Which school year do you consider to be the apex of the mid 2010s?

I graduated in 2013, I would probably say 2015 to 2016 because Seniors who graduate that year would have been freshman in 2012, meaning they got the quintessential experience of the mid 10s. I started high school at the end of 2009 so I had the quintessential early 10s experience.

I'll actually have to go with 2014-15 here, this was when Vine was at its apex, Shawn Mendes broke into the scene with Something Big along with Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande was strictly Mid-2010s sounding with her songs unlike 2013-14 where Break Free was electropop, the DJ Mustard sound was still very popular although the DJ Snake/Dancehall sound was increasingly getting popular, Trap music was gaining even more momentum, and this was the peak year for Hipsters. I'm talking about the Peak Mid 2010s here

If we talk about the Core 2010s, then 2015-16 is the peak year. Vine was still in its prime though Musical.ly was huge during this time. New introductions to tech like VR and Hoverboards were all the rage, so was Argumented Reality. Music had a bit of variety as well, with Upbeat Trap music, Future Bass, Dancehall, and more. For the last Early 2010s remains, people still owned the Xbox 360 and online servers were still active, though the PS4 and Xbox One takeover at this point, and gaming wasn't all about Call of Duty anymore, as GTA 5 became dominant. Hipsters were still everywhere, though Athliesure and Minimalist fashion was also gaining momentum, as well as hype beast. Shows like Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, and Orange Is The New Black were in their golden age, though late 2010s shows like Stranger Things were gaining attention by the end of the school year.

Interesting results. I'm kind of conflicted with which one is the peak school year. Both seem to be really mid 2010s. I went with 2014-2015 because it was strictly mid 2010s with only a few traces of early and late 2010s. I agree with early2010sguy about 2015-16, it was the peak core 2010s school year. 2015-2016 was as 2010s as it gets and most people will look at this period as the most 2010s time.

It's complicated once again. I know that mid doesn't automatically mean core, but both years have cultural happenings that are in line with how people remember the mid-2010s.

I would have to go with 2014-2015, simply because Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton weren't known as the only two candidates left yet, and politics wasn't as heavily divided. EDM was at its peak with the Chainsmokers and DJ Snake, and pop was still pretty upbeat and high-octane.

2014-2015 was peak mid-2010's, while 2015-2016 was peak 2010's. There's a difference.

With some schools starting in April and other schools starting in September, does this effect which era the school year belongs to?

With some schools starting in April and other schools starting in September, does this effect which era the school year belongs to?


We're usually referring to American school year lengths (From September to June). It could vary, though.

I went with 2014-2015 culturally. Numerically it would be 2015-2016. But in 2014-2015 it seems like it was the calm before the storm. It was a peaceful time before the elections and terrorist attacks. Music was mostly edm.

I went with 2014-2015 culturally. Numerically it would be 2015-2016. But in 2014-2015 it seems like it was the calm before the storm. It was a peaceful time before the elections and terrorist attacks. Music was mostly edm.


I associate the 2014-15 period with pop like Taylor Swift and "Uptown Funk". Yeah, 2015-16 had a lot of terrorist attacks: Paris, California, Brussels, and a few others. And it was the rise of Donald Trump and backlash towards the PC SJW culture.

I went with 2014-2015 culturally. Numerically it would be 2015-2016. But in 2014-2015 it seems like it was the calm before the storm. It was a peaceful time before the elections and terrorist attacks. Music was mostly edm.
Oh it wasn't very peaceful already with the ISIS scare and the first Paris attacks.

But it's true that 2015-2016 was a sh!tstorm of constant terrorist attacks :o

Oh it wasn't very peaceful already with the ISIS scare and the first Paris attacks.

But it's true that 2015-2016 was a sh!tstorm of constant terrorist attacks :o


The Paris attacks and ISIS scare happened in late 2015 to early 2016. 2014-2015 was pretty peaceful in terms of politics. 2015-2016 is when a bunch of bad stuff happened all at once.

I associate the 2014-15 period with pop like Taylor Swift and "Uptown Funk". Yeah, 2015-16 had a lot of terrorist attacks: Paris, California, Brussels, and a few others. And it was the rise of Donald Trump and backlash towards the PC SJW culture.


Yeah I associate 2014-2015 with Iggy Azalea, Sia (Chandelier), Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Jesse J. It seems pop music went through a brief bubble gum teen pop phase around that time. It kind of died after 2015.

The Paris attacks and ISIS scare happened in late 2015 to early 2016. 2014-2015 was pretty peaceful in terms of politics. 2015-2016 is when a bunch of bad stuff happened all at once.


And then it peaked in Summer 2016 with the Orlando nightclub shooting and then the Dallas police shootings barely a week apart. 2016-2017 was relatively quiet except for the elections, and I remember when the Charlottesville, VA incident happened in Summer 2017 was when it was back. That fall had the Las Vegas shooting and an incident in Times Square.


Yeah I associate 2014-2015 with Iggy Azalea, Sia (Chandelier), Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift and Jesse J. It seems pop music went through a brief bubble gum teen pop phase around that time. It kind of died after 2015.


I associate Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" and Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" with summer 2014. Yeah, teen pop started fading out in 2016 but was on its last legs with songs like Daya'a "Sit Still Look Pretty", and Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez had a few hits, and Justin Bieber if you count him as teen pop. I remember on here back then people were comparing the teen pop of that era to the Y2K era.

And then it peaked in Summer 2016 with the Orlando nightclub shooting and then the Dallas police shootings barely a week apart. 2016-2017 was relatively quiet except for the elections, and I remember when the Charlottesville, VA incident happened in Summer 2017 was when it was back. That fall had the Las Vegas shooting and an incident in Times Square.

I associate Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" and Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" with summer 2014. Yeah, teen pop started fading out in 2016 but was on its last legs with songs like Daya'a "Sit Still Look Pretty", and Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez had a few hits, and Justin Bieber if you count him as teen pop. I remember on here back then people were comparing the teen pop of that era to the Y2K era.


I agree with all of this ! Although Anaconda came out late August 2014 so I didn’t hear it that summer as much as Fancy until the fall when it rose to number 1. But I will say everything you analyzed about those years is pretty accurate from my memory...

Also it makes sense that they would compare both eras. I feel like Ariana Grande copies some of Britney Spears’s scenes in music videos.

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