones were still popular until around 2012/13, and modern storage devices like USB and Micro SD slowly overtook DVD’s around 2012, with iCloud being released in 2011. The Xbox 360 and PS3 systems were successful, so the XBOX 360 introduced Kinect, which introduced fitness games without using handheld devices, but sadly died around 2014/15.

Video games wise, there were big trends like “Can it run Crysis?” With games like GTA 4, The COD series, Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Minecraft, and Skyrim being the main popular games of the video gaming world. In the smaller side, mobile games like Angry Birds, Temple Run, Fruit Ninja, and Jetpack Joyride were popular. Remember the time when online games in Facebook were popular? Yoville, Pet Society, Club Penguin, and other Zynga games were very popular at the time.

What do you guys think of the Late 2000s and Early 2010s? For me personally, it was fun, despite the Great recession.

I'm sorry but when I think of 2008's music, these songs come to mind first and foremost:
F3JDxupI6QE
^a Crunk song that was #1 on the year end list of Billboard for 2008 btw
7_weSk0BonM
tAp9BKosZXs
https://youtu.be/FJfFZqTlWrQ
https://youtu.be/J3UjJ4wKLkg
https://youtu.be/koVHN6eO4Xg
https://youtu.be/aAQZPBwz2CI
https://youtu.be/Ro7yHf_pU14
https://youtu.be/uxUATkpMQ8A

Lady Gaga might have appeared at the end of that year, but otherwise it was nowhere near the dominant style when she arrived, let alone the rest of the year.
Lumping 2008 with the Electropop era is already a stretch, but with the early 2010s is simply ridiculous.

2008 doesn't have the same trends as the early 2010s. It has more in common with the rest of the 2000s than the early 2010s.

quality post but the early 2010s are 2010-2013.

2008 doesn't have the same trends as the early 2010s. It has more in common with the rest of the 2000s than the early 2010s.


-Lady Gaga
-Facebook/Twitter
-Big Bang Theory
-Glee
-Katy Perry
-Rihanna
-Great Recession

quality post but the early 2010s are 2010-2013.


I know  ;D Its just that 2013 feels quite different from this era, and 2008/09 had a lot in common with 2010-2012 soo yeah  :P

I know  ;D Its just that 2013 feels quite different from this era, and 2008/09 had a lot in common with 2010-2012 soo yeah  :P


I can agree with 2009 but bruh, 2008 is literally 2000s.

-Lady Gaga
-Facebook/Twitter
-Big Bang Theory
-Glee
-Katy Perry
-Rihanna
-Great Recession


-MySpace (which was still bigger than Facebook until early 2009)
-Emo/scene
-Flip/slide phones (only 11% of US population had a smartphone in December 2008)
-No Instagram/Snapchat
-Twitter isn’t a 2010s thing
-TBBT started in 2007, very much a core 2000s year. The first season at least did not have any sort of 2010s vibe

2009 is the only year in the 2000s that is both a hybrid of late 2000s and early 2010s. 2008 is extremely late 2000s and most of the trends that were big in 2008 were no longer relevant in 2010.

2009 is the only year in the 2000s that is both a hybrid of late 2000s and early 2010s. 2008 is extremely late 2000s and most of the trends that were big in 2008 were no longer relevant in 2010.


Spot on!  ;) I know that I should’ve named the title “Why the Late 2000s and Early 2010s were fun 2008-2012,” but I felt like it’s too long for a title, but yeah, it’s just that late 2008 just had its first roots for the electropop era. Let’s call the Late 2000s/Early 2010s era the Electropop era

I can agree with 2009 but bruh, 2008 is literally 2000s.


I mean- the majority of 2008 still feels like Late 2006/07, but it's just that with late 2008, Gaga broke in the mainstream, and Rihanna became one of the most dominant artists. The switch from CRT monitors to flatscreen LCD displays was already happening in 2006, but lots of people still had them around 2007/08, and late 2008 was when LCD Displays became dominant in popularity. People did still have CRT monitors then, until around 2012, but it was literally like 10-20% of TV owners still having it. Obama was elected, the Great Recession was very burdening, and Facebook/Twitter are already very popular, MySpace was still more popular, but Facebook/Twitter were slowly catching up.

I mean- the majority of 2008 still feels like Late 2006/07, but it's just that with late 2008, Gaga broke in the mainstream, and Rihanna became one of the most dominant artists. The switch from CRT monitors to flatscreen LCD displays was already happening in 2006, but lots of people still had them around 2007/08, and late 2008 was when LCD Displays became dominant in popularity. People did still have CRT monitors then, until around 2012, but it was literally like 10-20% of TV owners still having it. Obama was elected, the Great Recession was very burdening, and Facebook/Twitter are already very popular, MySpace was still more popular, but Facebook/Twitter were slowly catching up.



how old were you in the early 10s?

Rihanna became one of the most dominant artists.
She already was one in 2007. Remember the Umbrella craze?

She already was one in 2007. Remember the Umbrella craze?



that was before your time little late 90s baby

She already was one in 2007. Remember the Umbrella craze?


Yeah, Rihanna broke onto the scene in 2005.

Late 2008/09 was notable for not only the rise of Gaga but also Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Miley Cyrus, and of course Taylor Swift breaking away from country.

that was before your time little late 90s baby

Glad to see you're back John Titor ;)

that was before your time little late 90s baby

Go listen back to your Ava Max, grandma ;D

^^ Lol

Judging by Inthe00s forum, back then we discussed more current pop hits, TV shows, music comebacks etc. Now it seems we talk mostly about the past which shows our current era is not that great in terms of music and TV shows. For example if it was like back then, someone would have posted about the Jonas brothers' comeback single. Yet most recent threads are about the past or if for the present mostly about politics, sports or gaming. Let's bring back that! Basically here we discussed music and albums eras in depth like in Pop Justice, only people here were smarter and had usually a much better taste (PJ people have a terrible taste in music usually and are toxic).

Judging by Inthe00s forum, back then we discussed more current pop hits, TV shows, music comebacks etc. Now it seems we talk mostly about the past which shows our current era is not that great in terms of music and TV shows. For example if it was like back then, someone would have posted about the Jonas brothers' comeback single. Yet most recent threads are about the past or if for the present mostly about politics, sports or gaming. Let's bring back that! Basically here we discussed music and albums eras in depth like in Pop Justice, only people here were smarter and had usually a much better taste (PJ people have a terrible taste in music usually and are toxic).
Maybe the fact that we're in the last few months of this decade might explain why so many are in a retrospective mood? I feel like maybe next year people might act the opposite and obsess over the slightest bit of new release.

I'm definitely down for more topics on current subjects that doesn't evolve "era-talk".

I agree that era was exciting especially with the music and events. It did seem like everyone wanted to go out and enjoy themselves and others despite looming financial crisis. However, I nod with everyone else about the late 00s and early 10s being two separate eras.


Judging by Inthe00s forum, back then we discussed more current pop hits, TV shows, music comebacks etc. Now it seems we talk mostly about the past which shows our current era is not that great in terms of music and TV shows. For example, if it was like back then, someone would have posted about the Jonas brothers' comeback single. Yet most recent threads are about the past or if for the present mostly about politics, sports or gaming. Let's bring back that! Basically here we discussed music and albums eras in depth like in Pop Justice, only people here were smarter and had usually a much better taste (PJ people have a terrible taste in music usually and are toxic).



Maybe the fact that we're in the last few months of this decade might explain why so many are in a retrospective mood? I feel like maybe next year people might act the opposite and obsess over the slightest bit of new release.

I'm definitely down for more topics on current subjects that don't evolve "era-talk".
There actually used to be A variety of topics discussed here besides the "era-talk" even a few years ago, but that has declined significantly due to less members posting here everyday or that people tend not to be interested in the subjects. If we were to have a range of conversations on every concept, then maybe this site would thrive again. Until then, it's slowly dying out each day.