generally speaking the '2 year of a given decade will still have strong influence of the previous decade, but will at the same time has strong surfacing features of its respective decade, making it a hybrid transition era between the previous decade and its own. ITT list ways in which 2022 has lingering 10s influence and to what degree and how much it has come into its own decade. whats your opinion? is 2022 unmistakably 20s or are we still living in the 10s holdover era with a few key differences from the real late 10s?

We're in the cultural early 20s, but the cultural early 20s in itself feels like an extension of the 10s. COVID, the only strong seperator between the two decades thus far already feels irrelevant. For the most part, we still live like how we did in the 2010s. Smartphones, social media, divisive politics, memes, flat design, overly processed music. 99% of games are still being made on the ground up for 2013 consoles.

We're in the cultural early 20s, but the cultural early 20s in itself feels like an extension of the 10s. COVID, the only strong seperator between the two decades thus far already feels irrelevant. For the most part, we still live like how we did in the 2010s. Smartphones, social media, divisive politics, memes, flat design, overly processed music. 99% of games are still being made on the ground up for 2013 consoles.


This pretty much exactly, Covid is pretty much the only major difference between the two eras I feel.

This pretty much exactly, Covid is pretty much the only major difference between the two eras I feel.


Glad someone else sees what I mean on this. Everyone acts as if the early 20s are a completely different world from the 10s because of COVID.

Glad someone else sees what I mean on this. Everyone acts as if the early 20s are a completely different world from the 10s because of COVID.


To be fair, COVID has made the early 2020s far more different from the 2010s than the early 2010s were from the late 00s in terms of changes in people's actual lives and lifestyles. Only in 2022 is much of the world finally moving on from the mask mandates, business restrictions, social distancing measures, and such that were such a hallmark of 2020 and 2021 in many countries. I would argue those lifestyle differences outweigh comparatively superficial pop cultural differences.

Smartphones, social media, divisive politics, memes, flat design, overly processed music.


To be honest with you, short of either a technological or cultural revolution, all of these things except flat design are probably permanent fixtures of our society and culture for the next couple of decades anyway.

Glad someone else sees what I mean on this. Everyone acts as if the early 20s are a completely different world from the 10s because of COVID.

Because it is. The world is literally not the same anymore because of it.

To be fair, COVID has made the early 2020s far more different from the 2010s than the early 2010s were from the late 00s in terms of changes in people's actual lives and lifestyles. Only in 2022 is much of the world finally moving on from the mask mandates, business restrictions, social distancing measures, and such that were such a hallmark of 2020 and 2021 in many countries. I would argue those lifestyle differences outweigh comparatively superficial pop cultural differences.


The early 10s were infinitely more seperate from the late 00s than the early 20s are from the late 10s. COVID is the only difference and that has became a lot less relevant since 2020. I can't remember the last time I saw someone social distancing in public. More people care about the russia ukraine war now than COVID, it's pretty much old news nowadays. Everything else feels like an extension of the 10s.

The early 10s were completely different from the late 00s, even 2009.  Smartphones were common for one which changed how we lived our lives as well.

To be honest with you, short of either a technological or cultural revolution, all of these things except flat design are probably permanent fixtures of our society and culture for the next couple of decades anyway.


Not if more advanced technology replaces it such as smartglasses making smartphones obselete. Memes are capable of going out of fashion if there is a collective fatigue of it(which I really hope happens this decade). Same goes for autotune and processed music.

The early 10s were infinitely more seperate from the late 00s than the early 20s are from the late 10s. COVID is the only difference and that has became a lot less relevant since 2020. I can't remember the last time I saw someone social distancing in public. More people care about the russia ukraine war now than COVID, it's pretty much old news nowadays. Everything else feels like an extension of the 10s.

The early 10s were completely different from the late 00s, even 2009.  Smartphones were common for one which changed how we lived our lives as well.


"COVID is the only difference" - that was still a hell of a difference that completely changed how people lived their lives for a large portion of the early 2020s. Maybe it was a lot less relevant in your part of the world or country after 2020, but many countries, and parts of the US and Canada, still experienced social distancing measures and mask mandates on and off throughout 2021. Ireland maintained one of the world's strictest lockdowns throughout almost the entire first half of 2021. Australia and New Zealand were also still exercising a heavy hand throughout the year, well into the midpoint. Countries such as India got hit hard by Delta and saw the pandemic worsen in 2021 before getting better. In places such as the UK, France, etc, lockdowns ended around February or March, but other restrictions took a few months to really go away. Many restrictions even came back in winter, when Omicron came into the picture. Heck, Ontario even went back to a 2020-style lockdown in December to early February over Omicron. Same goes for large parts of Europe and Asia, where China is still locking down whole cities over it and 99% of people in these countries are still wearing masks outdoors on the street.

The pandemic and the restrictions associated with it were still very prominent in much of the world throughout 2021, even if they were touch and go for most of year, in force at certain times and not at all at other times. People in 2020 and 2021, to an extend early 2022 depending on your geographic location, had to contend with online schooling, mask mandates, curfews, group size limits, or even outright lockdowns. Yes, these things are all no longer factors (in the West) as of now, but they made a huge impact on people's lives in 2020 and 2021, creating a very clear separation between that period and the period that came before it. Maybe it's getting a bit lost now as people are quick to forget about that period (the same happened with the Spanish Flu 100 years earlier) and things fade back to normal, but that period was extremely different from what had come before, far more than the early 2010s compared to the late 00s or the early 00s compared to the late 90s.

Not if more advanced technology replaces it such as smartglasses making smartphones obselete. Memes are capable of going out of fashion if there is a collective fatigue of it(which I really hope happens this decade). Same goes for autotune and processed music.


Remind me again, how long have we had each of the things mentioned?

Remind me again, how long have we had each of the things mentioned?


Most of them have only been popular in the 10s. Smartphones technically existed in the 00s but pretty much no one had them. Social media was a thing in the late 00s but didn't become ubiquitous until the 10s.

"COVID is the only difference" - that was still a hell of a difference that completely changed how people lived their lives for a large portion of the early 2020s. Maybe it was a lot less relevant in your part of the world or country after 2020, but many countries, and parts of the US and Canada, still experienced social distancing measures and mask mandates on and off throughout 2021. Ireland maintained one of the world's strictest lockdowns throughout almost the entire first half of 2021. Australia and New Zealand were also still exercising a heavy hand throughout the year, well into the midpoint. Countries such as India got hit hard by Delta and saw the pandemic worsen in 2021 before getting better. In places such as the UK, France, etc, lockdowns ended around February or March, but other restrictions took a few months to really go away. Many restrictions even came back in winter, when Omicron came into the picture. Heck, Ontario even went back to a 2020-style lockdown in December to early February over Omicron. Same goes for large parts of Europe and Asia, where China is still locking down whole cities over it and 99% of people in these countries are still wearing masks outdoors on the street.

The pandemic and the restrictions associated with it were still very prominent in much of the world throughout 2021, even if they were touch and go for most of year, in force at certain times and not at all at other times. People in 2020 and 2021, to an extend early 2022 depending on your geographic location, had to contend with online schooling, mask mandates, curfews, group size limits, or even outright lockdowns. Yes, these things are all no longer factors (in the West) as of now, but they made a huge impact on people's lives in 2020 and 2021, creating a very clear separation between that period and the period that came before it. Maybe it's getting a bit lost now as people are quick to forget about that period (the same happened with the Spanish Flu 100 years earlier) and things fade back to normal, but that period was extremely different from what had come before, far more than the early 2010s compared to the late 00s or the early 00s compared to the late 90s.


As I've said before, COVID is the the 2020's as 9/11 was to the 2000's. The world was never the same after those things. Now the Russia-Ukraine war might even separate 2022 and later from 2020 and 2021.

"COVID is the only difference" - that was still a hell of a difference that completely changed how people lived their lives for a large portion of the early 2020s. Maybe it was a lot less relevant in your part of the world or country after 2020, but many countries, and parts of the US and Canada, still experienced social distancing measures and mask mandates on and off throughout 2021. Ireland maintained one of the world's strictest lockdowns throughout almost the entire first half of 2021. Australia and New Zealand were also still exercising a heavy hand throughout the year, well into the midpoint. Countries such as India got hit hard by Delta and saw the pandemic worsen in 2021 before getting better. In places such as the UK, France, etc, lockdowns ended around February or March, but other restrictions took a few months to really go away. Many restrictions even came back in winter, when Omicron came into the picture. Heck, Ontario even went back to a 2020-style lockdown in December to early February over Omicron. Same goes for large parts of Europe and Asia, where China is still locking down whole cities over it and 99% of people in these countries are still wearing masks outdoors on the street.

The pandemic and the restrictions associated with it were still very prominent in much of the world throughout 2021, even if they were touch and go for most of year, in force at certain times and not at all at other times. People in 2020 and 2021, to an extend early 2022 depending on your geographic location, had to contend with online schooling, mask mandates, curfews, group size limits, or even outright lockdowns. Yes, these things are all no longer factors (in the West) as of now, but they made a huge impact on people's lives in 2020 and 2021, creating a very clear separation between that period and the period that came before it. Maybe it's getting a bit lost now as people are quick to forget about that period (the same happened with the Spanish Flu 100 years earlier) and things fade back to normal, but that period was extremely different from what had come before, far more than the early 2010s compared to the late 00s or the early 00s compared to the late 90s.


In the UK after June lockdown ended and ever since people have gone about their lives as they would during the 10s. The omicron mandate only brought masks back for supermarkets and public transport for like a month. But that was in December 2021, in 2022 that went immediately in January and BJ announced the end of all COVID restrictions. So it is safe to say life is now back to normal again.

It may be different if someone's country has an authitarian government which is still enforcing lockdowns, restrictions and vaxx mandates though. We all have our different experiences with it.

This may be because my wife is Ukrainian and has family there, but the recent events make me look back at 2020 and 2021 in the same way like looking back at 2018 and 2019 from March 2020. Even just a few months in the past felt like forever ago.

Most of them have only been popular in the 10s. Smartphones technically existed in the 00s but pretty much no one had them. Social media was a thing in the late 00s but didn't become ubiquitous until the 10s.


We've had memes since at least the birth of the Internet. Overly processed music at least that long as well.

We've had memes since at least the birth of the Internet. Overly processed music at least that long as well.


Meme culture changed radically around 2015/2016, now it's everywhere. That is what I mean when I mention memes. It's probably even a bigger force in youth culture than music is at this point whereas 10 years ago that would sound ridiculous.