Do you think there's a bigger difference between 1990 vs. 1999 or 2000 vs. 2009?

I personally think the 90's were a lot more transitional, especially when it comes to fashion and technology.

I personally think the 90's were a lot more transitional, especially when it comes to fashion and technology.

I can agree there, especially since I lived through it.

The stock market made huge gains from the beginning of the 90's to the end of the '90s; "Dot-Com boom" also happened then.

In there own special way, both decades were 'changeful', the general public began to access the Internet and the World Wide Web in the 1990s, and the 2000s top it all giving more to do on the World Wide Web as the number of domains increased. 

2000s

It's not even close.

Speaking from the perspective of someone living in the United States at the time, I found the 1990s to be one of the most stagnant decades in my lifetime (I was born in the 1960s).  Fashion, music, politics, movies, TV, cars were slow to change for the first several years of the decade.  The only thing that I felt that changed rapidly was technology, but the same could be said of other decades.  In 1994, I remember having to explain to college-aged youths what the Internet was and how to use a web browser.  By 1998, some of my students were carrying cell phones.

I've always called the period from about 1975/76/77 to around 2001/02/03 "The Long Decade".  It's a time period characterized by gradual evolutionary change, especially compared to the periods before (1963-1974) and after it (2001-2013) which were revolutionary and in which pop culture was much more highly politicized and polarized.  This is the way I divide up the past 100 years:

1920-1929
1929-1941
1939-1945
1945-1963
1963-1974
1976-2001
2003-2014
2012-2020

Keep in mind the years are very fuzzy (they could easily be plus or minus a few years); that's why there's years missing and overlapping years.  I'm also not sure where the dividing line between the last two eras should be.  Or whether there should even be two separate eras.  You could make an argument that 2001/02/03-2020 is a single era.  The Regime Change War Era?  The Neo Era (Neo being a reference to both The Matrix and neoconservatism and neoliberalism)?  On the other hand, I think there was a very palpable change in the mood of the country sometime between 2012 and 2015 (I seem to recall that other people on this website have started topics about this).  Certainly by 2016 with the emergence of Trump and the coming-of-age of Generation Z.  I dunno, it'll probably become more clear in the future with the benefit of hindsight.

In there own special way, both decades were 'changeful', the general public began to access the Internet and the World Wide Web in the 1990s, and the 2000s top it all giving more to do on the World Wide Web as the number of domains increased. 

Good answer! O0

2000s

It's not even close.

Speaking from the perspective of someone living in the United States at the time, I found the 1990s to be one of the most stagnant decades in my lifetime (I was born in the 1960s).  Fashion, music, politics, movies, TV, cars were slow to change for the first several years of the decade.  The only thing that I felt that changed rapidly was technology, but the same could be said of other decades.  In 1994, I remember having to explain to college-aged youths what the Internet was and how to use a web browser.  By 1998, some of my students were carrying cell phones.

I've always called the period from about 1975/76/77 to around 2001/02/03 "The Long Decade".  It's a time period characterized by gradual evolutionary change, especially compared to the periods before (1963-1974) and after it (2001-2013) which were revolutionary and in which pop culture was much more highly politicized and polarized.  This is the way I divide up the past 100 years:

1920-1929
1929-1941
1939-1945
1945-1963
1963-1974
1976-2001
2003-2014
2012-2020

Keep in mind the years are very fuzzy (they could easily be plus or minus a few years); that's why there's years missing and overlapping years.  I'm also not sure where the dividing line between the last two eras should be.  Or whether there should even be two separate eras.  You could make an argument that 2001/02/03-2020 is a single era.  The Regime Change War Era?  The Neo Era (Neo being a reference to both The Matrix and neoconservatism and neoliberalism)?  On the other hand, I think there was a very palpable change in the mood of the country sometime between 2012 and 2015 (I seem to recall that other people on this website have started topics about this).  Certainly by 2016 with the emergence of Trump and the coming-of-age of Generation Z.  I dunno, it'll probably become more clear in the future with the benefit of hindsight.


Interesting analysis. But I still think the 1990s were more impactful in terms of pop culture. There was fashion inspired by grunge bands, the World Wide Web, pocket-sized cell phones, teen pop, nu metal, pop punk, the alternative rock explosion, and video games literally transitioning from 2D to 3D graphics. I could go on.

I honestly feel like both of them were pretty transitional, but I'm going to have to say the 2000s.

The 90s I feel conferred more positive changes but I'm not sure. Maybe the 2000s overall although depending on your view on same-sex marriage that might have been the only good thing about it. The technology and politics of the 2000s mean that we live in a world of rampant neoliberalism (likely unchanged since the 80s) and mass surveillance.
So far what I can happen in the 90s was that bad things happened in Bosnia and Rwanda, places which tend to get overlooked by the West. Bill Clinton's impeachment I'm not sure was very impactful too after that.

Do you think there's a bigger difference between 1990 vs. 1999 or 2000 vs. 2009?

I personally think the 90's were a lot more transitional, especially when it comes to fashion and technology.


1990 to 1999 are worlds apart

1990 had loads of late 80s holdovers and atmosphere but was part of the beginning of the cultural 90s starting from late 89. 1999 already culturally Y2K era and past the core 90s.

Drastic difference between 80s influenced very early 90s vs beginning of the Y2K era which means they have much less in common. Fashion, tech and music styles etc did radically change.

2000 feels very different than 2009 but not that distinct.

2000 just felt like blander version of 1999 and part of the Y2K era. First half of 2009 is late 2000s culture but tail end of 2009 is the beginning of the 2010s but not fully developed yet.

Y2K/2000s/Very early 2010s have less drastic differences and more in common. Fashion, tech and music styles were more modifications and improvements than radical changes.