This should be an interesting thread. Do you think there were more cultural changes between 1998-2003 or between 2008-2013? This includes music, politics, fashion, TV, media, etc.

I personally don't remember 1998-2003, since I didn't even exist for more than half of that time period. I do know that political events like 9/11 pretty much changed a lot of things and was very significant. The election of the first black president in 2008 was also pretty significant and the Great Recession was as well. 1998 was arguably part of the Y2K era and pre-9/11, while 2003 was firmly core 2000's. 2008 was peak late 2000's culture, while 2013 was firmly core 2010's.

I think technologically speaking 2008-2013 was a bigger change. In 2008, flip phones were still the norm and most people didn't have a smartphone yet. Compare that to 2013 where nearly everyone had a smartphone, and apps like Vine started gaining more popularity whereas for half of 2008 you couldn't even install extra apps yet.

I think politically speaking, it's about even. Like I said before, 9/11 was a huge event. 2003 had the start of the Iraq war. And the election of Obama and the Great Recession also affected the country.

98-03. 9/11 changed a lot, especially travel. Iraq war. The late 90s started the rising of gas prices to considerably more than we had been used to. The internet came a long ways, and music file sharing got huge.