Does anyone else feel there's two parts of the early 2010's? Like the first half of the early 2010's and the second half?

I don't mean numerically, I mean culturally. I personally would consider late 2009 to be culturally early 2010's in everything but name alone. But I also consider late 2012 to be part of the cultural early 2010's as well. And yet late 2009 and late 2012 are very different from each other.

Like when I hear a song that came out in late 2009, I might think "This is so early 2010's" but when I listen to a song that came out in late 2012, I would think the exact same thing. To me, "Bad Romance" is an early 2010's sounding song, despite being popular in 2009. Yet to me, "#thatPOWER" by will.i.am is also what I'd consider an early 2010's sounding song.

In 2009/2010, a lot of people had blueberry phones, Instagram wasn't a thing yet, and Facebook was the norm. In 2012, smartphones were already quite popular as well as iPod touches, and Instagram was in its early stage. Both of these sound different technologically, yet I still consider them both to be cultural aspects of the early 2010's.

You see where I'm getting at?

Early 2010s pt. 1 - Fall 2009-Summer 2011
Early 2010s pt. 2 - Summer 2011-Spring 2013

I also think the mid 2010s are have two parts as well.

Somewhat. The first part was more Lady Gaga/Ke$ha while the second part was more David Guetta, but both are under the EDM umbrella.

I get you. But there weren't any major shifts in pop culture from the cultural early 2010s up until late 2013 (Lorde, iOS 7, EDM takeover).

Early 2010s pt. 1 - Fall 2009-Summer 2011
Early 2010s pt. 2 - Summer 2011-Spring 2013

I agree with this. 2013 felt like the last hurrah for early 2010's culture, but it wasn't completely mid-2010's yet.

Early 2010s pt. 1 - Fall 2009-Summer 2011
Early 2010s pt. 2 - Summer 2011-Spring 2013

I also think the mid 2010s are have two parts as well.


Agree!

Ive always felt like the early 2010s could be split:

Mid 2009 - Mid 2011: Electropop was peaking with artists like Lady Gaga & Kesha. Feature phones and Blackberries were the norm. Facebook was pretty much the only social media site everyone was using. 2000's artists like the Black Eyed Peas, Usher, Avril Lavigne etc were having their last big hits around this time.

Late 2011 - Early 2013: Although still popular, electropop was declining in favour of more more teen pop artists that were emerging e.g. One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen and pop Taylor Swift. Smartphones were quickly becoming the standard. Snapchat and Instagram were slowly starting to gain users, although Facebook was definitely still #1.

The second-half of 2009 to the first-half of 2013 just feels like one era to me.

To me the 'pure' early 2010s was late 2009 to mid 2012 then it started to change for about a year from august 2012 -  until the end of 2013. 
Then by 2014 we were solidly in mid 2010's culture.
I see late 2012 and all of 2013 as a transitional period similar to late 2008 - late 2009

Damn, you were all hounding me for calling late 2012 "mid-2010s part 1" just a while ago and now you guys belatedly acknowledge that there was something funny looking about that era that doesn't fit in neatly with 2009-2011 :P

The decade is better split into twos though imo.

Damn, you were all hounding me for calling late 2012 "mid-2010s part 1" just a while ago and now you guys belatedly acknowledge that there was something funny looking about that era that doesn't fit in neatly with 2009-2011 :P

The decade is better split into twos though imo.

Late 2012 was different from 2015. Instagram, Vine and Snapchat dominated in 2015. Electropop died and Facebook was more for old boomers at that point. That's different from late 2012, when electropop was still around, Facebook was still primarily used by teens, and Snapchat didn't quite catch on yet. Also, Vine didn't even exist. 2012 was more of an advanced version of 2009.

Late 2012 was different from 2015. Instagram, Vine and Snapchat dominated in 2015. Electropop died and Facebook was more for old boomers at that point.That's different from late 2012, when electropop was still around, Facebook was still primarily used by teens, and Snapchat didn't quite catch on yet. Also, Vine didn't even exist. 2012 was more of an advanced version of 2009.


I also started to notice more teenagers using Instagram, Vine, and Snapchat by the entire year. I think I remember seeing a girl using Snapchat on her iPhone when I was in my high school cafeteria in the 2015-16 school year.

Late 2012 was different from 2015. Instagram, Vine and Snapchat dominated in 2015. Electropop died and Facebook was more for old boomers at that point. That's different from late 2012, when electropop was still around, Facebook was still primarily used by teens, and Snapchat didn't quite catch on yet. Also, Vine didn't even exist. 2012 was more of an advanced version of 2009.


Is it just me or do you guys exaggerate how popular Vine was? You guys talk as if it was a MySpace of the 2010s when in reality its popularity is comparable to LiveJournal, lol. I was not surprised at all when it went under just a couple years after it came out, it was a real flash in the pan.

Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat better defined the mid-2010s and these were gaining a lot of steam in late 2012. #YOLO is the first hashtag trend that pretty much everyone heard of. On New Years 2013, Snapchat was the #1 app on the Play Store and App Store. And Boomers were already on Facebook in 2010, teenagers were never the primary audience of Facebook. It's popularity was driven by college students and then people in their 20s/30s in the 2000s, but by 2010 everyone was on it.

Is it just me or do you guys exaggerate how popular Vine was? You guys talk as if it was a MySpace of the 2010s when in reality its popularity is comparable to LiveJournal, lol. I was not surprised at all when it went under just a couple years after it came out, it was a real flash in the pan.

Vine popular, never heard of it!

Vine popular, never heard of it!


I think it was the source of one or two popular memes but people quickly ran out of ideas and content dried up.

Honestly, why is Instagram considered mid 2010s? It is still popular this year.

I think it was the source of one or two popular memes but people quickly ran out of ideas and content dried up.
Thank you, I will look into that.

Honestly, why is Instagram considered mid 2010s? It is still popular this year.


Same reason you guys say 2009 or 2010 is the first early 2010s year because of Facebook? :P

Honestly, why is Instagram considered mid 2010s? It is still popular this year.


Because that's when I started to see Instagram being used more often with teenagers around my middle and high schools.

Is it just me or do you guys exaggerate how popular Vine was? You guys talk as if it was a MySpace of the 2010s when in reality its popularity is comparable to LiveJournal, lol. I was not surprised at all when it went under just a couple years after it came out, it was a real flash in the pan.

Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat better defined the mid-2010s and these were gaining a lot of steam in late 2012. #YOLO is the first hashtag trend that pretty much everyone heard of. On New Years 2013, Snapchat was the #1 app on the Play Store and App Store. And Boomers were already on Facebook in 2010, teenagers were never the primary audience of Facebook. It's popularity was driven by college students and then people in their 20s/30s in the 2000s, but by 2010 everyone was on it.

Literally anyone who was in middle or high school between 2014-2016 knew how popular Vine was. It was indeed everywhere in the mid-2010's. Vine to 2014 is basically TikTok to 2020.

Twitter was already popular way before late 2012. Snapchat still didn't peak and it wasn't until Snapchat added Filters in early 2015 when it really started peaking. Most teenagers in 2012 were still using Facebook and Kik. Late 2012 was the last pre-Vine time. IMO anything before Vine can't be considered mid-2010's because it arguably defined the mid and core 2010's the most.

Literally anyone who was in middle or high school between 2014-2016 knew how popular Vine was. It was indeed everywhere in the mid-2010's. Vine to 2014 is basically TikTok to 2020.

Twitter was already popular way before late 2012. Snapchat still didn't peak and it wasn't until Snapchat added Filters in early 2015 when it really started peaking. Most teenagers in 2012 were still using Facebook and Kik. Late 2012 was the last pre-Vine time. IMO anything before Vine can't be considered mid-2010's because it arguably defined the mid and core 2010's the most.


Yeah, I had a hunch Vine might be more popular among middle school aged kids. I don't remember anyone my age caring about it, it was just not funny.

I got Snapchat in 2013 and if someone like me got it then it was definitely already popular for a while. :o

Twitter was a household name in the early 2010s because every celebrity was on it, but most normal people didn't use it yet. When Twitter was gearing up for its IPO it aggressively started expanding and competing directly with Facebook (before, it was considered a complement to Facebook rather than a competitor), that's when it got really popular. In 2011 Twitter didn't even have photos and videos, by 2012 it had all these things. I dare you to find a hashtag trend that people print on their shirts or backpacks before #YOLO; you won't find one.

Yeah, I had a hunch Vine might be more popular among middle school aged kids. I don't remember anyone my age caring about it, it was just not funny.

I got Snapchat in 2013 and if someone like me got it then it was definitely already popular for a while. :o

Twitter was a household name in the early 2010s because every celebrity was on it, but most normal people didn't use it yet. When Twitter was gearing up for its IPO it aggressively started expanding and competing directly with Facebook (before, it was considered a complement to Facebook rather than a competitor), that's when it got really popular. In 2011 Twitter didn't even have photos and videos, by 2012 it had all these things. I dare you to find a hashtag trend that people print on their shirts or backpacks before #YOLO; you won't find one.


I mean, Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring were hashtag movements in 2011:

https://techcrunch.com/2011/02/16/jan25-twitter-egypt/

https://www.adweek.com/digital/occupywallst-ows-or-occupy-over-100k-different-hashtags-used-in-occupy-protests/

I mean, Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring were hashtag movements in 2011:

https://techcrunch.com/2011/02/16/jan25-twitter-egypt/

https://www.adweek.com/digital/occupywallst-ows-or-occupy-over-100k-different-hashtags-used-in-occupy-protests/


#Occupy got popular around the same time as #YOLO. Arab Spring wasn't a hashtag, but if you want the first protest that was live tweeted you will want to take a look at the Iran protests in 2009. :o

Here's how I view it if we are strictly talking about the Early 2010s Generally:

September 2009 to April 2011: Part 1. Electropop mainly being dominated by Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kesha, etc. Teenybopper Disney was still ongoing with Suite Life on Deck, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, etc. Along with cartoons like Phineas and Ferb. iPhones were getting a lot of attention with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 although flip and candy bar phones were still the norm, along with social media like Facebook and Twitter, and a little bit of MySpace. Smosh and Ryan Higa were megastars of YouTube.

April 2011 to April/August 2013ish: Part 2. Electropop was getting a more sophisticated sound with LMFAO and Avicii, with Calvin Harris joining in later down the line, although Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Kesha remain heavily popular. Neon fashion remains relevant although some Hipster fashion and 90s-inspired clothing are coming into play. This also follows with the initial decline of the Teenybopper Disney Channel movement, and the start of the next wave of Disney channel shows with ANT Farm and Shake it up. iPhones become finally popular thanks to the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS, while Android phones were only popular underground until the Galaxy S3 came out in 2012. Minecraft was becoming popular, and new wave YouTubers like Pewdiepie and Tobuscus were becoming popular. Instagram was on its early stages as well.