Hey folks
If any of you were 18 to 24 in the early 2000s i need to know what that time period was like for you? I barely remember it and I was 15 in 2009?
Media was kind of getting samey already but the internet was still like this amazing new frontier most older adults knew nothing about, goth culture was huge, 9/11 and the war on terror remained the big debate and everyone was certain George bush Jr. was the dumbest, most destructive political figure we could ever possibly have.
I don't really remember much else but that weird cultural environment. A lot of it was ultimately boring or sad.
I was pretty bubbled in college for for a lot of it. “Alternative rock”, the thing for self-respecting white teens in the 90s went through a kind of declassing as the music industry, cycling through microgenres, moved on to rap-rock/“nü metal” – invoking the “college rock” label of proto-alternative I called it “some college rock”.
Proto-“hipsters” started to show up, early on they could have a kinda gore aesthetic and use gimmick names, it suddenly strikes me this is where a lot of “Suicide Girls” came from. Heavy tattooing became a thing. Stars on the collar/waistbones.
Blogs became a thing – political and “warblogs” often from people with some bylines but not a huge reputation, also some new stuff. Gawker was still largely about the excitement of moving to the Big Apple to get into media after college. Did you know there’s a coke bar named Cokies?
Internships.
Reality TV and game shows got big at the expense of sitcoms.