I've noticed since the 21st century started, the biggest cultural shifts seem to be every 8 years. Them being election years has something to do with it as well.

So I wonder if 8 years after 2016 in 2024 we will get another massive shift where everything changes. Music(if possible a new genre???), Gaming(i've mentioned before that I predict 9th will officially start this year and 8th gen consoles will be fully phased out by then. 9th gen at the moment is in an early adopter phase since you can count the number of 9th gen exclusives released so far on one hand and the transistor shortage has held unit shipments back), Politics(new US election, possibly new UK election, also possibly the year where COVID is fully phased out), Technology(holograms? self driving cars? robots started to be popularised in workplaces?), economy, memes,  etc.

I sure hope so at least, everything has been so stagnant, depressing and bland since 2016. A cultural renaissance is in order.

I've noticed since the 21st century started, the biggest cultural shifts seem to be every 8 years. Them being election years has something to do with it as well.

So I wonder if 8 years after 2016 in 2024 we will get another massive shift where everything changes. Music(if possible a new genre???), Gaming(i've mentioned before that I predict 9th will officially start this year and 8th gen consoles will be fully phased out by then. 9th gen at the moment is in an early adopter phase since you can count the number of 9th gen exclusives released so far on one hand and the transistor shortage has held unit shipments back), Politics(new US election, possibly new UK election, also possibly the year where COVID is fully phased out), Technology(holograms? self driving cars? robots started to be popularised in workplaces?), economy, memes,  etc.

I sure hope so at least, everything has been so stagnant, depressing and bland since 2016. A cultural renaissance is in order.
I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive?

I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive?


Who?

Who?
If mankind survives...

If mankind survives...


You have a point there...

2020 was the last "big shift" we had. We probably won't have another one like that until the 2030s. I may be wrong though, we will see. It took 12 years after the big shift of 2008 to have another one in 2020. Again, I'm talking about massive shifts/transformations here, not smaller ones. We had 1998, 2008, and 2020, the next one will probably be in the early to mid 2030s if it follows this pattern.

It's also interesting how individual events trigger these shifts. In the '90s it was the internet, in the 2000s it was the first black president, and in the 2020s it was the pandemic.

2020 was the last "big shift" we had. We probably won't have another one like that until the 2030s. I may be wrong though, we will see. It took 12 years after the big shift of 2008 to have another one in 2020. Again, I'm talking about massive shifts/transformations here, not smaller ones. We had 1998, 2008, and 2020, the next one will probably be in the early to mid 2030s if it follows this pattern.

It's also interesting how individual events trigger these shifts. In the '90s it was the internet, in the 2000s it was the first black president, and in the 2020s it was the pandemic.


2016 was a massive shift. Especially politically. Also the next big CS can't be that far down the line, otherwise the 20s will basically be the 10s 2.0. The 20s will see huge technological shifts. There are a lot of things being worked on behind the scenes which will become popularised this decade like self driving cars. Global warming(or at least the notion that it is a thing) will be very significant this decade. We could be put in climate lockdowns later in the decade.  I don't feel at all like this will be another stagnant decade. It looks like another hectic and changeful one like the 2000s.

I feel like shifts occur every 4 years, some big and some small. However I feel like they are years after the election years, like 2009 and 2017 as opposed to 2008 and 2016. 2013 was another one. 2020 was an exception due to special circumstances, otherwise it would have been 2021.

I feel like shifts occur every 4 years, some big and some small. However I feel like they are years after the election years, like 2009 and 2017 as opposed to 2008 and 2016. 2013 was another one. 2020 was an exception due to special circumstances, otherwise it would have been 2021.


Regular shifts tend to happen about every 3 or 4 years but the big shifts happen about every 8 years like 2008 and 2016 imo. 2001 is arguably a big shift and that is only one year off from fitting the trend as well.

Regular shifts tend to happen about every 3 or 4 years but the big shifts happen about every 8 years like 2008 and 2016 imo. 2001 is arguably a big shift and that is only one year off from fitting the trend as well.

I think big shifts happen every 10 or so years. Like 1998, 2008, and 2020.

I think big shifts happen every 10 or so years. Like 1998, 2008, and 2020.


I'm still on the fence about the 2020 "big" shift since whilst COVID changed the world and caused everyone to lockdown and a recession that lasted a couple months nothing else changed. Speaking of lockdowns, that was much stricter in 2020. I've noticed lockdown laws and people become much more relaxed about it to the point where it's hard to even remember covid exists. No one wears masks or social distances anymore. Politically the atmosphere is still the same, even with a liberal president in the white house. It is as divisive as ever. Culture is pretty much the same. There are some 80s throwback  but there's still a lot of songs that sound like they were released in the late 10s.

9/11 was probably a bigger shift since it completely shattered the optimism and carefree spirit of the 90s transitioning the world into the darker and paranoid 2000s atmosphere, caused laws to change such as installing a lot of CCTV cameras everywhere which lasts to this day, homeland security, tightened airport security and started a decade long war. The COVID situation seems more like it will end up as a bubble era.

I'm still on the fence about the 2020 "big" shift since whilst COVID changed the world and caused everyone to lockdown and a recession that lasted a couple months nothing else changed. Speaking of lockdowns, that was much stricter in 2020. I've noticed lockdown laws and people become much more relaxed about it to the point where it's hard to even remember covid exists. No one wears masks or social distances anymore. Politically the atmosphere is still the same, even with a liberal president in the white house. It is as divisive as ever. Culture is pretty much the same. There are some 80s throwbacks but there's still a lot of songs that sound like they were released in the late 10s.

9/11 was probably a bigger shift since it completely shattered the optimism and carefree spirit of the 90s transitioning the world into the darker and paranoid 2000s atmosphere, caused laws to change such as installing a lot of CCTV cameras everywhere which lasts to this day, homeland security, tightened airport security and started a decade long war.

The 2020 shift was way bigger than 9/11. During 9/11 we only lost some rights, for the sake of safety. In 2020 though, may as well be in North Korea.

The 2020 shift was way bigger than 9/11. During 9/11 we only lost some rights, for the sake of safety. In 2020 though, may as well be in North Korea.


The difference is 9/11 changes were permanent and on top of that it literally started a 10 year old war and 20 years occupation of afghanistan. I doubt the martial law being imposed in some countries atm will remain permanent. In the UK here it's practically dead already. Only one person has asked me to put on a mask this year. Boris gave the middle finger to vaxx passports as well surprisingly enough. In the US and the other countries which seem to still be taking lockdown seriously I doubt it will last longer than 2023. People have had enough and we're going to either see the world go back to normal or a complete breakdown of society and a civil war if it doesn't. 

Regular shifts tend to happen about every 3 or 4 years but the big shifts happen about every 8 years like 2008 and 2016 imo. 2001 is arguably a big shift and that is only one year off from fitting the trend as well.


Probably because of the changing of presidents who served two terms. In 2016 Trump was elected after 8 years of Obama, in 2008 Obama was elected after 8 years of GWB, and in 2000 GWB was elected after 8 years of Bill Clinton.

Probably because of the changing of presidents who served two terms. In 2016 Trump was elected after 8 years of Obama, in 2008 Obama was elected after 8 years of GWB, and in 2000 GWB was elected after 8 years of Bill Clinton.


Yeah, that's a big reason why. Also kind of a weird coincidence that everything else changes around that time as well

There is a big 'shift' today with social media services Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have been hit by a worldwide outage.

There is a big 'shift' today with social media services Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram have been hit by a worldwide outage.


Maybe it's finally the beginning of the end of Facebook. I like Instagram though.

Btw aside from cultural shifts, I noticed that 2016 and 2020 were very volatile being election years and the division between polar opposites. I wonder if 2024 will be like that as well.

There was definitely a shift in 2016 but I don't think it was massive. You started noticing the polarization in the air before 2016. Even 2013 was a bigger shift than 2016. Honestly the late 2010s aren't that different from the mid 2010s. You could even say there was no such thing as the mid 2010s, and you could easily split this decade in half (can't do the same for the '00s imo which had three distinct eras in it). The 2010s was fairly consistent on the whole like the '80s were.

There was definitely a shift in 2016 but I don't think it was massive. You started noticing the polarization in the air before 2016. Even 2013 was a bigger shift than 2016. Honestly the late 2010s aren't that different from the mid 2010s. You could even say there was no such thing as the mid 2010s, and you could easily split this decade in half (can't do the same for the '00s imo which had three distinct eras in it). The 2010s was fairly consistent on the whole like the '80s were.


I'd consider the shift from summer 2015 to trumps election but 2016 takes up most of that time period and 2016 is where it became blatant that things were changing, everything was getting all divisive etc. There was a shift from a very liberal to a conservative atmosphere. It isn't just politics either, memes have radically changed and they have a massive influence on pop culture. Now you have drake hotling bling meme format, captions representing things, twitter top text in whitespace memes, spicy memes, edgy humor like suicide or self depreciating humor and not to mention post irony memes. This was also the year zoomers started to become noticed in the media. Music also sounded way different compared to before. 2015 music in general doesn't sound any different from 2014 but in 2016 you saw a lot of songs that sounded like something you would hear in the late 10s. Trop house, trap/mumble rap and trap/edm pop got big that year.

I'd consider the shift from summer 2015 to trumps election but 2016 takes up most of that time period and 2016 is where it became blatant that things were changing, everything was getting all divisive etc. There was a shift from a very liberal to a conservative atmosphere. It isn't just politics either, memes have radically changed and they have a massive influence on pop culture. Now you have drake hotling bling meme format, captions representing things, twitter top text in whitespace memes, spicy memes, edgy humor like suicide or self depreciating humor and not to mention post irony memes. This was also the year zoomers started to become noticed in the media. Music also sounded way different compared to before. 2015 music in general doesn't sound any different from 2014 but in 2016 you saw a lot of songs that sounded like something you would hear in the late 10s. Trop house, trap/mumble rap and trap/edm pop got big that year.

You could've noticed that as early as 2014.

You could've noticed that as early as 2014.


Not true at all. 2014 laid the seeds but was still very liberal atmosphere. Memes back then were in an experimental phase, not the simplistic top text bottom text troll face or rage comics style memes of before or the weird post irony and caption based memes we saw in the late 10s. Music for the most part in 2014 has very little relation to late 10s music. 2014 music is closer to early 00s music than 2016 onwards. Zoomers wasn't even on the map, Millennials were still the big focus.

Not true at all. 2014 laid the seeds but was still very liberal atmosphere. Memes back then were in an experimental phase, not the simplistic top text bottom text troll face or rage comics style memes of before or the weird post irony and caption based memes we saw in the late 10s. Music for the most part in 2014 has very little relation to late 10s music. 2014 music is closer to early 00s music than 2016 onwards. Zoomers wasn't even on the map, Millennials were still the big focus.


You seem to place a lot of faith in memes as a barometer of culture.

Maybe it's finally the beginning of the end of Facebook. I like Instagram though.

I enjoyed the peace and quiet of the lack of notifications on the phone.

You seem to place a lot of faith in memes as a barometer of culture.


Memes are an extremely important component in pop culture just like pop music or fashion. Everyone knows what they are nowadays and they're posted everywhere. You can't deny their sheer influence over this past decade.