Imo:

Pre smartphone era Early 10s: August 2009 - Summer 2011

Smartphone era Early 10s: Summer 2011 to 2013

Early 10s - Mid 10s transition: 2013(give or take late 2012) to 22 November 2013

Mid 10s Part 1: 22 November 2013 to Summer 2015

Mid 10s Part 2(basically a really long transition from the mid 10s culture to late 10s): Summer 2015 to 8 November 2016

100% Complete Mid 10s - Late 10s transition: 8 November 2016 to 3 March 2017

Late 10s: 8 November 2016 to March 2020

Mine is not as detailed with transition points, but in general it can be split in 3 eras:

Early 10's: 2009 - 2012 (EDM, Obama's first term)

Mid 10's: 2013-2016 (Obama's 2nd term and rise of Alt right vs. SJW, teen pop like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez) *in some ways 2015 and 2016 can be its own separate era with Trump campaign trail

Late 10's: 2017 - February 2020 (Trump pre-COVID era, trap andLatin pop)

Mine is not as detailed with transition points, but in general it can be split in 3 eras:

Early 10's: 2009 - 2012 (EDM, Obama's first term)

Mid 10's: 2013-2016 (Obama's 2nd term and rise of Alt right vs. SJW, teen pop like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez) *in some ways 2015 and 2016 can be its own separate era with Trump campaign trail

Late 10's: 2017 - February 2020 (Trump pre-COVID era, trap andLatin pop)


>*in some ways 2015 and 2016 can be its own separate era with Trump campaign trail

Late 2015 and 2016 feels like a transition era from the mid 10s(2013-mid 2015) to late 10s. Especially 2016 which arguably leans more late 10s than mid 10s despite Obama still being president. I still consider it a mid 10s year because politically everything that was building up from 2015 culminated in Trump becoming president and he did not become elected until the end of that year so it makes sense to consider that the cutoff.

2010 to 2012: Employment

2013 to 2016: Travel

2016 to 2019: Life after change of circumstances

Mine is not as detailed with transition points, but in general it can be split in 3 eras:

Early 10's: 2009 - 2012 (EDM, Obama's first term)

Mid 10's: 2013-2016 (Obama's 2nd term and rise of Alt right vs. SJW, teen pop like Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez) *in some ways 2015 and 2016 can be its own separate era with Trump campaign trail

Late 10's: 2017 - February 2020 (Trump pre-COVID era, trap andLatin pop)

I think late 2010s started in 2016 and ended in 2019.

(Early 2010s) 2010-2012:
- Most of Obama's first term
- iPad, iPhone 4S (with Siri), the death of Steve Jobs
- Galaxy S III
- Electropop domination spearheaded by artists like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Katy Perry ​etc
- Dubstep
- Angry Birds and Minecraft
- Indie pop
- Adele
- Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars
- Trayvon Martin
- Spate of high-profile mass shootings renewing gun control debate in a social media era (Sandy Hook, Aurora, etc)

(Mid 2010s) 2013-2016:
- Windows 8 and 10
- Vine
- Smartphones taking over feature phones and selfies
- Macklemore, Lorde, and Miley Cyrus' Bangerz era
- GTA V, FNAF, and eighth gen gaming (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U)
- EDM, tropical house, and trap music
- The rise of ISIS and terrorist attacks
- MLG/dank memes
- #BlackLivesMatter
- Snapchat and Instagram becoming huge
- iOS 7
- Flat design becoming mainstream
- Streaming revolution (Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music)
- Increased political polarization with the advent of candidate Trump and the 2016 election

(Late 2010s) 2017-2020:
- Trump's first term
- #MeToo
- Despacito bringing a resurgence of Latin pop worldwide
- "Mumble"/emo rap along with the domination of trap music (Cardi B, Drake, Post Malone, etc)
- Parkland shooting (#MarchForOurLives)
- MCU domination at the box office (Infinity War, Black Panther, etc)
- AirPods
- Billie Eilish
- Old Town Road
- Rise of TikTok along with VSCO/e-culture

(Early 2010s) 2010-2012:
- Most of Obama's first term
- iPad, iPhone 4S (with Siri), the death of Steve Jobs
- Galaxy S III
- Electropop domination spearheaded by artists like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Katy Perry ​etc
- Dubstep
- Angry Birds and Minecraft
- Indie pop
- Adele
- Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars
- Trayvon Martin
- Spate of high-profile mass shootings renewing gun control debate in a social media era (Sandy Hook, Aurora, etc)

(Mid 2010s) 2013-2016:
- Windows 8 and 10
- Vine
- Smartphones taking over feature phones and selfies
- Macklemore, Lorde, and Miley Cyrus' Bangerz era
- GTA V, FNAF, and eighth gen gaming (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U)
- EDM, tropical house, and trap music
- The rise of ISIS and terrorist attacks
- MLG/dank memes
- #BlackLivesMatter
- Snapchat and Instagram becoming huge
- iOS 7
- Flat design becoming mainstream
- Streaming revolution (Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music)
- Increased political polarization with the advent of candidate Trump and the 2016 election

(Late 2010s) 2017-2020:
- Trump's first term
- #MeToo
- Despacito bringing a resurgence of Latin pop worldwide
- "Mumble"/emo rap along with the domination of trap music (Cardi B, Drake, Post Malone, etc)
- Parkland shooting (#MarchForOurLives)
- MCU domination at the box office (Infinity War, Black Panther, etc)
- AirPods
- Billie Eilish
- Old Town Road
- Rise of TikTok along with VSCO/e-culture


I agree with these, and don't have much to add. Maybe just the popularity of Facebook and Twitter in the Early 10's as well as HTC smartphones, for the mid-2010's specifically the SJW vs. alt-right as the main part of the political polarization, and for Late fidget spinners, Nintendo Switch, and Fortnite.

The decades begin with year 1. So this is how I would divide the 2010s:

Early: 2011 to 2013

Middle: 2014 to 2016

End: 2017 to 2020

The decades begin with year 1. So this is how I would divide the 2010s:

Early: 2011 to 2013

Middle: 2014 to 2016

End: 2017 to 2020


I mean culturally not numerically

(Early 2010s) 2010-2012:
- Most of Obama's first term
- iPad, iPhone 4S (with Siri), the death of Steve Jobs
- Galaxy S III
- Electropop domination spearheaded by artists like Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Katy Perry ​etc
- Dubstep
- Angry Birds and Minecraft
- Indie pop
- Adele
- Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars
- Trayvon Martin
- Spate of high-profile mass shootings renewing gun control debate in a social media era (Sandy Hook, Aurora, etc)

(Mid 2010s) 2013-2016:
- Windows 8 and 10
- Vine
- Smartphones taking over feature phones and selfies
- Macklemore, Lorde, and Miley Cyrus' Bangerz era
- GTA V, FNAF, and eighth gen gaming (PS4, Xbox One, Wii U)
- EDM, tropical house, and trap music
- The rise of ISIS and terrorist attacks
- MLG/dank memes
- #BlackLivesMatter
- Snapchat and Instagram becoming huge
- iOS 7
- Flat design becoming mainstream
- Streaming revolution (Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music)
- Increased political polarization with the advent of candidate Trump and the 2016 election

(Late 2010s) 2017-2020:
- Trump's first term
- #MeToo
- Despacito bringing a resurgence of Latin pop worldwide
- "Mumble"/emo rap along with the domination of trap music (Cardi B, Drake, Post Malone, etc)
- Parkland shooting (#MarchForOurLives)
- MCU domination at the box office (Infinity War, Black Panther, etc)
- AirPods
- Billie Eilish
- Old Town Road
- Rise of TikTok along with VSCO/e-culture


2013 was half early half mid imo but other than that i'd agree.

The decades begin with year 1. So this is how I would divide the 2010s:

Early: 2011 to 2013

Middle: 2014 to 2016

End: 2017 to 2020

That would be the "202nd Decade" which is not the same as the 2010s. Those two distinct spans have 9 calendar years in common, namely 2011 through '19.

I mean culturally not numerically


That's why I was saying culturally it began in 2009.

What part of 2009 did you think it started in?

I agree with these, and don't have much to add. Maybe just the popularity of Facebook and Twitter in the Early 10's as well as HTC smartphones, for the mid-2010's specifically the SJW vs. alt-right as the main part of the political polarization, and for Late fidget spinners, Nintendo Switch, and Fortnite.
Yeah, I knew I would forget lots of other events and media that symbolize the vibes of those eras. I just didn't want to make it too long of a post.

2010 - 2014 : Early 2010s

2015 - 2019 : Late 2010s

There's really no such thing as "mid 2010s" during this decade unless you just call that the transitional period from the early '10s to late '10s. But no real strong cultural era for the middle part. It is easy to think of early 2010s as Obama and late 2010s as Trump. The decade on the whole had fairly similar music all throughout. And for tech, early was smartphones and late was advanced smartphones.

A nice line to divide the early and late 2010s (if you had to) would be June 2015 on the day that Trump announced he was running for president.

2010 - 2014 : Early 2010s

2015 - 2019 : Late 2010s

There's really no such thing as "mid 2010s" during this decade unless you just call that the transitional period from the early '10s to late '10s. But no real strong cultural era for the middle part. It is easy to think of early 2010s as Obama and late 2010s as Trump. The decade on the whole had fairly similar music all throughout. And for tech, early was smartphones and late was advanced smartphones.

A nice line to divide the early and late 2010s (if you had to) would be June 2015 on the day that Trump announced he was running for president.


If a transitional period spans years then it kind of is it's own era.

>The decade on the whole had fairly similar music all throughout.

Wrong. Early 10s electropop/dubstep was vastly different than the rest of the decade. Mid and Late 10s are much closer musically than Early and mid 10s but there is a difference. Mid 10s was more about generic minimalistic pop with a bit of EDM here and there. Late 10s was trop house, EDM/trap pop and trap/mumble rap

What part of 2009 did you think it started in?


Probably the middle part as cultural shifts usually happen. I remember the first half of 2009 still having the 2005-2008 vibe like with autotune like T-Pain. At the same time Lady Gaga was around since late 2008, but her music and similar artists really took off in 2009, along with Black Eyed Peas of that era (with "I Gotta Feeling").

Probably the middle part as cultural shifts usually happen. I remember the first half of 2009 still having the 2005-2008 vibe like with autotune like T-Pain. At the same time Lady Gaga was around since late 2008, but her music and similar artists really took off in 2009, along with Black Eyed Peas of that era (with "I Gotta Feeling").


I have no idea why people say 2009 is 100% an early 10s year. You had so many songs that would be completely out of place in the real early 10s like "Love Story", "Party in the Usa", "Broken Strings" and "The Fear" and some rock music which was extinct come 2010. Even the electropop stuff that dropped that year sound very much different from the electropop style in the early 10s. Case in point, lady gaga's the fame tracks like Poker Face and Paparazzi compared to "Born this way" and "Edge of glory" in 2011.

Early: September 2009 - December 2012
Mid: January 2013 - August 2017?
Late: September 2017? - Febuary 2020?

I still don't think enough time's passed yet to gage what the "late 2010's" really was or when it ended (I kinda feel like it never did). The mid-2010's are easy to distinguish & I remember summer 2017 being the last time period that fits in that mold. Once the 17-18 school year started that when things felt a bit different.

Early: September 2009 - December 2012
Mid: January 2013 - August 2017?
Late: September 2017? - Febuary 2020?

I still don't think enough time's passed yet to gage what the "late 2010's" really was or when it ended (I kinda feel like it never did). The mid-2010's are easy to distinguish & I remember summer 2017 being the last time period that fits in that mold. Once the 17-18 school year started that when things felt a bit different.


COVID is such a big event that i'd say its safe to end it at March 2020 now. Even if sheesh hits the fan tommorow and we enter a new era, March 2020  - Now would just be considered it's own era.

COVID is such a big event that i'd say its safe to end it at March 2020 now. Even if sheesh hits the fan tommorow and we enter a new era, March 2020  - Now would just be considered it's own era.


And things haven't changed much since March 2020 (unfortunately) other than a new president and trap finally seems to be a thing of the past. We are still very much in the pandemic era and everything sucking. At least we've become more adjusted to it now as the new normal.

And things haven't changed much since March 2020 (unfortunately) other than a new president and trap finally seems to be a thing of the past. We are still very much in the pandemic era and everything sucking. At least we've become more adjusted to it now as the new normal.


Yes correct. Ergo 2021 is certainly better than 2020. If you recall the beginning of the pandemic, people were hysterical, and justifiably so, since the story from the so called leaders was changing by the day. Nobody knew what was going on. People were washing mail, scrubbing down groceries, etc. Everything in creation was closed. People can lead a semblance of a normal life now, WITH PRECAUTIONS.

Yes correct. Ergo 2021 is certainly better than 2020. If you recall the beginning of the pandemic, people were hysterical, and justifiably so, since the story from the so called leaders was changing by the day. Nobody knew what was going on. People were washing mail, scrubbing down groceries, etc. Everything in creation was closed. People can lead a semblance of a normal life now, WITH PRECAUTIONS.


Now that I don't agree with, but there are other reasons why 2021 sucks worse than 2020, mostly personal life reasons though so it may differ from the common consensus. Also the thing about 2021 was we thought the pandemic was about to be finally over in the summer, but then the Delta hit and now it's looking like there's no end in sight. I felt like we were adjusting in the fall of 2020. I really liked the late 2020-early 2021 period (2020-21 school year for those in school). The March-summer of 2020 and the second half of 2021 have been pretty bad.

Now that I don't agree with, but there are other reasons why 2021 sucks worse than 2020, mostly personal life reasons though so it may differ from the common consensus. Also the thing about 2021 was we thought the pandemic was about to be finally over in the summer, but then the Delta hit and now it's looking like there's no end in sight. I felt like we were adjusting in the fall of 2020. I really liked the late 2020-early 2021 period (2020-21 school year for those in school). The March-summer of 2020 and the second half of 2021 have been pretty bad.


There are some points in here I'm glad you brought up.

1) People have to stop defining whether cultural periods were good or bad OR changeful, by their personal lives. If someone had a sucky second half of 2019, for example, it doesn't necessarily mean the second half of 2019 was bad culturally. It was just bad for THEM, and probably colored everything else for them. I'm seeing too much intertwining of the personal and the cultural here lately.

2) We have to get rid of this "school year" thing altogether. Culture is NOT defined by "school years". The only people using that for a cultural marker are people who are IN school. Hence, again it's a personal thing. The big picture culturally is unaffected by "school years". It's a meaningless term.

There are some points in here I'm glad you brought up.

1) People have to stop defining whether cultural periods were good or bad OR changeful, by their personal lives. If someone had a sucky second half of 2019, for example, it doesn't necessarily mean the second half of 2019 was bad culturally. It was just bad for THEM, and probably colored everything else for them. I'm seeing too much intertwining of the personal and the cultural here lately.

2) We have to get rid of this "school year" thing altogether. Culture is NOT defined by "school years". The only people using that for a cultural marker are people who are IN school. Hence, again it's a personal thing. The big picture culturally is unaffected by "school years". It's a meaningless term.


School years are a good way to define cultural shifts that happen in the late part of one year and the early-mid part of a following year.

Like 2008-2009 or 2016-2017

There are some points in here I'm glad you brought up.

1) People have to stop defining whether cultural periods were good or bad OR changeful, by their personal lives. If someone had a sucky second half of 2019, for example, it doesn't necessarily mean the second half of 2019 was bad culturally. It was just bad for THEM, and probably colored everything else for them. I'm seeing too much intertwining of the personal and the cultural here lately.

2) We have to get rid of this "school year" thing altogether. Culture is NOT defined by "school years". The only people using that for a cultural marker are people who are IN school. Hence, again it's a personal thing. The big picture culturally is unaffected by "school years". It's a meaningless term.


I was saying mostly my personal life but with the inflation, supply chain shortage, labor shortage, etc. I would hardly call 2021 a picnic for anyone. Also a lot why my personal life is affected is because of the current circumstances. The return to "normal" has been anything but, nothing like life as we knew pre-pandemic. For one thing I have to work in the office again and I miss working from home. Traveling is not as fun as before. Whenever we go out anywhere it's not as enjoyable as before. At least in 2020 I was trying to make the best of a bad situation, but after doing that for almost 2 years led to burnout and actually on the verge of a mental breakdown like a lot of people. Also try telling someone who lost a loved one in 2021 due to COVID that 2021 is culturally better than 2020. I'm sure that conversation would go very well.

I only use "school year" because that's a lot easier to say/type than "second half of (year A)-first half of (year B), and it matches the time period for those actually in school.

2010-2016 = democratic / hipster
2017-2019 = republican reign

Pre-2010's: Late 2008 - Mid 2010

True Early 10's: Late 2010 - Early 2013

Early-Mid transition: Mid 2013 - Early 2014

True Mid 10's: Mid 2014 - Mid 2016

Mid-Late Transition: Late 2016 - Early 2017

True Late 10's: Mid 2017 - VERY Early 2020

Definitely Early '10s: 2010-12
Either Hard to Categorize or Transitional: 2013
Definitely Mid '10s: 2014-15
Either Hard to Categorize or Transitional: 2016
Definitely Late '10s: 2017-19

Early 2010s: 2010-2012
Mix of early and mid 2010s: 2013
Mid 2010s: 2014-2016
Late 2010s: 2017-2019

2013 was the most unique year of the decade, as I think others have said.

Early 2010s: 2010-2012
Mix of early and mid 2010s: 2013
Mid 2010s: 2014-2016
Late 2010s: 2017-2019

2013 was the most unique year of the decade, as I think others have said.

Oh yeah 2013 was like its own era in one year. It was neither mid or early it was its own thing.

2010-2013: Before I moved.
2014-2019: After I moved.



Cat

2010 to 2012: Employed
2012 to 2019: Semi-retired

2010 - 2013 - Highschool
2013 - 2015 - Upgrading/taking some post-secondary classes and then dropping out right away and working a retail job at the same time
2015 - 2019 - University

2010-2014- went from Pathmark and transitioned to Stop N Shop
2014-2019- still working at Stop N Shop

2010-2014- went from Pathmark and transitioned to Stop N Shop
2014-2019- still working at Stop N Shop


Howard, where did you work before Pathmark? ???

Howard, where did you work before Pathmark? ???

Before Pathmark, I was with my job coach searching for a part time job, back then he introduced me to cart handlers and I never knew a position like that existed, I thought to myself that pushing carts all around the parking lot for a paycheck looks easy enough to do and I never knew how much they got paid.

Early: Jan 2010 to Aug 2013

Mid: Sep 2013 to Aug 2016

Late: Sep 2016 to Dec 2019

2013 was as transitional as transitional years get. The start of the year was still overwhelmingly early 2010's, and by the end of the year those vibes were completely washed away and replaced with the more corporate, minimalist vibe of the core 2010's. Within the same year you have early 2010's EDM songs like I Need Your Love AND early trap rap songs like Versace by Migos that don't even sound dated.

2010 to 2012: Pre-Gangnam Style
2012 to 2019: Post-Gangnam Style

The actually alright and promising and stable (ish) 2010s = Janaury 2010-June 2015

The bitterly divided woke SJW culture wars PC insanity and everything going downhill = Summer 2015 onwards.