Which year best exemplified early 2010s culture?

[HillGoose]

I included every year between 2010 and 2015 (which if you divide the 2010s into only "early" and "late" halves would be the latest possible year you could consider "early" 2010s)

In my opinion, 2010 was pretty similar to the late 00s, and 2011 was probably the embodiment of the rise of the early 2010s, but didn't truly exemplify the period.

That makes the year that truly defined the early 2010s a toss up between 2012 and 2013 for me. I'd go with 2012 because it seems very solidly in that period, at least in my opinion. The memory of the late 00s recession induced-malaise seemed to be starting to fade, a new sort of neoliberal post-recession excess had taken hold and a lot of things that I tend to associate with the early 2010s peaked in that year or the next.

2013 kind of brought on the transition into the mid-late 2010s culture we have today, 2014 intensified it and by 2015 I would say the early 2010s were over.

[Dr. MB]

2012. The early 2010s ended in 2013.

[courts]

2011

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I don't know how I would describe "early 2010s culture" yet.  We're just getting far enough away for remembering the '90s as an over-simplified decade.

[HillGoose]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I've noticed that too. Something massive changed.

I remember during the 2012 general election campaign, internet forums not solely dedicated to politics were almost unified in support of Obama. Finding anyone who actually supported Romney was typically a difficult task, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Obama was the best choice.

Something about that changed by 2016 though. I imagine a majority of those internet forums were still in support of Clinton over Trump during the general election, but it didn't seem like it. The only people you could hear (whether it was because they were so loud they drowned out the Clinton supporters or simply because the Clinton supporters didn't often talk about supporting her) were the Trump supporters.

I swear 2014 changed stuff. I've heard all kinds of similar sentiments as yours, and I agree. I've heard explanations as varied as everything from the Russian invasion of Crimea and the rise of ISIS, to the Isla Vista murders, the disappearance of MH370, and "Gamergate." What I don't understand is how one year changed the internet from being largely in support of moderate-liberal progressive politics to basically being a battlefield between the far right and the far left with anyone in between immediately being written off as "sheep." It seems too quick, too fast to change so much without some kind of outside involvement.

It makes me more sympathetic to the idea that anti-American trolls were in on it. The way the normal consensus on the internet changed so much in such a short time makes me think there was something more to it than normal social change, and state actors had a lot to do with it.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I think the turning point was in late 2014 when many anti-police protests were happening all across the nation. Many liberals I know were infuriated by those protests and begin to shift away from calling themselves liberals or progressives after that especially when it seemed like the Democrats were defending those anti-police protesters(It may not be true but that perception was created).

[darklordoftech]

2012. The Avengers was released, Disney bought Star Wars, Hurricane Sandy happened, a Presidential election happened, etc.

[darklordoftech]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I've noticed that too. Something massive changed.

I remember during the 2012 general election campaign, internet forums not solely dedicated to politics were almost unified in support of Obama. Finding anyone who actually supported Romney was typically a difficult task, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Obama was the best choice.

1. Obama never tried to censor video games while Hillary did.
2. The impeachment of Clinton, Dubya's stem-cell research, abortion, and sex ed policies, Santorum's views on contraception, and Obama supporting same-sex marriage gave the impression that the GOP was the sexually repressive party and that the Democrats were the party of sexual liberty.

[HillGoose]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I've noticed that too. Something massive changed.

I remember during the 2012 general election campaign, internet forums not solely dedicated to politics were almost unified in support of Obama. Finding anyone who actually supported Romney was typically a difficult task, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Obama was the best choice.

1. Obama never tried to censor video games while Hillary did.
2. The impeachment of Clinton, Dubya's stem-cell research, abortion, and sex ed policies, Santorum's views on contraception, and Obama supporting same-sex marriage gave the impression that the GOP was the sexually repressive party and that the Democrats were the party of sexual liberty.

True. But it's curious that the internet consensus would move from supporting sexual liberty to supporting sexual repression from 2012 to 2016, given that the internet is mostly made up of young people and has always been for the most part.

[HillGoose]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I've noticed that too. Something massive changed.

I remember during the 2012 general election campaign, internet forums not solely dedicated to politics were almost unified in support of Obama. Finding anyone who actually supported Romney was typically a difficult task, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Obama was the best choice.

1. Obama never tried to censor video games while Hillary did.
2. The impeachment of Clinton, Dubya's stem-cell research, abortion, and sex ed policies, Santorum's views on contraception, and Obama supporting same-sex marriage gave the impression that the GOP was the sexually repressive party and that the Democrats were the party of sexual liberty.

True. But it's curious that the internet consensus would move from supporting sexual liberty to supporting sexual repression from 2012 to 2016, given that the internet is mostly made up of young people and has always been for the most part.

Incel culture became a lot more prominent. The incels realized that sexual liberty wasn't helping them, because a few Chads would just spin plates and that they would be better off under enforced monogamy.

lmao "enforced monogamy" sounds like a dystopian social program.

From what I've seen of "incels" though, I don't think they actually even want actual monogamous sex. It seems like the very hardcore incel guys are actual pedophiles or rapists, and the rest of them are either self-hating gay guys ("I hate women and I'm going to obsess over how perfect half-naked Chad's body is compared to mine") or awkward men with unrealistic expectations who refuse to lower their standards ("mid-30s pornlord seeks 20 year old model who can suck a golfball through a hosepipe")

What makes me mad is that they're literally indoctrinating teenage boys into their death cult. I've seen on the internet all these teenagers and young adults who think they're worthless and it's so stupid. I don't understand how that group has so much influence over internet culture honestly.

[darklordoftech]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I've noticed that too. Something massive changed.

I remember during the 2012 general election campaign, internet forums not solely dedicated to politics were almost unified in support of Obama. Finding anyone who actually supported Romney was typically a difficult task, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Obama was the best choice.

1. Obama never tried to censor video games while Hillary did.
2. The impeachment of Clinton, Dubya's stem-cell research, abortion, and sex ed policies, Santorum's views on contraception, and Obama supporting same-sex marriage gave the impression that the GOP was the sexually repressive party and that the Democrats were the party of sexual liberty.

True. But it's curious that the internet consensus would move from supporting sexual liberty to supporting sexual repression from 2012 to 2016, given that the internet is mostly made up of young people and has always been for the most part.

Anti-SJWs support sexual liberty (such as the right to have sex in college, unrestricted porn, women wearing bikinis in the media, etc.). In fact, doesn't "SJW" usually mean "sexually repressive feminist"?

[HillGoose]

The literal early 2010s was 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first four months of 2013. In that case, I would say 2011. But it sounds like you are talking more about the first half of the 2010s. In that case, I would say 2012.

For the latter case, there was a huge ill wind in late 2014. The GamerGate movement and the discrediting of the article Rape on Campus by Rolling Stone, and blogs like Slate Star Codex, really gave the Alt Right control of the Internet. It was a real shock to me at the time because progressives had been in pretty solid control since 2006. We controlled the mainstream media. When the revolution happened it changed the entire culture to where we are now. A few people, like Eron Gjoni, can really take satisfaction in playing important roles. It continued into 2015 with things like Ellen Pao being ousted from Reddit, Gawker shutting down, the Trump campaign beginning, and so on, but it was the late 2014 ill wind that started it. I have followed Internet culture closely since the early 2000s and I know where there's a big sea change. There was one in 2006 with Bush going down, and there was one in late 2014.

I've noticed that too. Something massive changed.

I remember during the 2012 general election campaign, internet forums not solely dedicated to politics were almost unified in support of Obama. Finding anyone who actually supported Romney was typically a difficult task, and it seemed to be generally agreed that Obama was the best choice.

1. Obama never tried to censor video games while Hillary did.
2. The impeachment of Clinton, Dubya's stem-cell research, abortion, and sex ed policies, Santorum's views on contraception, and Obama supporting same-sex marriage gave the impression that the GOP was the sexually repressive party and that the Democrats were the party of sexual liberty.

True. But it's curious that the internet consensus would move from supporting sexual liberty to supporting sexual repression from 2012 to 2016, given that the internet is mostly made up of young people and has always been for the most part.

Anti-SJWs support sexual liberty (such as the right to have sex in college, unrestricted porn, women wearing bikinis in the media, etc.). In fact, doesn't "SJW" usually mean "sexually repressive feminist"?

Yes, but that's kind of my point about consensus on mainstream internet forums going from moderate progressive liberalism towards an all out fight between far-right vs. far-left.

It became more like if you were moderate, and weren't either a crazy SJW far-left idiot or a crazy incel far-right idiot, people assumed you were whichever extreme wing they didn't like because you were disagreeing with them. So those in the middle felt trapped, if you weren't on one extreme you basically got attacked from both extremes as a member of the other.

[mvd10]

2010 was too 2000s-ish. 2011 was the transition year. Late 2012 and early 2013 were peak early 2010s. By 2014 Gamergate and those things started to come up so that basically was the canary in the coal mine for mid/late 2010s culture (Kekistan/alt-right lol).

#Analysis

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

2012 was the best year I had. Every year, after that, when I got older went downhill fast. But, this year, I've come up.

[HillGoose]

2010 was too 2000s-ish. 2011 was the transition year. Late 2012 and early 2013 were peak early 2010s. By 2014 Gamergate and those things started to come up so that basically was the canary in the coal mine for mid/late 2010s culture (Kekistan/alt-right lol).

#Analysis

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I think the peak early-2010s were roughly May of 2012 to August or so of 2013.

[Agonized-Statism]

2012. Obama vs. Romney, after Occupy but before Black Lives Matter, The Avengers, first year without the Democratic Leadership Council (indicating that they had completed their mission by becoming the establishment and beating their unilateral neocon cousins IMO), last year before Adventure Time spawned all the cartoons it influenced into the late 2010s (e.g. Steven Universe), Gravity Falls just started, nearing the peak of the Whovians and of the last British Invasion in general, Wii U, Aurora and Sandy Hook shootings, first year the War on Terror wasn't relevant post-Iraq drawdown. All the elements are pretty neatly represented. I emphasize the cartoons because the next few years represented a transition of those shows' fandom cultures into something more politically influential, the progressive millennial culture which would spawn the reaction that motivated the next generation of the right-wing to propel Trump to the presidency in alliance with the Tea Party types.

The alt-right likes to claim Gamergate as a turning point, which was true for a lot of young people. I'd say the early 2010s and the late 2010s are clearly demarcated by 2015, when Trump, Sanders, and Clinton announced their candidacies and Obgerfell v. Hodges happened. Now, 2018 felt like the transition to this cynical late '00s-esque period we're in. The vaporwave stuff disappeared, the '70s/'80s/'90s nostalgia is gone, the Trump movement dropped that more vibrant Kekistan stuff and the libertarians got subsumed by the fascists online, and the Democrats dropped the progressive marketing. Things started getting ugly that year with Iran and China, which I see as a prelude to a decade of wars.

[Progressive Pessimist]

2010 was too 2000s-ish. 2011 was the transition year. Late 2012 and early 2013 were peak early 2010s. By 2014 Gamergate and those things started to come up so that basically was the canary in the coal mine for mid/late 2010s culture (Kekistan/alt-right lol).

#Analysis

I am in complete agreement. 2014 was the years the internet officially stopped being fun.

[SevenEleven]

2012-2016 😍😍😍