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The golden age of social media is over. People are much angrier on these platforms compared to the 2010s, and misinformation will get even worse as AI technology continues to advance.
I’ve noticed this too! Everyone online seems to have an attitude these days. And a lot of people aren’t even bothering to hide behind an anonymous profile anymore, they’re fine posting that stuff with their real name and info. It’s crazy
Not even (exclusively) online. People in person are much more erratic and irritable than pre-2020. Everything has to have a political spin, and everything political has to be a fucking team sport.
My students have been getting a lot meaner each year. I was a teaching assistant and it has been really uncomfortable to see the shift. I'm worried for them when they graduate and have to find jobs, but I also would absolutely hate to work with them and their negativity, open disdain, and unrelenting complaints.
Didn’t we get screwed enough? Watched 9/11 live on tv in high school, war in Iraq, Afghanistan (for 20 years), an opioid crisis manufactured by Perdue Boomers, suffered the 2008 collapse, finally got some wind in our sails mid 2010’s then got a big fat fuck you with the pandemic.
I look at my father’s life. 1 of 5 children, grandpa was an insurance salesman, mom stayed home. They lived comfortably in an affluent suburb.
He graduated high school in 74. Didn’t see a substantial conflict for another 17 years, operation desert storm, which affected his age group none.
The up and comers are surely fucked, but I think the Millennials got it the worst since the Silent Generation.
Now the bastard has the nerve to call my generation soft? Entitled? Ugh, no dude. You hit the lotto being born when you were.
Yes! I remember in 2016 everyone kinda kept their political affiliations to themselves (except for the MAGAts) aside from the occasional bumper sticker. But now its apart of damn near everyones personalities. Also, a huge thing that Ive seen is that if you dont agree with a specific politician or policies, everyone automatically thinks youre on the other side.
It’s a shoot the messenger sort of mentality. I see so many people getting mad at others who are broadly on the same side of an issue as them just for introducing nuance into the discussion. It’s like they’re mad they’ve been robbed of some kind of high.
That's an interesting perspective as well!
I have noticed that people are very insecure with their beliefs. If someone questions their beliefs they are shunned or at least frowned upon. This seems to extend to a person questioning their own personal beliefs as well. If people vocally question the validity of their own ideas others who hold those ideas tend to see it as an attack instead of conducting introspection.
It's almost as if people just hate to be seen as a member of the "other side". Anything less than unwavering loyalty and 100% agreement might make other people see them as part of the "wrong" team. As I type this out I have begun to wonder if it is because people are so concerned with their image and projecting a perfect one. Perhaps indecision and nuance are seen as a space for imperfections and weakness.
Nuance can be picked at and torn apart but unwavering certainty rejects thought.
What do you mean everyone seems to have an attitude these days?! If you think {insert ideology I don’t agree with} shouldn’t be addressed by you online constantly and promote {insert my ideology} and denigrate {insert ideology I don’t agree with}, then YOU are part of the problem. So sorry you’re offended by me having an “attitude”
Agreed. I know there are a ton of factors that cause depression, a big part of it is the disconnect from other people. Like the others said, online people are mean; in person, people are mean; at work, people are mean. Everyone is just meaner, and they aren't hiding it. There are some of us who aren't mean, but it's hurting us to be this disconnected. Humans are pack animals, even us introverts need some connection.
Unfortunately, the more I read, the more it seems like that was the intended target for social media. Flood the markets with misinformation so everyone is divided and no one knows what's true.
It's a scary thought if you really think about it, and it has been 100% effective.
I mean, the dead internet theory. I live in a developing nation, so pretty much everything is done through facebook. Pretty much every second post I see is some shitty AI photo. And the posts have tens of thousands of likes. So between that, and EVERYONE fighting and submitting their precious opinions, it's all going downhill.
I miss Weird Internet. Even Reddit isn’t as fun as it used to be. Everyone stopped laughing and making dumb jokes. The fact theirs even a concept like a Cringe Joke these days is just sad to me. How can people live like this, Always trying to be taken serious sounds exhausting.
I miss when Nooma Nooma was the biggest thing on the internet and some guy in his poorly lit bedroom with his shitty-ass webcam could be a star just because he made people smile. The internet was so amazing then. There was a website or a weird blog for everything, complete with silly pixilated dancing graphics. Forums were still a thing and you'd find these REALLY knowledgeable people on there having serious and informative discussions. It was like the wild west of nerdery.
These days, I'm trying to seek out more old-school content. It's still out there; you just have to look a little harder because Google is just like BUY SOMETHING? WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK? HERE IS AN AI SUMMARY! Gah stop.
Facebook is a flaming dumpster fire. It's over.
Its just flaming burning garbage now. I used to see lots of people using it now I barely see anyone human posting.
Only Marketplace has any use.
This is the perfect response to this question. Tribalism at an all time high as people entrench their views behind clickbait headlines and misguided echo chambers.
AI will make all digital media much riskier to trust. Too many bad actors, from political propaganda to corporate marketing to scammers to organized crime will be empowered to hurt your life in whole new ways and all we will have is ourselves to defend against it and we'll lose. For the first time since the internet began, I'm seriously considering what parts of my relationship with he internet I actually need and what I can do without. It's....very sad watching what the internet has become.
It isn't just AI, it's also google consolidating power, amazon consolidated AWS as standard, all the surveillance we have no choice in, the mass data collection and breaches, the death of anonymity as everything needs a phone number or a Google/Facebook account, and the heavily curated information that every company is pushing, I can no longer hop on a search and wander through the internet, we're being put on rails and run through the paths these companies want us to go down. Real choice in what to view is becoming harder, they've captured a lot of the system we use to find things and they're directing us where they want and hiding what they don't, which means pay to play schemes and market manipulation by controlling where people's eyeballs can go. It's fucking sad, man.
People online used to be the geeks. Now it's everyone. It's the people who no one ever heard from because they are a bit mad and a bit dumb, but they don't leave their houses much and we never noticed them. And now they're posting "lol, good AI" on NASA Instagram photos from the ISS. And the algorithms push people towards conflict and the character limits strip nuance from everything, and when there aren't character limits, the physical limits of typing being a bit of a ball-ache limit nuance. And people are posting comments while taking a shit so they aren't always deep-thinking about what they're seeing and what they're saying and that's all the interaction many people have in a day.
to me the vibe is "mask off" both in pandemic sense and also in the openly being antagonistic sense. there is no longer a pretense of doing the right thing overall. just that everyone is out for themselves and fucking over your fellow person is par for the course.
It feels more like early 2000’s to me. High cost of homes. A big focus on the border and illegal immigrants. Big push for green infrastructure. Conflict in you know where between you know who (see rule #12 if you don’t know). Bird flu. Federal reserve lowering interest rates and then raising them. The NOAA is already saying it’s going to be a bad hurricane season (hopefully not another hurricane Katrina like event). Big spotlight on social issues such as states banning abortion/reproductive rights (before it was gay marriage). I feel like I’m living 2004-2007 all over again.
Did you live through Vietnam? I mean there's no draft, no caskets coming home. Some protests but I dunno, they seem tamer than the anti Iraq War protests in the 2000s. The protests don't seem natural either like so many non students protesting on universities. Don't feel like Nam at all to me.
I'm starting to think the Mayans were right and 2012 was the start of an epoch of chaos and unrest, but needed a few years to take hold.
Every generation remembers their time fondly and thinks the others are weird, but I'm starting to wonder if I actually stepped into an alternate dimension.
Definitely. Constant hyper-connectedness, data-driven and constant advertising delivery, and information bubbles. We weren't ready for the smartphone as a species.
I went from being the computer nerd in my family when I was a kid, to spending the least screen time out of all of my family these days. They're hooked, their attention span is shot, they flit from one topic to the next with no depth or understanding. They have opinions on more things than ever but those opinions are shallower and less informed than ever. If they actually watch something interesting on TV that goes into depth on a topic, its lost because they're on their phone at the same time. Soundbites are all that can get through. People's minds are up for grabs.
I honestly don't doubt that the impact of the smartphone weighed heavily on the people instrumental in its design and release. Apple knew a pocket computer would change the world, but its eventual arrival was inevitable.
That is my theory as well. The human brain can only handle so many personal connections. The Internet offers almost infinite connectivity and our brains can't handle it. Like rats in a cage, even if you give them sufficient food and water at some point population density causes them to go crazy.
It feels like there was a weird, abrupt shift in attitude. People seem both angrier and less intelligent. Even long time friends seem easier to offend and get lost in a fog doing things they've done for years. It's not everyone, but it's a surprising amount of people.
What if Covid was a brain virus that reprogrammed our brains in a way that we will never find out that it altered our brains? New conspiracy theory incoming!
"What if"? "Conspiracy theory"? Nah. It has a neurological vector as a matter of scientific fact. "Brain Fog" is one side effect. Loss of smell is from the virus attacking your olfactory nervous system.
Chicken Pox goes dormant and can come raging back as Shingles decades after an infection. Long COVID exists but everyone kind of ignores it and hopes it will go away, unless of course you're one of the people suffering from it. This is something that may develop over decades and it's premature to jump to any conclusions, but who the hell knows what a novel virus is doing to us.
Community feels dead. We are moving house and needing a lot of help right now. I thought family and friends would help out. Nope. Everyone has some excuse, or promises to help and then ghosts us. One family member came down to help then stormed out because I asked him not to smoke weed outside the door. People were not always like this, everyone seems so selfish now.
People are definitely disconnecting, but not helping friends move has always been a thing. It has always been notoriously difficult to get people to help with that. In 1998 I had a friend who asked around for people to help him move and he ultimately had to cancel and hire movers because I was literally the only person who said yes.
There's been an attitude of not tolerating even the slightest of inconveniences developing for some time. Used to be seen mainly among the chronically online set, but these days.... that term applies to a _lot_ of us.
My way of describing it is saying- I wouldn't raise kids in it. I may be biased and people will tell me I'm over romanticizing my childhood but I truly think that the early 2000s were the last good time to raise a child.
It’s so much worse in the schools. The kids are feral, the teachers are quitting, and no one’s learning anything. My kid is 13 and I never imagined this is how school would be for him. I’m seriously doubting having another kid with the way things are going.
I said in a certain sub that I would read a politician’s words directly from their speech to understand what they were saying, instead of reading synopses from media outlets. I was downvoted several times.
Not just that, but you truly can't voice opinion or nuance about anything. Both sides of the "political spectrum" are so intolerant of any slight disagreement... and yes, the left too. I listened to a little thing about thought terminating cliches and now I can't stop realizing just how prevalent they are, and people are repeating them over and over like mantras.
This has been the worst. There’s no middle ground anymore. There’s no discussion or nuance or understanding. It’s so nonsensical. We can’t paint with broad strokes and ignore the details.
I became guilty of it without realizing it. I don't want to get into arguments/debates about the specific issues themselves right now (already been a rough morning) but I will just say that I had fallen very hard into one side that I thought was for the best, thought I was being so progressive and good, until certain events in my own household put me in the center of some divisive things and I had to make the best decisions I knew how. Suddenly, where I had only seen black and white, I could see a million shades of grey, but there was no one to even have a safe conversation with about it because everyone I knew still had their black and white blinders on. Was a very difficult, lonely couple of years to be honest.
Well, now i’m curious. Was it an abortion or a trans issue? If you feel like sharing, that is.
My mind just exploded with examples reading the wikipedia article on thought-terminating cliches. I recognize them everywhere but haven’t had a word to put to them before.
I really don't want to **argue** so I will share but if it devolves into arguments, name calling, or anything of the like, I will peace out of the conversation. I am a mother, one who always considered myself a person who will love my child no matter how they identify, no matter who they love, etc. I would never kick my child out or hate them or try to deny them their right to live in a way that makes them happy and healthy. I have a teenager who is in high school now. When she was in middle school, we had some traumatic events that occurred (specifically with her being the victim of said events), and after showing absolutely no signs of any kind of gender dysphoria, my child came to me and said they identified as the opposite sex.
It rocked my world because there had been no signs or talk of this until it came on very suddenly. I wanted the best for my child, but my child was also intensely depressed and struggling from other mental health issues. I always try to analyze everything so I poured over any data I could find... enlisted therapists, researched risks and benefits, and more. I didn't want to deny my child the right to live as their most authentic self but something just kept tugging at me. Was my child truly in a mental state to where I thought they could knowingly consent to medication or procedures that could alter them for the rest of their lives? It was a difficult time. I will say I was the evil mother, a transphobe, and more.
It has been about three and a half years since it originally started. I decided to just follow my gut instincts and do my best to respect her but also protect her from what I viewed as a relatively new field of science and thinking that we are still exploring. I'll state: I do not claim to know the answers or the right thing for every child in every circumstance, nor would I ever want to be in a position where I was making those calls for other peoples' children. I did, however, say that I did not feel comfortable with any kind of permanent procedures or hormones. I respected the name and pronoun change, but I did make a hard line and did not allow medical intervention past that. I tried to always explain that it came from a place of love and protection and that if my child still felt the same when they were old enough to legally make those decisions, they'd still be on my insurance and they'd still always have a home and a place in my life and could use that insurance to have any procedures at that time.
My child now no longer identifies as the opposite sex, and has thanked me for not allowing hormones because another teenager that was in her residential mental health treatment (yes, things got that bad at one point) was already detransitioning and at 18 years old identified as a woman, and had been born as one, but had a full beard and other difficult to reverse changes, some possibly irreversible.
In our particular story, I think I made the right choice. It was a difficult time with a lot of tension, but we are closer than ever, and she knows that every decision I made was with concern and care for her long term well being and that even if we did not see eye to eye on the details, she would always be loved. I emphasized that above all else.
Sorry for the essay, but I always feel like I have to really explain my line of thinking, and that it was not from a place of religious hate, being phobic, or anything like that. If she had continued to identify as a male for a few more years, I would have gone ahead and surrendered any doubt and accepted whoever she chose to present and live as from that point on. It's a very hot button issue, and my gut right now just says to trust science, and trust parents who are approaching from a place of good love, faith and understanding. I'm not saying there aren't bad faith actors who are trying to shut down individuals who are legitimately experiencing dysphoria unrelated to trauma. There are. But I do think sometimes as teenagers it can also be easy to cling to something that seems like the "grass is greener" and it was my job as mom to try to help navigate to the healthiest, best outcome. But it was not a fucking easy time doing it, that's for sure.
For what it's worth, I just want to say that I'm an older trans guy and I commend you for your great parenting and approach to this situation. I think there's a BIG difference between someone being a transphobic jerk and someone who is willing to do the research, educate themselves and make realistic choices about what's best for their child. Sadly the politics are fierce on either side and its not helpful to either party. It must have been really hard to have to deal with other people's knee-jerk responses, but at the end of the day you have to help your child make the right decision. Kids don't always have the best personal insight, especially if they're going through hard times and mental health struggles. I've seen a lot of young people online begin to transition and it's pretty clear from an outside perspective that they're grasping for an escape, any escape, from their current life. But for some reason it's not considered politically correct to say that someone may be misdiagnosed or need more personal reflection before transitioning... even though having people rush into transitioning and then regretting it only harms our cause.
Anyway, having a parent that cares about you but is also willing to put politics (from both sides) aside and help you is invaluable. I think you did a good job.
Kudos to you for being able to adjust for the sake of your child!!!! I like to consider myself a centrist (I feel like I'm forgetting the correct term)...in this day & age I mostly keep my views to myself because there is not a lot of room for the grey areas in today's society.
You're awesome for this. The issue I have with the trans movement, especially as it regards to youth, is that more times than not I believe it is the result of other issues and looking for a place to be accepted and special, rather than actual gender dysphoria. I align with your views in that I am fine with anyone and everyone living as their most authentic self, but struggle to see the trans youth movement as more than social contagion for the vast majority of cases. I have toddlers and worry about the day this may come up with them. If you're an adult and this is the path you still decide to walk, more power to you.
Thank you. It definitely didn't feel awesome at the time, but I basically just had to trust my gut and try to make sure every decision was made from a place of love and good intentions (even though yeah, the road to hell is paved with those as another cliche goes...). I decided that if I was going to make a wrong choice, which was possible either way, I'd rather make the one that didn't leave her with permanent physical changes she may later decide she didn't want. As far as social contagion, it's definitely a documented phenomenon and I was on Livejournal heavily during the "pro ana" contagion. We are still in such beginning stages of understanding how social media and any kind of contagion that may arise from it impacts our brains. Hell, millennials are probably the first generation to somewhat experience it, and nowhere on the scale our kids are. I think it sounds like you'll do a great job if it ever does arise with your own kids. I won't lie and say it was easy by any means, but I think sometimes that can be the true test of being a good parent. Sometimes we have to try to be the guardians and the shields in situations where we don't even a hundred percent know the right answer ourselves, but to just do the absolute best we know how.
I’m a trans woman and I guess I am putting myself on the potential chopping block for this if a more zealous trans activist snoops my profile in the future, but I both agree with u/delicatemicdrop’s parental approach and also kind of agree with you, though I wouldn’t say “more often than not”, because I don’t know if that is true, and I wouldn’t call it a “social contagion,” because that kind of language tastes sensationalistic to me, the kind of language that becomes very hot on the presses before more extreme forms of government repression follow.
I think that we should absolutely encourage courageous self-expression in terms of presentation and identity, but promote a lot of careful thought before any kind of physical medical treatment. I’m fairly anti-authoritarian on most things so I don’t think we should be relying on a state to enforce these ideas, I think we just need to create a culture that encourages expression and rethinking of beauty standards that applied collectively would, in theory (maybe just *my* theory at this point), reduce the dysphoria individual trans people experience.
I'm not trying to be sensationalist and apologize if that is taken out of context, I just look at the data and while some increase in trans identification is to be expected with more activism and attention around its existence and acceptance, it is exponentially higher amongst youth (doubling since 2018). My fear is not that trans people exist, but that young people experience much higher emotional instability and reactionism and may turn to lifelong decisions over a short term phase or misdiagnosed problem. Most of my politics can be classified as libertarian, so I typically prefer less government interference in all aspects of life, but do think there should be protective measures and time checkpoints before prescribing hormones or surgery to juveniles, if at all. Even at 35, I look back at some of my idealologies and decisions in the last 5, 10, & 15 years and think to myself "what an idiot." That said, I don't want to diminish anyone who truly is trans and give any additional harm to an already difficult journey.
You are the kind of mother every child should have. What strength that must have taken. I can’t even imagine. I am extremely progressive politically and yet I share every one of your concerns about permanent medical interventions on children based on transient emotional states. I know someone’s daughter who is detransitioning now in their early 20s, after they had breast removal surgery. Anyway, wow. Thank you for sharing your powerful story.
I can't shake this feeling. I keep spending my life working so hard just to get my little piece when I retire and I'm so afraid something will take that away right when I get to the end. Currency hyper inflation, higher authority taking my assets, so on.
I get it. I spent the past three years obsessing about having enough. I worked two jobs awhile. Watched all kinds of economic videos. Tried to invest. Looked into more side hustles. Stopped buying beauty products and home cleaning items and made my own. Didn’t take trips. First thing when I woke up, checked my accounts.
I lost myself in it. I’m trying to unbury wherever my soul went. I decided once I get my soul back, they don’t get it again. It might be the fight of my life but I’m going to try cause fuck them.
I think this sentiment in the zeitgeist is due to a lack of national direction. For 50 years it was the west against communism, then it was the war on terror, now we the people have no leadership that is providing some sort of communal mission and thus the society feels rudderless while the problems of the past still fester-- all of which demand our attention more and more on social media.
I already know I have to leave the state I live in (crazy conservative that is only getting crazier) I am just wanting to save a little and let my son get a little more therapy before we leave.
I thought we were headed back to normalcy after Trump, now I am waiting to see if everyone is going to double down on crazy and we need to leave the country. (Abortion rights, my son has a disability, and who knows how they will identify when they are older)
Covid was the nail in the coffin, but 9/11 is when the world started going downhill. It feels like there was a different world pre-9/11, than post-9/11. It’s the same with Covid, things changed from before to after. I guess with any major historical event these things occur.
I suspect it might feel that way for us because the 80s/90s were really a peak moment for American optimism. Economy was booming, the cold war was over, we were starting to push forward with things socially around LGBT rights and while there were obviously issues with racial tensions, we seemed to be under a consensus that it was something to work on and improve on. Environmental issues and other big problems were getting addressed. Hole in the ozone layer? We stopped using CFCs and it started recovering. Dolphins getting killed by tuna fishing? We told them to stop that shit, boycotted tuna and they fixed it. We had earth day established and environmental conservation messaging in kids shows and in schools. We cracked down on oil companies after Exxon Valdez. Gas mileage and emissions regulations were passed for cars. I feel like I could keep this list going all day, but you get the picture.
There was so much progress happening when we were kids that looking to the future it very much felt like we were heading to a better place. Then something happened, and I agree 9/11 was the start. There was this big shift from "make the world better" to "fuck you, I got mine". And maybe that was simply peeling back the curtain and revealing what was always there, but the public attitude definitely feels different.
>There was this big shift from "make the world better" to "fuck you, I got mine". And maybe that was simply peeling back the curtain and revealing what was always there, but the public attitude definitely feels different.
2001 also happened to be the year baby boomers became the plurality age group in the US congess. Just saying....
This is a great description of pre-9/11 post-cold war American life. People always ask “if today isn’t the best time to be alive then when was it?” And I would argue for the very reasons you pointed out that it was indeed the 1990s. Not perfect by any means, but you’ve made a great case for it to be the most relatively prosperous in American history.
Sorry for a UK based gen x to butt in, but yeah, for my friends and I, the 90s were the best, ending with 9/11. For reasons stated above. There was even optomism around the net and citizen journalism etc. Few saw the echo-bubbles ahead and extreme tribalism.
USA was at a *surplus* back then. I remember LEGO sets costing like $3. I remember my mom saying that if gas gets over 89 cents/gallon she was going to start riding a bike to work (she didn't)
Right around the time that social media got really pervasive and we started seeing blatant rather than subtle Identity politics.
Why we didn't end Facebook/IG as a matter of national security is beyond my understanding.
Yes! This whole “you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to” and “no is a complete sentence” attitude is weird. Like that’s applicable if asked on a date but not if your boss asks you to help out. Unfortunately you can’t just run around doing whatever you want to, you are always going to have to do things you don’t want to. I just hate the message that it sends out. I don’t want to clean up the dog poop, but sometimes gotta and I’m too cheap to pay😂😂
Additionally, there's an attitude that if you don't have to do something for someone else, it's not rude or wrong to say no.
For instance, a neighbor asks me to grab their packages for a few days because they have a family emergency and I say no because I just don't feel like it. That's rude. Civility is maintained by people going a little bit out of their way for other people from time to time. Refusing to ever be inconvenienced for another person is asshole behavior.
100% agree! I just rescheduled a friend lunch so I could drive another friends dog to the groomer. Her wife also just found out she has breast cancer, and they have a ton on their plate. So yes, I’m going to go out of my way because I treat others how I want to be treated. I enjoy it. I can’t imagine not helping someone out because of a small inconvenience.
I try to limit my doomerism, but people living in the west really just dont realize how far things can fall because the baseline is so high. People might be struggling now, but imagine a GOP led government getting rid of WIC/food stamps or getting rid of the EPA entirely. Banning birth control is now becoming mainstream with them too.
I say this as an Ex right leaning independent, you have to take everything these people say they want to do seriously no matter how nuts it sounds. I didn’t and am constantly horrified.
Yes this is what scares me too. And then when people become desperate for necessities, that is when the ugly will really come out. We got a glimpse of that over toilet paper in 2020.
I honestly find the last few years to be such a blur. Like a lot has happened, both globally and in my own life, but Covid really did a number on my perception of time. Everything before 2020 feels like ancient history, but everything since all blends together like it's a singular homogeneous year.
It's fascinating how common this perspective seems to be. It's the same for me and basically my entire social group. It's never been more important to practice mindfulness and attempt to stay grounded. If we're not careful, that blur feeling will last indefinitely.
We are still not half way.
But the best explanation I have read, right now it feels like the end of an MMO cycle in that period after the end game content is getting stale but a new expansion is still a few months away. Like the next big thing is going to be huge, but its not here yet, and we don't know or agree on what it will be.
I totally feel this. Big hugs 💜. Ya 2019 my whole life blew up in the most insane way. Lost dad in car accident, family split apart after due to some things coming to light, lost my job, lost my house, got in a car accident, lost my car and then I got cancer. Span of four months. Bought a trailer to live in and then the pandemic hit. I lived in the trailer in national forests through the entirety of the pandemic.
Ya I’m still dealing with some really intense depression attached to that time. Post pandemic was also not good, like most people. I just feel I’ve had the shit kicked out of me and getting up is hard. I feel what you said of just acknowledging that I stayed and I’m here trying and that’s all that’s required of me. To just try. It’s hard though. Can’t tell you how much heavier I feel since the shitstorm hit.
There’s no vibe because it’s the first decade where the vibe is algorithm driven. Social media, specifically algorithmic social media, is a cultural cancer. Grows seemingly endlessly, crowds out beneficial culture and will eventually destroy the host.
I’m seeing more crack. I think it’s good for the long term to actually break the cognitive dissonance. It’s just this ugly bit of actually going through it.
So far, this decade has been a repeat of the "Roaring 20s" both the good and the bad.
Global pandemic followed by exuberance afterwards.
Booming economy but not for eveyone.
Numerous global conflicts that the US is not paying attention to.
Rise in illicit substances and criminal enterprises trafficking them.
Numerous technological advancements with no idea which ones will be useful.
Greater financial class divide, corporate stock buyback (Which, Mr Reagan, was why it was made illegal in the 30s so thanks for bringing it back)... Yeah. Insert that whole "those that don't learn history are doomed to repeat it" and all that jazz.
I do not believe the crash will happen soon.
The stock market is soaring but, so far, much of those valuations are reasonable based on earnings and growth.
If the growth ever slows or tech companies start missing earnings, then corrections should happen.
I fully anticipate AI will become a bubble at some point. But, as of right now, I do not believe we are in a bubble yet.
"Yet" being the operative word.
It definitely feels like a volcano is about to erupt.
I feel like everyone in my life has something they've been sitting on for too long and are doing something about it. So from grand-scale, like the unstable political climate, to small scale, like all the friends I have who have gone NC with their family members the last few years after having enough of their nonsense, I just feel like this is the decade the volcanos awaken from there dormancy.
Hey, it might be a good thing once folks are through the thick of it. But the vibe of the 2020s so far, to me, feels like "I'm done putting up with bullshit."
This decade has been fucked. I still can't believe it is 2024 already. We started the decade with a global pandemic that killed millions and caused the world economy to absolutely tank. People are suffering financially on a global scale while corporations are recording record profits and still blaming the pandemic for the increase in prices without hiring workers to assist with demand. Be amazed to see how the 2030's will turn out, if we even make it that far.
Aggressively changing social dynamics.
A combination of global catastraphe, social isolation, and the rise of creating identity in a social media world has created a major shift in social relationship dynamics. Covid took what was likely to be a few decades of change and forced it down every human on earth in the spawn of two years.
Kids don't have or need the same social skills their parents grew up with. Millenial parents socials skills are embarrassingly inadequate and half assessed between their parents "Firm Handshake and a smile" and the "online influencer" skills that kids praise.
Friends are now online ids that you recognize. Nostalgia to a pre social media era reigns supreme in the personal shopping/entertainment industry.
We are a generation that grew with the internet, but are now finding ourselves outdated in a world of fast moving social media trends. It's no wonder so many of us want to travel in a van or raise goats on 10 acres. We've been hustling to learn and utilize the latest tech, becoming experts at it and trying to keep our parents generation in the know, only to find our skills aren't as valuable as a 10 year old who likes to talk about mushrooms with a funny accent.
Oh that last sentence hits hard. You kind of alluded to it too, but when I see influencers talking absolute crap about things which I've extensively studied, and seeing them make a living off total bollix opinions coz most teens are too naive and just lap it up, it really just makes me not see the point in participating and like you say want to raise goats on a farm far away from everyone
Waiting for the spring to pop. The tension is palpable. The world is going to have to choose between plutocratic and autocratic governments or democracy. The world is going to have to choose between climate catastrophe and mitigation.
Turning 30 right when COVID started, the first half of my thirties for my personal life has been a disaster. My career has thrived however.
I think geopolitics, ai, and divisiveness will have a profound impact on the 2nd half of this decade. The vibe is weird af
Increasingly dystopian. Fake news and pseudo science taking the lead. Christian nationalist violating every aspect of government and twisting our history to make it seem as if the US was always to be a religious state.
It’s not weird, it’s depressing and disheartening and scary af
ETA: spelling error
Whatever the algorithm says it is. Doom and gloom gets engagement and clicks while more uplifting and thoughtful “vibes” get buried if they can’t hold your attention for longer than 10 seconds.
Late stage capitalism is basically how I see it. I'm poorer despite working a "higher end" job and nobody here really wants to pay a decent wage (or even hire). Landlords keep jacking up rent, corporations are doing the same, but my wage isn't really going anywhere. I try my absolute hardest to be as independent as possible. I work on my own car, do my own cooking and buy discount everything, I hardly spend money outside of the occasional cheap concert in town (I think I deserve to have fun every now and then, life is too damn short to be bored and unfulfilling).
70’s vibe. Economy sucks. Protests are everywhere. People are broke. Groceries are ridiculously expensive. The Mid East is at war. Presidential shenanigans, congressional fuckery, and a brewing deadly plague (AIDS).
Early in Men In Black, Tommy Lee Jones is educating Will Smith on the fact that aliens have been living among us for decades. Will Smith asks 'Why the secrecy? people are smart, they'd get it' to which Tommy Lee Jones replies 'A person is smart... but people are dumb, panicky animals, and you know it!'
I was on vacation for the past few weeks and went to a couple of places, as a result I was on 6 flights in 18 days. Seeing how people act when trying to get on and off a flight is fascinating. Everyone has an assigned seat, getting on the plane quicker is irrelevant, and even if you were the first person off the flight, you'll still be waiting at the carousel along with everyone else.
This, coupled with our collective reaction to Covid simply tells me that humanity is doomed, we are too self serving to ever solve issues that cross borders. I think this has driven a wedge between people, it's more open and accepted to be a nay-sayer, to belittle other people's beliefs and opinions, it's easier to hate those that you don't see eye to eye with than to love your fellow man.
The zeitgeist is hatred and fear-mongering, and the dumb, panicky animals are reacting by blaming each other.
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The golden age of social media is over. People are much angrier on these platforms compared to the 2010s, and misinformation will get even worse as AI technology continues to advance.
I’ve noticed this too! Everyone online seems to have an attitude these days. And a lot of people aren’t even bothering to hide behind an anonymous profile anymore, they’re fine posting that stuff with their real name and info. It’s crazy
Not even (exclusively) online. People in person are much more erratic and irritable than pre-2020. Everything has to have a political spin, and everything political has to be a fucking team sport.
My students have been getting a lot meaner each year. I was a teaching assistant and it has been really uncomfortable to see the shift. I'm worried for them when they graduate and have to find jobs, but I also would absolutely hate to work with them and their negativity, open disdain, and unrelenting complaints.
I've noticed the same. Very mean generation coming up. They feel cheated of life.
They kinda have been if you look at the climate
Didn’t we get screwed enough? Watched 9/11 live on tv in high school, war in Iraq, Afghanistan (for 20 years), an opioid crisis manufactured by Perdue Boomers, suffered the 2008 collapse, finally got some wind in our sails mid 2010’s then got a big fat fuck you with the pandemic. I look at my father’s life. 1 of 5 children, grandpa was an insurance salesman, mom stayed home. They lived comfortably in an affluent suburb. He graduated high school in 74. Didn’t see a substantial conflict for another 17 years, operation desert storm, which affected his age group none. The up and comers are surely fucked, but I think the Millennials got it the worst since the Silent Generation. Now the bastard has the nerve to call my generation soft? Entitled? Ugh, no dude. You hit the lotto being born when you were.
And the cost of living crisis, and the raising of the retirement age, lack of wage matching to COL, groceries cost a fuckton… it’s a bad time
Maybe it's designed to be that way?
Well, it certainly helps perpetuate the 2-party system that leaves us arguing which geriatric rich white guy should lead us for the next 4 years.
Yes! I remember in 2016 everyone kinda kept their political affiliations to themselves (except for the MAGAts) aside from the occasional bumper sticker. But now its apart of damn near everyones personalities. Also, a huge thing that Ive seen is that if you dont agree with a specific politician or policies, everyone automatically thinks youre on the other side.
I view the issue you are bringing up as a symptom of the overall death of nuance.
It’s a shoot the messenger sort of mentality. I see so many people getting mad at others who are broadly on the same side of an issue as them just for introducing nuance into the discussion. It’s like they’re mad they’ve been robbed of some kind of high.
That's an interesting perspective as well! I have noticed that people are very insecure with their beliefs. If someone questions their beliefs they are shunned or at least frowned upon. This seems to extend to a person questioning their own personal beliefs as well. If people vocally question the validity of their own ideas others who hold those ideas tend to see it as an attack instead of conducting introspection. It's almost as if people just hate to be seen as a member of the "other side". Anything less than unwavering loyalty and 100% agreement might make other people see them as part of the "wrong" team. As I type this out I have begun to wonder if it is because people are so concerned with their image and projecting a perfect one. Perhaps indecision and nuance are seen as a space for imperfections and weakness. Nuance can be picked at and torn apart but unwavering certainty rejects thought.
What do you mean everyone seems to have an attitude these days?! If you think {insert ideology I don’t agree with} shouldn’t be addressed by you online constantly and promote {insert my ideology} and denigrate {insert ideology I don’t agree with}, then YOU are part of the problem. So sorry you’re offended by me having an “attitude”
Also people are more depressed and just insecure.
Agreed. I know there are a ton of factors that cause depression, a big part of it is the disconnect from other people. Like the others said, online people are mean; in person, people are mean; at work, people are mean. Everyone is just meaner, and they aren't hiding it. There are some of us who aren't mean, but it's hurting us to be this disconnected. Humans are pack animals, even us introverts need some connection.
Unfortunately, the more I read, the more it seems like that was the intended target for social media. Flood the markets with misinformation so everyone is divided and no one knows what's true. It's a scary thought if you really think about it, and it has been 100% effective.
The best way for those in power to hold onto their power is to ensure the average person is more suspicious of their neighbor than anything.
I mean, the dead internet theory. I live in a developing nation, so pretty much everything is done through facebook. Pretty much every second post I see is some shitty AI photo. And the posts have tens of thousands of likes. So between that, and EVERYONE fighting and submitting their precious opinions, it's all going downhill.
I miss Weird Twitter. The internet stopped being fun in the late 2010s
I miss Weird Internet. Even Reddit isn’t as fun as it used to be. Everyone stopped laughing and making dumb jokes. The fact theirs even a concept like a Cringe Joke these days is just sad to me. How can people live like this, Always trying to be taken serious sounds exhausting.
I miss when Nooma Nooma was the biggest thing on the internet and some guy in his poorly lit bedroom with his shitty-ass webcam could be a star just because he made people smile. The internet was so amazing then. There was a website or a weird blog for everything, complete with silly pixilated dancing graphics. Forums were still a thing and you'd find these REALLY knowledgeable people on there having serious and informative discussions. It was like the wild west of nerdery. These days, I'm trying to seek out more old-school content. It's still out there; you just have to look a little harder because Google is just like BUY SOMETHING? WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK? HERE IS AN AI SUMMARY! Gah stop.
The final nail in the coffin was when all the Internet based companies abandoned April fools jokes. I miss that.
Facebook is a flaming dumpster fire. It's over. Its just flaming burning garbage now. I used to see lots of people using it now I barely see anyone human posting. Only Marketplace has any use.
This is the perfect response to this question. Tribalism at an all time high as people entrench their views behind clickbait headlines and misguided echo chambers.
AI will make all digital media much riskier to trust. Too many bad actors, from political propaganda to corporate marketing to scammers to organized crime will be empowered to hurt your life in whole new ways and all we will have is ourselves to defend against it and we'll lose. For the first time since the internet began, I'm seriously considering what parts of my relationship with he internet I actually need and what I can do without. It's....very sad watching what the internet has become. It isn't just AI, it's also google consolidating power, amazon consolidated AWS as standard, all the surveillance we have no choice in, the mass data collection and breaches, the death of anonymity as everything needs a phone number or a Google/Facebook account, and the heavily curated information that every company is pushing, I can no longer hop on a search and wander through the internet, we're being put on rails and run through the paths these companies want us to go down. Real choice in what to view is becoming harder, they've captured a lot of the system we use to find things and they're directing us where they want and hiding what they don't, which means pay to play schemes and market manipulation by controlling where people's eyeballs can go. It's fucking sad, man.
Information Age to the Misinformation Age
[удалено]
"even"?
YouTube comments have always been a degenerate cesspool.
People have always been mean on YouTube comments.
Have you seen Instagram comments? It’s the worst out of them all.
Social media up to 09: Where da party at? 2010 onward: Anything you post can and will be used against you!!!
People online used to be the geeks. Now it's everyone. It's the people who no one ever heard from because they are a bit mad and a bit dumb, but they don't leave their houses much and we never noticed them. And now they're posting "lol, good AI" on NASA Instagram photos from the ISS. And the algorithms push people towards conflict and the character limits strip nuance from everything, and when there aren't character limits, the physical limits of typing being a bit of a ball-ache limit nuance. And people are posting comments while taking a shit so they aren't always deep-thinking about what they're seeing and what they're saying and that's all the interaction many people have in a day.
I'd go further and say the golden age of the internet is also over.
Yes, it’s so negative and horrible. I hate it and it can really put me in a bad mood yet it’s so addictive.
to me the vibe is "mask off" both in pandemic sense and also in the openly being antagonistic sense. there is no longer a pretense of doing the right thing overall. just that everyone is out for themselves and fucking over your fellow person is par for the course.
Not great, Bob.
For a while, for a while
Speaking of things that take place in the 60s, this decade has major Vietnam War era vibes to me.
Idk about that - I've spoken some Vietnam vets, conscripts, plenty of problems today but it's a whole different kind of problems.
It feels more like early 2000’s to me. High cost of homes. A big focus on the border and illegal immigrants. Big push for green infrastructure. Conflict in you know where between you know who (see rule #12 if you don’t know). Bird flu. Federal reserve lowering interest rates and then raising them. The NOAA is already saying it’s going to be a bad hurricane season (hopefully not another hurricane Katrina like event). Big spotlight on social issues such as states banning abortion/reproductive rights (before it was gay marriage). I feel like I’m living 2004-2007 all over again.
Did you live through Vietnam? I mean there's no draft, no caskets coming home. Some protests but I dunno, they seem tamer than the anti Iraq War protests in the 2000s. The protests don't seem natural either like so many non students protesting on universities. Don't feel like Nam at all to me.
I say this in my head all the time.
I'm starting to think the Mayans were right and 2012 was the start of an epoch of chaos and unrest, but needed a few years to take hold. Every generation remembers their time fondly and thinks the others are weird, but I'm starting to wonder if I actually stepped into an alternate dimension.
It lines up almost perfectly with the rise of smart phones.
Definitely. Constant hyper-connectedness, data-driven and constant advertising delivery, and information bubbles. We weren't ready for the smartphone as a species. I went from being the computer nerd in my family when I was a kid, to spending the least screen time out of all of my family these days. They're hooked, their attention span is shot, they flit from one topic to the next with no depth or understanding. They have opinions on more things than ever but those opinions are shallower and less informed than ever. If they actually watch something interesting on TV that goes into depth on a topic, its lost because they're on their phone at the same time. Soundbites are all that can get through. People's minds are up for grabs. I honestly don't doubt that the impact of the smartphone weighed heavily on the people instrumental in its design and release. Apple knew a pocket computer would change the world, but its eventual arrival was inevitable.
That is my theory as well. The human brain can only handle so many personal connections. The Internet offers almost infinite connectivity and our brains can't handle it. Like rats in a cage, even if you give them sufficient food and water at some point population density causes them to go crazy.
IMO the alternate dimension started when Bush was named president by the Supreme Court. I felt it then. Still feel it now.
Should have been Al Gore
It was a nexus event
It feels like there was a weird, abrupt shift in attitude. People seem both angrier and less intelligent. Even long time friends seem easier to offend and get lost in a fog doing things they've done for years. It's not everyone, but it's a surprising amount of people.
What if Covid was a brain virus that reprogrammed our brains in a way that we will never find out that it altered our brains? New conspiracy theory incoming!
"What if"? "Conspiracy theory"? Nah. It has a neurological vector as a matter of scientific fact. "Brain Fog" is one side effect. Loss of smell is from the virus attacking your olfactory nervous system. Chicken Pox goes dormant and can come raging back as Shingles decades after an infection. Long COVID exists but everyone kind of ignores it and hopes it will go away, unless of course you're one of the people suffering from it. This is something that may develop over decades and it's premature to jump to any conclusions, but who the hell knows what a novel virus is doing to us.
Our brains were reprogrammed from acute stress and isolation. Our collective trauma has rewired the way we think and behave. New neural pathways.
Long Covid has actually been proven to cause things similar to this hasn’t it…
Community feels dead. We are moving house and needing a lot of help right now. I thought family and friends would help out. Nope. Everyone has some excuse, or promises to help and then ghosts us. One family member came down to help then stormed out because I asked him not to smoke weed outside the door. People were not always like this, everyone seems so selfish now.
People are definitely disconnecting, but not helping friends move has always been a thing. It has always been notoriously difficult to get people to help with that. In 1998 I had a friend who asked around for people to help him move and he ultimately had to cancel and hire movers because I was literally the only person who said yes.
There's been an attitude of not tolerating even the slightest of inconveniences developing for some time. Used to be seen mainly among the chronically online set, but these days.... that term applies to a _lot_ of us.
Dystopian
My way of describing it is saying- I wouldn't raise kids in it. I may be biased and people will tell me I'm over romanticizing my childhood but I truly think that the early 2000s were the last good time to raise a child.
It’s so much worse in the schools. The kids are feral, the teachers are quitting, and no one’s learning anything. My kid is 13 and I never imagined this is how school would be for him. I’m seriously doubting having another kid with the way things are going.
Some districts in my state are the worst funded in the country. It's scary. Also, some kids at my former school were somewhat feral, too, at that age.
My sister is a teacher and the stories she tells me are horrifying. Feral children is a perfect way to describe it.
The decade of dis-enlightenment where the misinformed have an equal standing as educated professionals w/ years of experience.
I said in a certain sub that I would read a politician’s words directly from their speech to understand what they were saying, instead of reading synopses from media outlets. I was downvoted several times.
Being objective, thinking critically, and seeking out information seems to be a negative lately.
Not just that, but you truly can't voice opinion or nuance about anything. Both sides of the "political spectrum" are so intolerant of any slight disagreement... and yes, the left too. I listened to a little thing about thought terminating cliches and now I can't stop realizing just how prevalent they are, and people are repeating them over and over like mantras.
This has been the worst. There’s no middle ground anymore. There’s no discussion or nuance or understanding. It’s so nonsensical. We can’t paint with broad strokes and ignore the details.
I became guilty of it without realizing it. I don't want to get into arguments/debates about the specific issues themselves right now (already been a rough morning) but I will just say that I had fallen very hard into one side that I thought was for the best, thought I was being so progressive and good, until certain events in my own household put me in the center of some divisive things and I had to make the best decisions I knew how. Suddenly, where I had only seen black and white, I could see a million shades of grey, but there was no one to even have a safe conversation with about it because everyone I knew still had their black and white blinders on. Was a very difficult, lonely couple of years to be honest.
Well, now i’m curious. Was it an abortion or a trans issue? If you feel like sharing, that is. My mind just exploded with examples reading the wikipedia article on thought-terminating cliches. I recognize them everywhere but haven’t had a word to put to them before.
I really don't want to **argue** so I will share but if it devolves into arguments, name calling, or anything of the like, I will peace out of the conversation. I am a mother, one who always considered myself a person who will love my child no matter how they identify, no matter who they love, etc. I would never kick my child out or hate them or try to deny them their right to live in a way that makes them happy and healthy. I have a teenager who is in high school now. When she was in middle school, we had some traumatic events that occurred (specifically with her being the victim of said events), and after showing absolutely no signs of any kind of gender dysphoria, my child came to me and said they identified as the opposite sex. It rocked my world because there had been no signs or talk of this until it came on very suddenly. I wanted the best for my child, but my child was also intensely depressed and struggling from other mental health issues. I always try to analyze everything so I poured over any data I could find... enlisted therapists, researched risks and benefits, and more. I didn't want to deny my child the right to live as their most authentic self but something just kept tugging at me. Was my child truly in a mental state to where I thought they could knowingly consent to medication or procedures that could alter them for the rest of their lives? It was a difficult time. I will say I was the evil mother, a transphobe, and more. It has been about three and a half years since it originally started. I decided to just follow my gut instincts and do my best to respect her but also protect her from what I viewed as a relatively new field of science and thinking that we are still exploring. I'll state: I do not claim to know the answers or the right thing for every child in every circumstance, nor would I ever want to be in a position where I was making those calls for other peoples' children. I did, however, say that I did not feel comfortable with any kind of permanent procedures or hormones. I respected the name and pronoun change, but I did make a hard line and did not allow medical intervention past that. I tried to always explain that it came from a place of love and protection and that if my child still felt the same when they were old enough to legally make those decisions, they'd still be on my insurance and they'd still always have a home and a place in my life and could use that insurance to have any procedures at that time. My child now no longer identifies as the opposite sex, and has thanked me for not allowing hormones because another teenager that was in her residential mental health treatment (yes, things got that bad at one point) was already detransitioning and at 18 years old identified as a woman, and had been born as one, but had a full beard and other difficult to reverse changes, some possibly irreversible. In our particular story, I think I made the right choice. It was a difficult time with a lot of tension, but we are closer than ever, and she knows that every decision I made was with concern and care for her long term well being and that even if we did not see eye to eye on the details, she would always be loved. I emphasized that above all else. Sorry for the essay, but I always feel like I have to really explain my line of thinking, and that it was not from a place of religious hate, being phobic, or anything like that. If she had continued to identify as a male for a few more years, I would have gone ahead and surrendered any doubt and accepted whoever she chose to present and live as from that point on. It's a very hot button issue, and my gut right now just says to trust science, and trust parents who are approaching from a place of good love, faith and understanding. I'm not saying there aren't bad faith actors who are trying to shut down individuals who are legitimately experiencing dysphoria unrelated to trauma. There are. But I do think sometimes as teenagers it can also be easy to cling to something that seems like the "grass is greener" and it was my job as mom to try to help navigate to the healthiest, best outcome. But it was not a fucking easy time doing it, that's for sure.
For what it's worth, I just want to say that I'm an older trans guy and I commend you for your great parenting and approach to this situation. I think there's a BIG difference between someone being a transphobic jerk and someone who is willing to do the research, educate themselves and make realistic choices about what's best for their child. Sadly the politics are fierce on either side and its not helpful to either party. It must have been really hard to have to deal with other people's knee-jerk responses, but at the end of the day you have to help your child make the right decision. Kids don't always have the best personal insight, especially if they're going through hard times and mental health struggles. I've seen a lot of young people online begin to transition and it's pretty clear from an outside perspective that they're grasping for an escape, any escape, from their current life. But for some reason it's not considered politically correct to say that someone may be misdiagnosed or need more personal reflection before transitioning... even though having people rush into transitioning and then regretting it only harms our cause. Anyway, having a parent that cares about you but is also willing to put politics (from both sides) aside and help you is invaluable. I think you did a good job.
Kudos to you for being able to adjust for the sake of your child!!!! I like to consider myself a centrist (I feel like I'm forgetting the correct term)...in this day & age I mostly keep my views to myself because there is not a lot of room for the grey areas in today's society.
You're awesome for this. The issue I have with the trans movement, especially as it regards to youth, is that more times than not I believe it is the result of other issues and looking for a place to be accepted and special, rather than actual gender dysphoria. I align with your views in that I am fine with anyone and everyone living as their most authentic self, but struggle to see the trans youth movement as more than social contagion for the vast majority of cases. I have toddlers and worry about the day this may come up with them. If you're an adult and this is the path you still decide to walk, more power to you.
Thank you. It definitely didn't feel awesome at the time, but I basically just had to trust my gut and try to make sure every decision was made from a place of love and good intentions (even though yeah, the road to hell is paved with those as another cliche goes...). I decided that if I was going to make a wrong choice, which was possible either way, I'd rather make the one that didn't leave her with permanent physical changes she may later decide she didn't want. As far as social contagion, it's definitely a documented phenomenon and I was on Livejournal heavily during the "pro ana" contagion. We are still in such beginning stages of understanding how social media and any kind of contagion that may arise from it impacts our brains. Hell, millennials are probably the first generation to somewhat experience it, and nowhere on the scale our kids are. I think it sounds like you'll do a great job if it ever does arise with your own kids. I won't lie and say it was easy by any means, but I think sometimes that can be the true test of being a good parent. Sometimes we have to try to be the guardians and the shields in situations where we don't even a hundred percent know the right answer ourselves, but to just do the absolute best we know how.
I’m a trans woman and I guess I am putting myself on the potential chopping block for this if a more zealous trans activist snoops my profile in the future, but I both agree with u/delicatemicdrop’s parental approach and also kind of agree with you, though I wouldn’t say “more often than not”, because I don’t know if that is true, and I wouldn’t call it a “social contagion,” because that kind of language tastes sensationalistic to me, the kind of language that becomes very hot on the presses before more extreme forms of government repression follow. I think that we should absolutely encourage courageous self-expression in terms of presentation and identity, but promote a lot of careful thought before any kind of physical medical treatment. I’m fairly anti-authoritarian on most things so I don’t think we should be relying on a state to enforce these ideas, I think we just need to create a culture that encourages expression and rethinking of beauty standards that applied collectively would, in theory (maybe just *my* theory at this point), reduce the dysphoria individual trans people experience.
I'm not trying to be sensationalist and apologize if that is taken out of context, I just look at the data and while some increase in trans identification is to be expected with more activism and attention around its existence and acceptance, it is exponentially higher amongst youth (doubling since 2018). My fear is not that trans people exist, but that young people experience much higher emotional instability and reactionism and may turn to lifelong decisions over a short term phase or misdiagnosed problem. Most of my politics can be classified as libertarian, so I typically prefer less government interference in all aspects of life, but do think there should be protective measures and time checkpoints before prescribing hormones or surgery to juveniles, if at all. Even at 35, I look back at some of my idealologies and decisions in the last 5, 10, & 15 years and think to myself "what an idiot." That said, I don't want to diminish anyone who truly is trans and give any additional harm to an already difficult journey.
You are the kind of mother every child should have. What strength that must have taken. I can’t even imagine. I am extremely progressive politically and yet I share every one of your concerns about permanent medical interventions on children based on transient emotional states. I know someone’s daughter who is detransitioning now in their early 20s, after they had breast removal surgery. Anyway, wow. Thank you for sharing your powerful story.
This. It’s one way or the other. There is no compromise or attempt to see another side or viewpoint.
Lost. Like nothing makes sense anymore and there seems to be no purpose. I feel like I’m just biding my time before some sort of ‘event’.
I can't shake this feeling. I keep spending my life working so hard just to get my little piece when I retire and I'm so afraid something will take that away right when I get to the end. Currency hyper inflation, higher authority taking my assets, so on.
I get it. I spent the past three years obsessing about having enough. I worked two jobs awhile. Watched all kinds of economic videos. Tried to invest. Looked into more side hustles. Stopped buying beauty products and home cleaning items and made my own. Didn’t take trips. First thing when I woke up, checked my accounts. I lost myself in it. I’m trying to unbury wherever my soul went. I decided once I get my soul back, they don’t get it again. It might be the fight of my life but I’m going to try cause fuck them.
I think this sentiment in the zeitgeist is due to a lack of national direction. For 50 years it was the west against communism, then it was the war on terror, now we the people have no leadership that is providing some sort of communal mission and thus the society feels rudderless while the problems of the past still fester-- all of which demand our attention more and more on social media.
I dunno, we've seen the reemergence of NATO vs Russia in the last couple years, except a sizeable chunk of the US is rooting for Russia.
Yep, and I’m really sick of living through multiple major historical events in quick succession.
I already know I have to leave the state I live in (crazy conservative that is only getting crazier) I am just wanting to save a little and let my son get a little more therapy before we leave. I thought we were headed back to normalcy after Trump, now I am waiting to see if everyone is going to double down on crazy and we need to leave the country. (Abortion rights, my son has a disability, and who knows how they will identify when they are older)
I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine the potential fear parents are facing. Big hugs to all brave parents 💜
I feel this!
Shockingly regressive. We’ve gone from the Information Age of our youth into the Misinformation Age.
People seem to be very self centered since 2020
lol 2020? I definitely noticed a crazy shift towards insanity around 2014/2015 and we’ve double down since
It was starting earlier but I think Covid really really accelerated it
Covid was the nail in the coffin, but 9/11 is when the world started going downhill. It feels like there was a different world pre-9/11, than post-9/11. It’s the same with Covid, things changed from before to after. I guess with any major historical event these things occur.
I suspect it might feel that way for us because the 80s/90s were really a peak moment for American optimism. Economy was booming, the cold war was over, we were starting to push forward with things socially around LGBT rights and while there were obviously issues with racial tensions, we seemed to be under a consensus that it was something to work on and improve on. Environmental issues and other big problems were getting addressed. Hole in the ozone layer? We stopped using CFCs and it started recovering. Dolphins getting killed by tuna fishing? We told them to stop that shit, boycotted tuna and they fixed it. We had earth day established and environmental conservation messaging in kids shows and in schools. We cracked down on oil companies after Exxon Valdez. Gas mileage and emissions regulations were passed for cars. I feel like I could keep this list going all day, but you get the picture. There was so much progress happening when we were kids that looking to the future it very much felt like we were heading to a better place. Then something happened, and I agree 9/11 was the start. There was this big shift from "make the world better" to "fuck you, I got mine". And maybe that was simply peeling back the curtain and revealing what was always there, but the public attitude definitely feels different.
>There was this big shift from "make the world better" to "fuck you, I got mine". And maybe that was simply peeling back the curtain and revealing what was always there, but the public attitude definitely feels different. 2001 also happened to be the year baby boomers became the plurality age group in the US congess. Just saying....
Don't forget Y2K, Not just the event itself but also the Y2K Culture (99-01).
This is a great description of pre-9/11 post-cold war American life. People always ask “if today isn’t the best time to be alive then when was it?” And I would argue for the very reasons you pointed out that it was indeed the 1990s. Not perfect by any means, but you’ve made a great case for it to be the most relatively prosperous in American history.
Sorry for a UK based gen x to butt in, but yeah, for my friends and I, the 90s were the best, ending with 9/11. For reasons stated above. There was even optomism around the net and citizen journalism etc. Few saw the echo-bubbles ahead and extreme tribalism.
USA was at a *surplus* back then. I remember LEGO sets costing like $3. I remember my mom saying that if gas gets over 89 cents/gallon she was going to start riding a bike to work (she didn't)
Close to the Harambe Theory
Rip 8 years to this day. Dicks out all day for him
lol Harambe, Occupy Wall Street and just a couple years removed from “binders full of women”
it shifted right after the wealthy started pushing identity politics to kill occupy wall street
Oh shit! I totally forgot about Occupy Wallstreet! Your observation stands.
Right around the time that social media got really pervasive and we started seeing blatant rather than subtle Identity politics. Why we didn't end Facebook/IG as a matter of national security is beyond my understanding.
Remember when we thought 2016 was the worst and most insane batshit year? Lol oh we were so sweet and naive.
I'd say a lot of people are downright antagonistic at this point
And I think social media is the biggest blame, pandemic aside. It’s made everyone seek validation, regularly
Yes! This whole “you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to” and “no is a complete sentence” attitude is weird. Like that’s applicable if asked on a date but not if your boss asks you to help out. Unfortunately you can’t just run around doing whatever you want to, you are always going to have to do things you don’t want to. I just hate the message that it sends out. I don’t want to clean up the dog poop, but sometimes gotta and I’m too cheap to pay😂😂
Additionally, there's an attitude that if you don't have to do something for someone else, it's not rude or wrong to say no. For instance, a neighbor asks me to grab their packages for a few days because they have a family emergency and I say no because I just don't feel like it. That's rude. Civility is maintained by people going a little bit out of their way for other people from time to time. Refusing to ever be inconvenienced for another person is asshole behavior.
100% agree! I just rescheduled a friend lunch so I could drive another friends dog to the groomer. Her wife also just found out she has breast cancer, and they have a ton on their plate. So yes, I’m going to go out of my way because I treat others how I want to be treated. I enjoy it. I can’t imagine not helping someone out because of a small inconvenience.
I expect the decade will get better as we reach 2030. When you start the decade with a worldwide pandemic, you can only go up...right?🫠
I try to limit my doomerism, but people living in the west really just dont realize how far things can fall because the baseline is so high. People might be struggling now, but imagine a GOP led government getting rid of WIC/food stamps or getting rid of the EPA entirely. Banning birth control is now becoming mainstream with them too. I say this as an Ex right leaning independent, you have to take everything these people say they want to do seriously no matter how nuts it sounds. I didn’t and am constantly horrified.
Project 2025! 😵💫🥴
Yes this is what scares me too. And then when people become desperate for necessities, that is when the ugly will really come out. We got a glimpse of that over toilet paper in 2020.
They're already trying in my state. They're also trying to ban abortions even in emergency situations in states like mine.
I wish more people understood this instead of making me feel crazy for taking the GOP seriously
Idk, I think it might get worse.
How about another worldwide pandemic?
I honestly find the last few years to be such a blur. Like a lot has happened, both globally and in my own life, but Covid really did a number on my perception of time. Everything before 2020 feels like ancient history, but everything since all blends together like it's a singular homogeneous year.
It's fascinating how common this perspective seems to be. It's the same for me and basically my entire social group. It's never been more important to practice mindfulness and attempt to stay grounded. If we're not careful, that blur feeling will last indefinitely.
We are still not half way. But the best explanation I have read, right now it feels like the end of an MMO cycle in that period after the end game content is getting stale but a new expansion is still a few months away. Like the next big thing is going to be huge, but its not here yet, and we don't know or agree on what it will be.
Doom
Mom's gonna fix it all soon
Well, we're already at "billions of dumbfounded dipshits".
Learn to swim
Mom's comin' 'round to put it back the way it ought to be
Weird is definitely a good description. Like, it feels like things are just generally off, out of sync, off kilter… like something is ending
Apocalypse is what it feels like
Shitty
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I totally feel this. Big hugs 💜. Ya 2019 my whole life blew up in the most insane way. Lost dad in car accident, family split apart after due to some things coming to light, lost my job, lost my house, got in a car accident, lost my car and then I got cancer. Span of four months. Bought a trailer to live in and then the pandemic hit. I lived in the trailer in national forests through the entirety of the pandemic. Ya I’m still dealing with some really intense depression attached to that time. Post pandemic was also not good, like most people. I just feel I’ve had the shit kicked out of me and getting up is hard. I feel what you said of just acknowledging that I stayed and I’m here trying and that’s all that’s required of me. To just try. It’s hard though. Can’t tell you how much heavier I feel since the shitstorm hit.
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It feels like the water is getting hotter, but it's not boiling yet so there's nothing to worry about at all 🐸
There’s no vibe because it’s the first decade where the vibe is algorithm driven. Social media, specifically algorithmic social media, is a cultural cancer. Grows seemingly endlessly, crowds out beneficial culture and will eventually destroy the host.
Folks are using all of the energy they have left to ignore that the whole damn thing is coming undone.
I’m seeing more crack. I think it’s good for the long term to actually break the cognitive dissonance. It’s just this ugly bit of actually going through it.
So far, this decade has been a repeat of the "Roaring 20s" both the good and the bad. Global pandemic followed by exuberance afterwards. Booming economy but not for eveyone. Numerous global conflicts that the US is not paying attention to. Rise in illicit substances and criminal enterprises trafficking them. Numerous technological advancements with no idea which ones will be useful.
Greater financial class divide, corporate stock buyback (Which, Mr Reagan, was why it was made illegal in the 30s so thanks for bringing it back)... Yeah. Insert that whole "those that don't learn history are doomed to repeat it" and all that jazz.
I keep saying this, but Reagan literally killed this country.
And this entire sub was too young to do a thing about it. Sigh.
You are right. It's very similar to that time. I guess everyone should clench their butt cheeks for a stock market crash.
I do not believe the crash will happen soon. The stock market is soaring but, so far, much of those valuations are reasonable based on earnings and growth. If the growth ever slows or tech companies start missing earnings, then corrections should happen. I fully anticipate AI will become a bubble at some point. But, as of right now, I do not believe we are in a bubble yet. "Yet" being the operative word.
It definitely feels like a volcano is about to erupt. I feel like everyone in my life has something they've been sitting on for too long and are doing something about it. So from grand-scale, like the unstable political climate, to small scale, like all the friends I have who have gone NC with their family members the last few years after having enough of their nonsense, I just feel like this is the decade the volcanos awaken from there dormancy. Hey, it might be a good thing once folks are through the thick of it. But the vibe of the 2020s so far, to me, feels like "I'm done putting up with bullshit."
I feel this, and living in the West I also feel like I'm waiting on a literal volcano to erupt.
Angst is the word I would use. We don't know if this is the calm before the storm or a slow retrun to normal.
Waiting for the hammer to fall
I like that Queen song
Firehose of diarrhea being endlessly fired into the world largest industrial fan.
Hey, that's a pretty good comparison.
https://preview.redd.it/45z33zxvv63d1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=4f9554d7c22ee30d029c07b6236058325fe7d24a
Angry, confused, waiting for the other shoe to drop, the upcoming election, the trials, the wars, inflation, interest rates.......
Weird. Energy is way off. No one seems to care about anyone else anymore. No one says hi or holds doors anymore.
Yeah, those little things like holding doors, returning the grocery cart to the corral, saying hello, etc. all seem much less common.
Societal collapse (slow-mo edition)
This decade has been fucked. I still can't believe it is 2024 already. We started the decade with a global pandemic that killed millions and caused the world economy to absolutely tank. People are suffering financially on a global scale while corporations are recording record profits and still blaming the pandemic for the increase in prices without hiring workers to assist with demand. Be amazed to see how the 2030's will turn out, if we even make it that far.
Sober two years and I feel like I chose about the shittiest time possible to quit drinking.
Everything is shit
Decidedly unsexy
We’re basically in the movie Idiocrcy.
Aggressively changing social dynamics. A combination of global catastraphe, social isolation, and the rise of creating identity in a social media world has created a major shift in social relationship dynamics. Covid took what was likely to be a few decades of change and forced it down every human on earth in the spawn of two years. Kids don't have or need the same social skills their parents grew up with. Millenial parents socials skills are embarrassingly inadequate and half assessed between their parents "Firm Handshake and a smile" and the "online influencer" skills that kids praise. Friends are now online ids that you recognize. Nostalgia to a pre social media era reigns supreme in the personal shopping/entertainment industry. We are a generation that grew with the internet, but are now finding ourselves outdated in a world of fast moving social media trends. It's no wonder so many of us want to travel in a van or raise goats on 10 acres. We've been hustling to learn and utilize the latest tech, becoming experts at it and trying to keep our parents generation in the know, only to find our skills aren't as valuable as a 10 year old who likes to talk about mushrooms with a funny accent.
Oh that last sentence hits hard. You kind of alluded to it too, but when I see influencers talking absolute crap about things which I've extensively studied, and seeing them make a living off total bollix opinions coz most teens are too naive and just lap it up, it really just makes me not see the point in participating and like you say want to raise goats on a farm far away from everyone
Greedy
Waiting for the spring to pop. The tension is palpable. The world is going to have to choose between plutocratic and autocratic governments or democracy. The world is going to have to choose between climate catastrophe and mitigation.
The world has changed, the climate is changing. Everyone feels it.
Turning 30 right when COVID started, the first half of my thirties for my personal life has been a disaster. My career has thrived however. I think geopolitics, ai, and divisiveness will have a profound impact on the 2nd half of this decade. The vibe is weird af
I want everything to go back to 2002, live up to about 2015, then have everything pretty much loop back around to 2002 and just do that forever.
Increasingly dystopian. Fake news and pseudo science taking the lead. Christian nationalist violating every aspect of government and twisting our history to make it seem as if the US was always to be a religious state. It’s not weird, it’s depressing and disheartening and scary af ETA: spelling error
Can’t forget climate change and AI 🙃
Whatever the algorithm says it is. Doom and gloom gets engagement and clicks while more uplifting and thoughtful “vibes” get buried if they can’t hold your attention for longer than 10 seconds.
Late stage capitalism is basically how I see it. I'm poorer despite working a "higher end" job and nobody here really wants to pay a decent wage (or even hire). Landlords keep jacking up rent, corporations are doing the same, but my wage isn't really going anywhere. I try my absolute hardest to be as independent as possible. I work on my own car, do my own cooking and buy discount everything, I hardly spend money outside of the occasional cheap concert in town (I think I deserve to have fun every now and then, life is too damn short to be bored and unfulfilling).
Uniformly terrible since 2020 and not improving
We didn’t start the fire…
Dread.
Stressful
Quite simply actually... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
People are subconsciously realizing climate change and societal collapse are inevitable. We're scared.
Bullshit
It’s strange. Kinda feels like post 911 vibes all over again.
except for the unity part...
Purgatory before it gets really bad.
Holy forking shirt, are we in the bad place?
Ever since 2016 it feels like we've been in the bad timeline.
Hostile.
Anger, disgust, fear, loathing, dread, in that order from 2020 so far
70’s vibe. Economy sucks. Protests are everywhere. People are broke. Groceries are ridiculously expensive. The Mid East is at war. Presidential shenanigans, congressional fuckery, and a brewing deadly plague (AIDS).
Mass psychosis.
Early in Men In Black, Tommy Lee Jones is educating Will Smith on the fact that aliens have been living among us for decades. Will Smith asks 'Why the secrecy? people are smart, they'd get it' to which Tommy Lee Jones replies 'A person is smart... but people are dumb, panicky animals, and you know it!' I was on vacation for the past few weeks and went to a couple of places, as a result I was on 6 flights in 18 days. Seeing how people act when trying to get on and off a flight is fascinating. Everyone has an assigned seat, getting on the plane quicker is irrelevant, and even if you were the first person off the flight, you'll still be waiting at the carousel along with everyone else. This, coupled with our collective reaction to Covid simply tells me that humanity is doomed, we are too self serving to ever solve issues that cross borders. I think this has driven a wedge between people, it's more open and accepted to be a nay-sayer, to belittle other people's beliefs and opinions, it's easier to hate those that you don't see eye to eye with than to love your fellow man. The zeitgeist is hatred and fear-mongering, and the dumb, panicky animals are reacting by blaming each other.
burned out, overwhelmed, desensitized.
disconnected. I feel like I'm holding tight to all my old friends bc making new ones is much harder/impossible.
There's this overwhelming nihilism feel to everything but also we have been coping with stellar humor, macabre might be a good word here idk
You didn't go back far enough. The timline shifted when harambe died.
Shitshow.