Does anyone look at mid 1996 to mid 1998 as transitional years -

-The changeover from grunge and post grunge and ska in 1996 and 1997, to nu-metal, hip hop, and boy band/girl pop of 1998

-The period 3D began to slowly 2D in animation

-The midpoint between the "louder" mid 90s aesthetically and the more subdued Y2K era

-The period in which 3D became increasingly the norm, not the exception, in video games

-The period in which the Internet really began to take off as a legitimate, widespread thing people used

-The era in which TV began to give way from silly sitcoms to more serious shows

-The more serious films of the mid 90s begin to give way to the big budget popcorn films of the late 90s

-Height of the Pop Punk era and Skater scene

-Beginnings of the Emo scene, which won't come into full bloom until the 2000s

-A period of relative peace in the US after the racial tension of 1990-1995, ending with the end of the OJ trial in October 1995

-The second half of Bill Clinton's presidency begins, but before Lewinsky.

-Cars begin to take on their more modern, sleeker look as opposed to the earlier, boxier look of 1994/1995 model cars.

-Star Wars hype regins anew in 1997 with the rerelease of the original movies and the beginning of filming of the Phantom Menace in June 1997, Star Wars will be an icon of the late 90s again even in spite of the arguable quality of the Phantom Menace

-Power Rangers slowly begins to fade out of the mainstream starting in 1996, and by 1998, Pokemon is starting to pick up steam.

-The WWF/WWE Attitude era begins, which lasts until around 2000; for the first time in a long time, wrestling is a mainstream, popular sport

Does anyone look at mid 1996 to mid 1998 as transitional years -

-The changeover from grunge and post grunge and ska in 1996 and 1997, to nu-metal, hip hop, and boy band/girl pop of 1998

I feel like by 1996-1997 was gaining nu metal popularity was established and in 1987 or 1988 hip hop was there. 


-The period 3D began to slowly 2D in animation

By mid to late

-The midpoint between the "louder" mid 90s aesthetically and the more subdued Y2K era

-The period in which 3D became increasingly the norm, not the exception, in video games

-The period in which the Internet really began to take off as a legitimate, widespread thing people used

-The era in which TV began to give way from silly sitcoms to more serious shows

-The more serious films of the mid 90s begin to give way to the big budget popcorn films of the late 90s

-Height of the Pop Punk era and Skater scene

-Beginnings of the Emo scene, which won't come into full bloom until the 2000s

-A period of relative peace in the US after the racial tension of 1990-1995, ending with the end of the OJ trial in October 1995

-The second half of Bill Clinton's presidency begins, but before Lewinsky.

-Cars begin to take on their more modern, sleeker look as opposed to the earlier, boxier look of 1994/1995 model cars.

-Star Wars hype regins anew in 1997 with the rerelease of the original movies and the beginning of filming of the Phantom Menace in June 1997, Star Wars will be an icon of the late 90s again even in spite of the arguable quality of the Phantom Menace

-Power Rangers slowly begins to fade out of the mainstream starting in 1996, and by 1998, Pokemon is starting to pick up steam.

-The WWF/WWE Attitude era begins, which lasts until around 2000; for the first time in a long time, wrestling is a mainstream, popular sport



Somewhat agree. Late 1996, mid 1997 and mid to late 1998 had  more notable turning points within that period.

Also this is how I see it personally:

Mid 1996 was still mostly the same as 1994/1995 to early 1996, maybe a few things were a bit different but it didn't change much. 
August 1996 to April 1997 was like a transitional last phase of the mid 90s, with bits and pieces of incoming late 90s culture changing things up a bit.
Spring/Summer 1997 still had the same atmosphere as late 96/early 97 but a number of things felt more firmly late 90s.
Fall of 1997 to Feb/March 1998 : The purest late 90s
Feb/March 1998 to August 1998: Mostly late 90s and the same vibe but bigger and more crucial Y2K elements were starting to appear, more than previous times, while transitioning to the Y2K era.
August-October 1998 : The start of the Y2K era   

August 1995 - April 1997: Mixture Between Mid & late 90s but, still mostly mid 90s.

May 1997 - August 1997: Mid & Late 90s but, leaning towards late 90s.

September 1997 - February 1998: Pure Late 90s.

March 1998 - October 1998: Late 90s & Y2K era but, mostly late 90s

November 1998 - April 1999: Late 90s & Y2K era but, mostly Y2K.

May 1999 - April 2000: Pure Y2K.

Yes, culture went from grungy to poppy, skater to preppy.

Some really interesting new music started coming out or else started becoming popular in late 1997 though.

August 1995 - April 1997: Mixture Between Mid & late 90s but, still mostly mid 90s.

May 1997 - August 1997: Mid & Late 90s but leaning towards late 90s.

September 1997 - February 1998: Pure Late 90s.

March 1998 - October 1998: Late 90s & Y2K era but, mostly late 90s

November 1998 - April 1999: Late 90s & Y2K era but, mostly Y2K.

May 1999 - April 2000: Pure Y2K.



Really like your take on this. I will add the earlier part

July 1989 to July 1990:  Late 80s and early 90s but leaning towards the early 90s. 

August 1990 to April 1992: Pure early 90s

May 1992 to July 1993: Early 90s and mid 90s but leaning early 90s

August 1993 to June 1994: Early 90s and mid 90s but leaning mid 90s

July 1994 to July 1995 (or July 1996) : Mid 90s and small bits of late 90s, leaning mid 90s or you could see it as pure mid 90s

Here's why 1996 - 1998 was transitional.. And only two word are needed to explain it:

The Web.

Here's why 1996 - 1998 was transitional.. And only two word are needed to explain it:

The Web.


I feel like while technically the internet did get big around that time, I don’t feel like it changed things until 1998, more so the latter part of 1998 and 1999.

I remember it still being a novelty mostly revolving around checking out a fansite or a homepage of a particular brand or chat groups/forums.

Just a bit more widespread and developed than 93-95.

-Most people still didn’t have email
-Print media was more extensive with information.
-It was too expensive to spend a lot of time on and would require a separate phone line.
-Very few people were ordering online
-Internet wasn’t really a research tool beyond fan sites and limited information
- Work and school still didn’t require you to use the internet.
- There was barely any music to download, wasn’t easy as well, and barely enough video content