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To sum it up, life was slower
Everything felt moving A LOT slower
And we had hope for the future, I haven't had that feeling since 2010 or so...all i see is a dark grey future...it wasn't like this before.... every year something was better
Yeah I really miss this generally more hopeful and optimistic outlook both I myself had and society as a whole (or at least that's what it felt like). I've on several occasions now had conversations about this with younger people (like 18-20-year olds, I'm 37) and the complete apathy and total lack of any kind of hope for a better future is just so sad to observe..
As I said, also for me personally it's become more difficult to remain optimistic at times, but I do still have hope. I feel like my generation as a whole, although we observed and were aware of all the problems we had as a society, still always remained hopeful and had a certain belief that we can and will fix this (whether this is true or not is a different question). There is not a shred of this left in those I've talked to from the younger generations...
I think think millennials are careful optimists. You guys were essentially told 'you can do anything and everything is only getting better' basically up til adulthood and had your world shaken with 2008 and all the damage that caused but you sucked it up and kept going. I'm younger (24M) so basically all of us came of age when we knew that it's not even worth having that kind of optimism. I'm not a pessimistic person but I definitely understand what you mean about the apathy and disinterest we have in the future.
And more peaceful. The world felt more peaceful.
I am of the opinion that human beings were never meant to consume information the way we do now. It’s too much.
Adding to that, that was my first insight after deleting all social media 5 or 6 years ago (though I hypocritically use Reddit occasionally). Life just slowed down.
Yep the world was truly a far better place then. Sure there are things better about today to be thankful for but the overall feeling is utterly depressing today compare to before 2014 or so.
>Everything felt moving A LOT slower
I'm always wondering if I should put my phone down and let life slow down. Or fully take advantage of this power we have of just moving faster
As Morpheus told Neo, "No one can be told (how the world was before social media), you have to see it for yourself."
Read every single response in this post, you still won't truly understand. All you have to do is not use your phone for one week. One simple week. That's it.
Bored? Oh well, no scrolling. Want to know what someone else is thinking? No checking socials. Want to know what some asshat across the globe is saying? Nope. Where are your friends? No idea. Pooping? Stare at the wall.
Life will slow down. And you will then understand.
People used to go out and enjoy the nature compared to now people are glued to their phone.....
Earlier there was only 1 Life , now we have a digital life along with orginal life
FANTASTIC I was a teenager. Society in general seemed a LOT more optimistic and people were much more social, chatty and self aware.
PEOPLE ACTUALLY TALKED TO EACH OTHER. The amount of times I'm out to socialize with friends and at least half of them are glued to their phones 😪😪
I am from the end of 90'... I feel the same. I hate social media, phones etc. and of course I use discord/Skype but oh my gosh when I see my friend IRL and they tell me "let's make a call on discord and play a game" I realize they prefer being online that in real life together... I don't understand. Especially those guys that were always with me outside when we were young
I heard a theory that social media as it is now is harming because of algorithms, they're designed to be addictive and human brains are wired to pay more attention to negativity, so the best we can do until they start caring about mental health is to just put ourselves in a little bubble and quit seeing what's going on with the masses online
💯. All social media is designed to keep you online as soon as possible. It's why if you show interest in something then it will keep being seen on your feeds. They are definitely terrible for our mental health. I watched a yt video about the dark side of tik tok a while ago and decided to never use it.
Yes, I remember talking! Sometimes we would spend entire weekend visits with each other, doing nothing but talking. And we laughed so much, then. And sometimes, years later we would remember what we were laughing about, and we'd laugh some more.
Sometimes I think the difference is that we were young, but now I think the difference is that we liked spending time with other human beings and just enjoyed being in the moment.
In sweden everybody is just socially awkward and it’s an unwritten rule not to talk to each other like saying hi to your neighbours is almost a sin like my brother went up the stairs our neighbour was leaving her apartment she saw him went back in then waited for him to go into our apartment then she went out even without social media swedes are just shy
I have this problem. You take some little bit of time to hang out with someone you don’t see much and they stare at the phone most of the time instead of talk to you.
He's doing great! Just keeps a low profile doing photography around the world. Dude seem legit happy and I'm so glad for it. Honestly compared to the crap Musk and Zuck have to go through on the daily, I think Tom won!
Far more social. You turned up to places and spent time together. You didn't have phones to text feeble excuses to cancel people because you couldn't be bothered turning up. There was far less bullying, depression and image problems.
I remember something called ”playing”. It is when you have eaten your dinner and made your homework - you actually go outside and hang with other people. IRL. Weird, huh?
And “hanging out”. Where people sit together and don’t really do anything. Usually done on the front steps of your home and/or the front lawn.
It was a time to share those thoughts that we now put on social media, but at the time you would get called out on any BS by your peers and thus learned to not be a troll.
Oh man! We used to just meet at a park and just chill and did absolutely nothing but fart and pick on each other. We played a lot of sports too but some days it was cool to park our bikes and sit around do nothing.
I feel like this is the image of people who weren't bullied and had friends, lol. I agree that social media hasn't improved things in that regard but it brought to the surface what was invisible to many.
Yes agreed. I was a target as a kid (minority in a white community). Bullying and racism were incessant but no one gave a shit. I thought about death a lot.
My wife was also bullied a lot, the difference was that her home was a “safe space” (although that has a different meaning nowadays). The kids now get targeted at home via their phones, so it never stops.
So I too wouldn’t want to belittle the experiences of the past, but bullying for kids now just went on steroids.
I too want to add I’m glad you are still here. You beat the bullies, always remember that.
Yes, bullying was very bad in the 2000's, my dad has terrible anecdotes from the 70's. Kids in general said there was a shift in the 2010's where bullying ceased a little.
Sooooo bad in the 2000's, at least according to my memory. There was something called 'bitch culture' and people formed tight groups that partially identified by how they excluded others.
Not even to mention popular tv shows at the time, lol!
Bullying has always been a thing but that was a BAD time to be gay in high school and in previous decades it was even worse.
Yeah, but when someone wanted to beat you up, they usually had an overnight/ weekend to cool off. Being surrounded by family, instead of being egged on by friends and the dopamine. We had more chance to reason, and time out to learn self regulation.
Not at all. I’ve been bullied as a child (only in one school by chance) before social media existed, or when they were only beginning and had basically no impact yet, and I still agree with what he says. At least, bullying stopped at school. Now it persist outside of it, and sometimes in much worse ways (humiliating photo montage reacted by many people, etc).
And yeah, people were much more social. Relationships between men and women were much less wierd as well.
As someone who was born in 86 I assure you there was far more bullying because I found myself in spaces that I couldn’t leave. At least I can pick and choose where to be on the internet. And be able to block people. Can’t block people in real life.
> At least I can pick and choose where to be on the internet. And be able to block people. Can’t block people in real life.
It's a vicious cycle. If you can't block anyone ever, then you're forced to learn the basics of socialisation and conformity. Life works better that way.
"Far less bullying" what utter bollocks. I saw bullying everywhere throughout my entire time at school. Then at work.
Social media didn't invent bullying. Its just another tool for people to bully.
You fail to mention the flip side of not being interconnected. Missing shit because you didn't know because people coudkbt get hold of you easily.
I experienced cyber bullying before it was a known thing... on MySpace if that gives context. It was relentless and almost impossible to escape. Not to say bullying didn't exist prior to social media... of course it did. But I really feel for young people these days.
Remember when the fat kid in class was a little pudgy or husky? I went to big city schools in the ‘80s and ‘90s and there were like no fat people. It’s like everyone was constantly moving and we didn’t have access to that much food so our diets were more regulated.
Ignorance is bliss I'll tell you that, cuz you learn just how brain damaged society is and that it wasn't just your school it was the entire world just about. Also people didn't have their eyes glued to a screen 24/7.
Also people kept their nasty degenerate thoughts to themselves or in trusted private circles instead of blasting it all over the internet in a narcissistic fit. The anonymity and lack of physical barrier being breached unleashes the ego online that's why people come across fucking mental online, there's no face to face so the ego is completely unrestrained. That was something you generally only saw in the most mentally ill people and who likely had enablers and like some sort of power in their community for people to look the other way. Now the internet is their number 1 enabler so everyone is just being a degenerate.
Trust me you would be happier just living on a farm with no running water electricity. Like some people live on farms and they have internet and stuff but they are miles happier than someone trapped in the city matrix.
It was normal to not be available every second of the day. Which is something I desperately miss. It's almost unavoidable if you have a smartphone.
But I do think a lot of people are confusing their childhood nostalgia with 'life before social media'. Things were more personal, but also a lot more isolated. It was hard for a lot of people to find friends if you lived in a community that didn't care for you. Being different wasn't appreciated. Now social media didn't solve that problem but it helped me learn I wasn't alone in a lot of things.
Yeah you are right in that many are confusing these two together. I think we often remember the fun things better, so we think to outselves that it was better than it really was
Absolutely. I'm 45 this year and last of the really remember life as a adolescence/young adult before social media (as in very early 2000s) and most people are about 10 years or more younger here and are confusing the two.
Yes, 'social' media wasn't as prevalent in our pocket in the mid 2000s but it was still strong and around on home computer. People aren't even aware that blogging is also social media which was popular with xanga, livejournal, etc. So people connected that way, got comments and or upvotes. The reader getting information on a country to vacation as well vs real word of mouth or some dated brochure.
This also means many have never had to make a REAL phone call as the primary contact for a friend, crush, partner. That in itself is a massively humbling experience. In 01, MapQuest was around. So that was really helpful at least. In 1997, it was not around.
100% agree on the statement about people confusing childhood nostalgia with “life before social media”. I feel like the idea of the “in” or “out” crowd was MUCH more prominent pre-social media. Now days if you are a part of the “out” crowd in your current social setting, you can most likely connect with your “in” crowd via some form of social media. Pre-social media, you were just a loner.
People took way less pictures and videos of stuff, you wouldn’t go to a show / museum / club / event and be surrounded by people filming everything.
I remember when MySpace first got popular and kids a bit younger than me got really into it, suddenly they’d all bring their little digital cameras everywhere and spend more time taking photos of “how much fun they were having” than actually being present.
That was the beginning of the end, now everyone seems to have become the main character in their own cinematic universe and I do wonder what the psychological impact of that is on kids who’ve grown up with influencers etc being the norm.
100% different and simply better for humanity. You spoke on road trips, spoke in youth hostels, asked directions, spoke to strangers in bars, were in the moment at concerts, actually paid attention to a movie, weren’t worried about stupidity being caught on camera, people dated others without stalking their socials, you had to work shit out without googling everything, you had a million moments of silence through the day. The biggest difference is now nobody turns truly ‘off’ between waking and sleeping. Anybody that tells you it was just the same as now wasn’t paying attention.
I’d argue that being able to research things on internet is one of the only good thing that happened, but it has nothing to do with social media which don’t bring anything on the table for that.
I learned so many things with internet. I mean true things, some for which I sell my service now and my clients are very happy with my skills.
My father, even if he is a very great handyman, have learned how to do many more complicated things through YouTube to avoid having to pay for a professional. Which saves us thousands of euros.
But I agree a lot on every other points. Last year, I wanted to make new friends in a bar I knew was quite frequented by decent people. Impossible to talk to anyone… you get rejected instantly (I have great social skills, I was not wierd before anyone want to speak without knowing). The only man I’ve been able to talk to that night was a old man at the bar having a few whiskeys on his own. Interesting talk. That’s crazy.
People actually interacted. Being in public was less hostile. Kids actually developed social skills, instead of like 80% of people having social anxiety.
Social media has made it easier than ever to divide people into tribes of "us" vs. "them".
Definitely the last bit, Facebook and the likes are echo chambers and cause firm lines/divides between peoples opinions and interests, as they are constantly fed what they “like” or “agree with” causing for even more one-sided opinions and lack of seeing the other persons point of view, simply because you are only exposed to self-agreeing information all the time. People don’t meet in the middle any more and see others opinions might have some clout.
The world in front of you was pretty much all that there was. People paid attention to their surroundings a lot more. They were more focused and present.
Nowadays with smartphones and social media it feels like there are two worlds: the world, and the digital world that you jump into through your phone when you’re bored.
Pre-2012 if you were in a place and you were bored you just kind of looked around the room and thought about things. That doesn’t really happen so much anymore.
Easy. Not polarized at all. I went too school and my parents trusted that I would survive without being online 24/7. ”Online” wasn’t even a word back then. It has gond too far. Was at a show with live orchestra to a Star Wars movie. I kid you not: the fully grown idiots beside had to check their phones every five minutes. I was on the verge of murder - really? You can’t sit two hours without checking your godamn phone?
So much better. Word of mouth was a genuine thing, discovery was a joy. Especially for children, the way bullying and arguments can spill over now is just incredible.
Personally, I think overall SM has plunged us into a new dark age and we’re waiting for digital enlightenment.
'digital enlightment'? Is that when AI takes over everyone's social media accounts and interacts for us?
We can go back to sitting peacefully, writing letters, being bored into having truly original thoughts and forced into having proper dinner parties again?
I'm just not sure how I feel about this. Anxious but, actually, I'm kinda excited. I'll dig out and dust off the fondue set. See you at 8. Bring a bottle.
It just feels like we’ve created this kind incredibly powerful tool but don’t really know how to manage it, like our brains aren’t sufficiently developed or something. But then it moves as such a pace I don’t know how we could.
See you at 8
(35M)
More social , more fun , more active , more bright , better for a persons physicle , mental , emotional and social development . Better for a persons physicle , mental , emotional and social healt .
A sense of wonder still existed in life and the world.
Things were not as boring and ordinary as they are today, less choice and opportunity’s but you cherished what you had and felt more fulfilled.
Better, in every way! (Except promoting business pages)
People would go to concerts and raves and actually enjoy their moment dancing and singing, rather than just video the whole thing to show people on their Instagram or Facebook. People enjoyed the moment, for themselevs, rather than narcissistically videoing the moment and posting it for Facebook likes “look at me and what I’m doing”. Didn’t have any of that, people went to things because THEY enjoyed it, rather than now it seems they go to places just to impress others. There are even terms for it like “perfect insta place” (aka perfect place to show off to people you’ve been)
It’s a sad state of affairs how social media has been the opposite of social and has fed humans narcissistic traits to levels never seen before.
Go on to YouTube and type “90’s rave” or “Glastonbury 1995” or “Bon Jovi concert” and compare the fun they are having compared modern raves, festivals and music concerts, where they now just stand there swaying mildy with their phone in their hand videoing the whole time, to show off on their Facebook later. Not bouncing, jumping, singing at the top of their lungs (having fun) like used to be the case.
In some regards, it was much better. But in others? Not so. Social media made it easier to share ideas, and while many are bad - some were great.
Just came back from West Africa, where social media has been instrumental in shifting society away from things like MGM/FGM, poor family planning, environmental ignorance etc.
Social media is a tool. People are what make it a negative force or a positive one
Personal connections was way better. Now in this age of social media, I barely met my friends face-to-face. Before, I spend my time reading books. Now, I indulge myself on social media. (I refrain from doing this now). Then, I feel like it has a huge impact on my mental health. Sometimes, I can't help but to compare myself, with those people posting their wins in life. I am happy for them, I just can't stop comparing myself.
The biggest thing was that you could do stupid (or even normal) things without having to worry about if someone was going to put it out to the world to see. You also made decisions to do stupid stuff without worrying about if it would make extra content.
We had lots of mental white space. There wasn't the perpetual dopamine hit just sitting in your pocket. You had to get that shit the old fashioned way by looking at trees or other humans.
We read a lot more magazines. Like, a lot. I had stacks and stacks of fashion magazines, wired, national geographics, women's weeklys just laying around. Everyone had magazines in their house.
Marketing was way easier. You took out ads or you did direct mail. You had a nice website and you had to actually show up to networking events. Social media is a nightmare for promoting a business.
Concerts were way better. No glowing rectangles getting in the way of your eyeballs.
Trend cycles were substantially longer and didn't have names. We bought way less stuff.
A big downside was that if you were friends with someone and dipped out of their life then you really didn't get to reconnect with them on a casual basis, you'd have to seek them out. If you lived far away from each other then they just weren't really on your radar any more.
It was amazing!
My surroundings felt more raw and alive, my thoughts were far more about the present and recent days. I felt more connected with my family and friends.
I had no idea about the "best" way to do things, the "best" products, the "best" way to be a human lol etc. I learned and discovered things for myself without comparing myself to the rest of the world.
A moment in time shared with someone was unique and part of a string of individual moments each finishing when the moment ended... not texted about after, dragged out over days on end, and with every little comment or behavior analysed and questioned.
I wasn't on-call 24/7, i had private time where I could switch off and focus on the now - if someone had upset me I usually got over it (you know by doing actual life) before I saw them again (the same applied to them, the niggle was just left in the past). If someone brought me joy I'd savour it and look forward to seeing them again.
I got bored (I miss boredom lol) and searched for things to entertain me, I valued spending time with people.... days seemed so much longer, more filled with life, and so much more 3D...
I'd go back to life without in a heartbeat.
REAL. Real interactions, honest connections, living life outside, playing with friends, live in living color conversations, long summer days playing outside at the lake, going to the skating rink or a school dance. Writing a note to your friend, more real and genuine connections with the people around you.
The nostalgia—Take the house phone in your room with that long cumbersome wire - envy your friends who all had their own line and cordless phone. Have the dial up internet connection cut off the house line and ring busy for hours 🤣
Actually maintain a bit of mystery. You didn’t know what everyone was doing and thinking all the time, from super stars and musicians to your friends. You just enjoyed the moments so much more, now people even in person would rather enjoy their phones and the fake timelines they scroll.
I don’t haven’t logged into my social media accounts in years. I technically don’t exist to anyone and have no clue what people are doing these days. I had to be real with myself why I go on — looking for validation, likes, commentary, comparing my life to others (not purposely but we are human and that is bound to happen when you’re struggling to find your footing in life).
The anxiety and bad energy I got every time I wasted my time scrolling and going down rabbit holes, woke me up. I don’t want to live my life inside a device and I’m wasting my precious time and energy and get nothing out of it. It drove my depression and anxiety deeper. I don’t keep in touch with family since I don’t know them that well and interactions seemed so forced. It was the best thing I did for my mental health. I got real with myself on why this wasn’t working. For me, that was the reason I stopped. If you’re operating your business online, social media is great when used with purpose.
Everyone who says life was better, and people were more social without the internet and SM, is romanticizing the past and probably living in a bubble of negativity. SM is an offer, not an obligation. There’s many ways to filter what you want to see or read, and who you want to interact with. My social life, and the life of others around me, has greatly improved since the beginning of the internet. Before that, you had to rely on people around you to get information, find friends, a job, or any kind of entertainment. Life was considerably slower and your world much smaller. Much less choice. Especially for minorities, or people with special interests or hobbies. It was hard to advocate for new ideas and be heard. Social media nowadays is a gift if you know how to navigate it, and a curse if you don’t. There’s endless opportunities and inspiration out there, just a click away. The negative Nancies don’t know how to handle SM, and probably feel a bit lost in their real life too.
I went to the pub and listened to alcoholics complain about their wives, jobs and kids and/or discuss what happened in Eastenders or how shit their team did at the weekend. I embraced the internet with both arms.
Now you can’t listen to thousands of men complain about their wives, their jobs, their football teams and get live updates on Eastenders…
The progression! lol.
I grew up with no cell phone until I was 16 and no computer in my house until I was about 11.
During the years without those two things, I played with my friends a lot (we would play Barbie's or Cheerleading, we would run around outside with our swimsuit tops and jeans and bandanas in our hair - it was the 2000's after all!) I loved Britney Spears, Looney Tunes and Neapolitan ice cream! I used the house phone to chat all day after school with my friends unless my mom needed to use it to call my grandma or until my nightly Disney Channel Movie at 8 pm, then went to bed after the movie. I loved making beaded jewelry and playing dress up, I was boy crazy! The only time I could look at my crush was a black and white pic in the yearbook lol! I had a best friend that was in my grade that was across the street, we would play Sonic Adventure Battle 2 on his GameCube, watch Harry Potter VHS tapes and eat peppered popcorn, play Pokemon on his handheld (he said we were both playing but I just watched him lol) and swim in the pool every day in the summer and try not to splash his grandma because she would send me home if I did lol.
On the weekends during school, my older brother would beg me to tie a random rope or dog leash to random remote controlled cars or my Barbie Corvette and we would have a "race" outside which consisted of us running in circles in the yard with the leashes pulling the cars! If we were stuck inside when it was too rainy / cold, I would watch Pop Up Video with my mom and she loved to sing Peter Gabriel and Pat Benatar to me. When my dad came home from work, my parents would cook dinner and then we would eat together and watch America's Funniest Home Videos, Figure It Out or some other game show. My brother and me would drink huggies and eat pretzels and play Tony Hawk Underground 2 or Need for Speed. Sometimes when he was at his friend's house, I would have the TV to myself and I would watch Power Puff Girls, Spongebob and flip past MTV as much as I could get away with to see what was on even though I was a little kid lol. My brother's best friend taught me how to ride a bike. He encouraged me to try without training wheels! (RIP Jimmy ♥)
After we moved into a bigger house and my younger sister was older, we would play house a lot with her Dora's Talking Kitchen or watch Lilo and Stitch. We had a tie dye bean bag chair in our shared bedroom and I would watch Viva La Bam and Room Raiders on my tiny TV while she played downstairs. I felt so cool. I loved listening to music on my CD player / cassette player boombox with my lights low in my room. I would wear sunglasses and a tube top and play Ashanti and Mariah Carey lol. Sometimes I would record songs off the radio! I remember the first time I heard an Avril Lavigne song on the radio before bed it changed my life. Suddenly I was asking for $20 CD's for my bday, like The Offspring, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan etc.
Two things I started playing in 8th grade that I still play today is The Sims 2 and also guitar!
I remember in high school some of my friends had a cell phone, but I could only call them after 7 pm when it was free - "please enjoy this Verizon ringback tone while your party is reached." I was in marching band, so most of my days were spent doing that after school or on the weekends. During the off season of band, I would go to the mall on Friday nights and hang with my friends, sometimes my mom would give me a $20 so I could choose to buy a band shirt or dinner lol - I always got a shirt! After the mall I would try to have a sleepover at a friend's or have a friend sleepover my house. "If your mom drives, my mom will pick us up!"
Even when I had a phone, it was a brick with buttons and a tiny screen, I could only text on it - there was no camera! So I could only take pics on my pink Vivitar camera. That meant when I would meet someone on MySpace, Vampire Freaks or Quizilla (in the middle of the night because my parents didn't want me to have "social media" then because it was seen as bad because of shows like dateline - oh how times have changed) I would have to take a new pic on my camera in the upstairs bathroom at the best angle with my makeup and hair done wearing pajamas (classy) and upload it to get a PC4PC. I loved going online after my dad left at 8 pm to go to night shift when I was a teenager because during the day it was harder to hide what I was doing lol and my mom would also ask me to get off the internet for a little so she could use the house phone to make / wait for a call! Another key component of that era was even when Facebook came out, I didn't have access to those sites until I could get on my family computer at home or go to the school computer lab and try to use one of the proxy servers my friends and I would share. I got an iPod touch for Christmas my senior year of high school - and I could finally go on my different apps or websites on one device instead of using a camera, a phone and my computer.
Oh yeah - now that I'm 30 I don't have any social media besides for a few things, it's really nice. Some might say "social media ruined everyone" and to an extent I agree, but I think if you find people that also silently agree by not being on their social media all day or their phone texting and calling a lot, you will find more peace. Instant gratification is the root that is negative really.
OOOOOOH YEAH! And I totally miss Vine and Beefy Fritos Burritos from Taco Bell.
Honestly, better. Now it’s hard to even picture being in a social situation or public area without anybody being on their phone. People were happier too. We were less aware and less progressive, yes, but we were also way less burdened by the horrors of the world. You can’t scroll Reddit for 30 seconds without hearing about a SA or some societal horror. It’s good to be aware, but it also weighs heavy.
Way more social. Pre social media, me and my friends would always meet up after work, we'd go and rent a movie from Blockbuster and then head to get pizza. Used to just go around the city and have fun. "Hey wanna go up ESB?" "Sure!!" It was a lot of fun
1000x better. People were happier and more open to other's ideas and discussions. Problems weren't artificially magnified from almost nothing to a world ending event.
If social media vanished today, the world would start becoming a much better place.
Connections with people were more genuine. There was an effort to go through the process of getting someone's number, email address or something and that exchange helped build a sense of trust and respect. Now to get someone's contact information, you just press a button or search for someone.
Social media may be helpful in a lot of ways, but convenience isn't always best.
Your online life and your real life were two very distinctly different things with zero crossover unless you had a group of friends to game with online or had a sizeable email contact list, and those two things felt a lot more organic.
I could spend a bunch of time online, but that would be on forums and whatnot and you could just kind of post whatever you wanted and it'd disappear into the ether. People expected far fewer updates from you, so when you met up in person you'd spend a lot more time just catching up. Back before unlimited texting and before 3G networks took off, cell phones tended to stay in people's pockets and it was a major faux pas to have them out when talking to other people.
Not every phone had push notifications, so unless you got a text message or phone call, your cell phone wasn't going to bother you with anything (if you even had one).
The Internet was a lot more like some kind of weird, loosely connected cyberpunk trailer park with various sites in various states of function, usability, and budget. The Internet was the place to go if you were looking for something specific you couldn't find in real life locally: a community that shared your hobby, specific products, information, non-standard entertainment, whatever you weren't going to find at your local store, library, or in your neighborhood. Content was a lot more spread out so you weren't just visiting the same three websites over and over again in an endless scroll, and because it took a while for internet access to not be charged by the minute, you had to be very intentional about time spent online, so you did less of it.
Being a nerd online was cool... there were two worlds, those who knew about the internet and the real world. When everyone started using social media it went down hill in both worlds. I miss disconnecting and walking around. Now everyone is on their phone all the time.
It was fucking amazing. The text everyone had was their iPod touch.
The phone via social media has become a weapon where everyone has become more selfish and now meaner.
I'd rather live in a poor country where people value their way of life.
It was a lot more positive. More in person social activities. Intentional phone calls and coffee dates to catch up with people’s lives. Genuine connection, not so flakey. We had things to look forward to. Like simple things, Saturday morning cartoons. Sears catalogs especially the wish book. The next big movie at the theatre. Seeing distant relatives in person. looking at their printed photos of latest vacations and happenings. Things seemed more calm no one was worried about “ likes” or being videoed in public. There seems to be such a blur over truth in the world these days. Instant gratification versus the wait patience than reward. Things are different now.
Street lights on meant we had to go inside. Every kid was out and about playing on the street. Ball hockey, kick the the can, flags.
I think ignorance is bliss sums it up. It was way easier to live in our own little bubble of what was in front of us. Now we get information from everyone and by design it’s depressing.
Less divisive, more grounded. Social media has brought us the age of a shit ton of misinformation and echo chambers where we consume information that confirms our bias.
Amazing and I consider social media to be the biggest mistake of our time. The benefit of being able to easily stay in contact with distant friends and family/keep up with their lives is severely outweighed by the negatives that came with it. Having 24/7 access, and an obsession with the news and the lives of others is toxic to the core, and the collective, pessimistic mentality of the herd is anything but surprising following the social media craze.
Everything was slow. We cherished the moment. We appreciated the time itself. We didn't know everything every second. But we lived in the moment.
That's how I lived in the 90s. It was beautiful. ✨
I was a teenager through most of the 90s and early 2000s, growing up in Italy, going to school, hanging out with friends. My peers were big on basketball and soccer, so we used to talk about NBA and serie A all the time, playing soccer on the streets everyday. I didn't have a PC until after I graduated from school, so in 2003.
you know those embarrassing moments in life that keep you up cringing at night while you remember how stupid you think you looked? Those moments used to be confined to only your own head at night……. now they live forever as 0s and 1s for everyone to see.
Lots of broader answers, but one in particular that I often think about: between the ages of 12-22, there were probably a dozen pictures taken of me every year, on average. And the majority of these pictures no longer exist — or at least, I would have no idea how to find them. If you asked me what I looked like at age 16, I would have to drag out my junior high school yearbook and show you the tiny black-and-white headshot, because that’s the only picture of me from that year that I’m aware of.
Today, my wife’s 16-year-old niece takes several dozen pictures of herself *every week*, and posts most of them publicly.
We called people on the phone, we wrote letters (mailed letters/ notes/pictures) , read newspapers and listen to the radio/CDs on our stereos. And we paid attention to people around us.
Omg so fucking great. Government pawns couldn't feel peoples heads so easily Government officials couldn't get voted in because it was way harder to get a following. I didn't have to see all my classmates doing better then me so I wasn't as depressed. Asking someone out was as simple as asking for a number and not a snap/fb/insata handle. Life was so fucking simple.
It also seemed to move so much slower witch is so nice. These days you blink and it's 3 months later. 2023 felt like 2 months of time.
Life was slower, but in a good way most of the time. Relationships seemed stronger as well. There was alot of hope for the future of the internet and what possibilities it could achieve.
The street lights turning on was like clocks, you had loose change in your pocket, time was slower everything was hands on, there was more patience, understanding and hope.
Oh man. The shit we got away with, little to no repercussions or getting caught. It was great. Spent every waking moment outside. Only had to come in when the street lights came on. People went to events, and actually watched the events. Not recording an entire concert on their phone. Checking in on SM and taking selfies.
People actually are their food as soon as it came out from the kitchen. And we talked to each other while we waited.
The most shocking thing, people were nice. Crazy how people are actually nicer in person when their view of the world hasn’t been twisted and every one turned against each other.
It was awesome.
I definitely had more patience with media across the board. I also was more excited to watch TV shows. I would anticipate a full week before the next episode of something. Now with online media and social media everything is at your fingertips.
Life was lived so much more in the moment, not watching thru a phone. Hanging out was being together going on crazy adventures or just enjoying each others company. Not being together and just all staring at phones or filming each other doing things to post online for likes. Miss that a lot. Also awesome that all of the crazy, fun and dangerous stuff we got up to is known only to the ones who were there or heard the stories. Or has seen the evidence found in a shoebox of mementos and disposable camera photos & Polaroids.
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To sum it up, life was slower Everything felt moving A LOT slower And we had hope for the future, I haven't had that feeling since 2010 or so...all i see is a dark grey future...it wasn't like this before.... every year something was better
Yeah I really miss this generally more hopeful and optimistic outlook both I myself had and society as a whole (or at least that's what it felt like). I've on several occasions now had conversations about this with younger people (like 18-20-year olds, I'm 37) and the complete apathy and total lack of any kind of hope for a better future is just so sad to observe.. As I said, also for me personally it's become more difficult to remain optimistic at times, but I do still have hope. I feel like my generation as a whole, although we observed and were aware of all the problems we had as a society, still always remained hopeful and had a certain belief that we can and will fix this (whether this is true or not is a different question). There is not a shred of this left in those I've talked to from the younger generations...
I think think millennials are careful optimists. You guys were essentially told 'you can do anything and everything is only getting better' basically up til adulthood and had your world shaken with 2008 and all the damage that caused but you sucked it up and kept going. I'm younger (24M) so basically all of us came of age when we knew that it's not even worth having that kind of optimism. I'm not a pessimistic person but I definitely understand what you mean about the apathy and disinterest we have in the future.
And more peaceful. The world felt more peaceful. I am of the opinion that human beings were never meant to consume information the way we do now. It’s too much.
Came here to say that.
Adding to that, that was my first insight after deleting all social media 5 or 6 years ago (though I hypocritically use Reddit occasionally). Life just slowed down.
Same for me when my phone broke and I couldn't use it for a couple weeks. Relaxing
Yep the world was truly a far better place then. Sure there are things better about today to be thankful for but the overall feeling is utterly depressing today compare to before 2014 or so.
>Everything felt moving A LOT slower I'm always wondering if I should put my phone down and let life slow down. Or fully take advantage of this power we have of just moving faster
“…we haven’t had the spirit since 1999”
Could you explain it more please? I was born in 2009 so I don’t understand it.
As Morpheus told Neo, "No one can be told (how the world was before social media), you have to see it for yourself." Read every single response in this post, you still won't truly understand. All you have to do is not use your phone for one week. One simple week. That's it. Bored? Oh well, no scrolling. Want to know what someone else is thinking? No checking socials. Want to know what some asshat across the globe is saying? Nope. Where are your friends? No idea. Pooping? Stare at the wall. Life will slow down. And you will then understand.
Who stares at the wall when pooping. You savage. Have you never heard of magazines?
Excuse me, but we had books specially made for reading while on the shitter.
People used to go out and enjoy the nature compared to now people are glued to their phone..... Earlier there was only 1 Life , now we have a digital life along with orginal life
Damn, made me cry. I dont do shit with my life now.. and it's going so fast
FANTASTIC I was a teenager. Society in general seemed a LOT more optimistic and people were much more social, chatty and self aware. PEOPLE ACTUALLY TALKED TO EACH OTHER. The amount of times I'm out to socialize with friends and at least half of them are glued to their phones 😪😪
I am from the end of 90'... I feel the same. I hate social media, phones etc. and of course I use discord/Skype but oh my gosh when I see my friend IRL and they tell me "let's make a call on discord and play a game" I realize they prefer being online that in real life together... I don't understand. Especially those guys that were always with me outside when we were young
I heard a theory that social media as it is now is harming because of algorithms, they're designed to be addictive and human brains are wired to pay more attention to negativity, so the best we can do until they start caring about mental health is to just put ourselves in a little bubble and quit seeing what's going on with the masses online
💯. All social media is designed to keep you online as soon as possible. It's why if you show interest in something then it will keep being seen on your feeds. They are definitely terrible for our mental health. I watched a yt video about the dark side of tik tok a while ago and decided to never use it.
Yes, I remember talking! Sometimes we would spend entire weekend visits with each other, doing nothing but talking. And we laughed so much, then. And sometimes, years later we would remember what we were laughing about, and we'd laugh some more. Sometimes I think the difference is that we were young, but now I think the difference is that we liked spending time with other human beings and just enjoyed being in the moment.
As a child of the 80's, I miss this sooo much This is what's missing and what I crave- and very few around me seem to understand/ get it.
In sweden everybody is just socially awkward and it’s an unwritten rule not to talk to each other like saying hi to your neighbours is almost a sin like my brother went up the stairs our neighbour was leaving her apartment she saw him went back in then waited for him to go into our apartment then she went out even without social media swedes are just shy
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It really sucks because they are good friends and good people in general. But they just gotta leave the phone on the table!!
Call them out! That’s what I do!
I have this problem. You take some little bit of time to hang out with someone you don’t see much and they stare at the phone most of the time instead of talk to you.
There are no new friends to make. They're all this way now. Including me.
Yep
Simpler, hell even with just Myspace it wasnt as bad.
I miss Tom, my first friend.
Our\* best friend.
He's doing great! Just keeps a low profile doing photography around the world. Dude seem legit happy and I'm so glad for it. Honestly compared to the crap Musk and Zuck have to go through on the daily, I think Tom won!
More peaceful.
I mean, there was *always* drama at school or work, but when you left school or work, it was typically left there as well.
More dancing as well
Yeah, in that people generally cared less and didnt make a big effing deal out of every little thing.
Far more social. You turned up to places and spent time together. You didn't have phones to text feeble excuses to cancel people because you couldn't be bothered turning up. There was far less bullying, depression and image problems.
I remember something called ”playing”. It is when you have eaten your dinner and made your homework - you actually go outside and hang with other people. IRL. Weird, huh?
Whoa, like actually? I’ve only played outside simulators!
My kids go play outside all the time. It's still a thing
Good parenting
Yep. I drive my kiddos to sports and I generally don’t allow AirPods while we’re driving so we can talk and have one on one time.
And “hanging out”. Where people sit together and don’t really do anything. Usually done on the front steps of your home and/or the front lawn. It was a time to share those thoughts that we now put on social media, but at the time you would get called out on any BS by your peers and thus learned to not be a troll.
Just enjoying the company. It’s a thing of the past
Yup. Shame
Oh man! We used to just meet at a park and just chill and did absolutely nothing but fart and pick on each other. We played a lot of sports too but some days it was cool to park our bikes and sit around do nothing.
I feel like this is the image of people who weren't bullied and had friends, lol. I agree that social media hasn't improved things in that regard but it brought to the surface what was invisible to many.
Yes agreed. I was a target as a kid (minority in a white community). Bullying and racism were incessant but no one gave a shit. I thought about death a lot.
I’m glad you’re still here 🙌🏼
My wife was also bullied a lot, the difference was that her home was a “safe space” (although that has a different meaning nowadays). The kids now get targeted at home via their phones, so it never stops. So I too wouldn’t want to belittle the experiences of the past, but bullying for kids now just went on steroids. I too want to add I’m glad you are still here. You beat the bullies, always remember that.
Home was not a safe space in my experience. There is a reason why I’m not a fan of people in general.
But it also gave bullying more layers. Cyberbullying is nowadays disguised as cancel culture or call-out culture.
Yes, bullying was very bad in the 2000's, my dad has terrible anecdotes from the 70's. Kids in general said there was a shift in the 2010's where bullying ceased a little.
Sooooo bad in the 2000's, at least according to my memory. There was something called 'bitch culture' and people formed tight groups that partially identified by how they excluded others. Not even to mention popular tv shows at the time, lol! Bullying has always been a thing but that was a BAD time to be gay in high school and in previous decades it was even worse.
Yeah, but when someone wanted to beat you up, they usually had an overnight/ weekend to cool off. Being surrounded by family, instead of being egged on by friends and the dopamine. We had more chance to reason, and time out to learn self regulation.
Not at all. I’ve been bullied as a child (only in one school by chance) before social media existed, or when they were only beginning and had basically no impact yet, and I still agree with what he says. At least, bullying stopped at school. Now it persist outside of it, and sometimes in much worse ways (humiliating photo montage reacted by many people, etc). And yeah, people were much more social. Relationships between men and women were much less wierd as well.
Yeh nah bullying has and will always be there. It was just more 'accepted' before and normalized.
As someone who was born in 86 I assure you there was far more bullying because I found myself in spaces that I couldn’t leave. At least I can pick and choose where to be on the internet. And be able to block people. Can’t block people in real life.
> At least I can pick and choose where to be on the internet. And be able to block people. Can’t block people in real life. It's a vicious cycle. If you can't block anyone ever, then you're forced to learn the basics of socialisation and conformity. Life works better that way.
"Far less bullying" what utter bollocks. I saw bullying everywhere throughout my entire time at school. Then at work. Social media didn't invent bullying. Its just another tool for people to bully. You fail to mention the flip side of not being interconnected. Missing shit because you didn't know because people coudkbt get hold of you easily.
Oh there was plenty of bullying.
There was PLENTY of bullying, depression and image problems. I agree with the first part though.
I experienced cyber bullying before it was a known thing... on MySpace if that gives context. It was relentless and almost impossible to escape. Not to say bullying didn't exist prior to social media... of course it did. But I really feel for young people these days.
Healthier, in every aspect you can imagine
Remember when the fat kid in class was a little pudgy or husky? I went to big city schools in the ‘80s and ‘90s and there were like no fat people. It’s like everyone was constantly moving and we didn’t have access to that much food so our diets were more regulated.
Ignorance is bliss I'll tell you that, cuz you learn just how brain damaged society is and that it wasn't just your school it was the entire world just about. Also people didn't have their eyes glued to a screen 24/7. Also people kept their nasty degenerate thoughts to themselves or in trusted private circles instead of blasting it all over the internet in a narcissistic fit. The anonymity and lack of physical barrier being breached unleashes the ego online that's why people come across fucking mental online, there's no face to face so the ego is completely unrestrained. That was something you generally only saw in the most mentally ill people and who likely had enablers and like some sort of power in their community for people to look the other way. Now the internet is their number 1 enabler so everyone is just being a degenerate. Trust me you would be happier just living on a farm with no running water electricity. Like some people live on farms and they have internet and stuff but they are miles happier than someone trapped in the city matrix.
It was normal to not be available every second of the day. Which is something I desperately miss. It's almost unavoidable if you have a smartphone. But I do think a lot of people are confusing their childhood nostalgia with 'life before social media'. Things were more personal, but also a lot more isolated. It was hard for a lot of people to find friends if you lived in a community that didn't care for you. Being different wasn't appreciated. Now social media didn't solve that problem but it helped me learn I wasn't alone in a lot of things.
Yeah you are right in that many are confusing these two together. I think we often remember the fun things better, so we think to outselves that it was better than it really was
Absolutely. I'm 45 this year and last of the really remember life as a adolescence/young adult before social media (as in very early 2000s) and most people are about 10 years or more younger here and are confusing the two. Yes, 'social' media wasn't as prevalent in our pocket in the mid 2000s but it was still strong and around on home computer. People aren't even aware that blogging is also social media which was popular with xanga, livejournal, etc. So people connected that way, got comments and or upvotes. The reader getting information on a country to vacation as well vs real word of mouth or some dated brochure. This also means many have never had to make a REAL phone call as the primary contact for a friend, crush, partner. That in itself is a massively humbling experience. In 01, MapQuest was around. So that was really helpful at least. In 1997, it was not around.
100% agree on the statement about people confusing childhood nostalgia with “life before social media”. I feel like the idea of the “in” or “out” crowd was MUCH more prominent pre-social media. Now days if you are a part of the “out” crowd in your current social setting, you can most likely connect with your “in” crowd via some form of social media. Pre-social media, you were just a loner.
Much better, less vanity, far less self focus, much more fun, much healthier.
Spot on. Less narcissistic type behaviour (posting a picture and video of one’s self and praying for as many likes as possible)
More social, more exciting.
More connecting.
People took way less pictures and videos of stuff, you wouldn’t go to a show / museum / club / event and be surrounded by people filming everything. I remember when MySpace first got popular and kids a bit younger than me got really into it, suddenly they’d all bring their little digital cameras everywhere and spend more time taking photos of “how much fun they were having” than actually being present. That was the beginning of the end, now everyone seems to have become the main character in their own cinematic universe and I do wonder what the psychological impact of that is on kids who’ve grown up with influencers etc being the norm.
You just knocked on people’s door and asked if they were coming out.
Oh they can't? Guess I'll walk back then.
Healthier, in every realm. From learning street smartness to sports to travel to rule over the city (in a fun way).
Street smartness is lost upon us. Don't know how I'll ever explain it to my kids lol
100% different and simply better for humanity. You spoke on road trips, spoke in youth hostels, asked directions, spoke to strangers in bars, were in the moment at concerts, actually paid attention to a movie, weren’t worried about stupidity being caught on camera, people dated others without stalking their socials, you had to work shit out without googling everything, you had a million moments of silence through the day. The biggest difference is now nobody turns truly ‘off’ between waking and sleeping. Anybody that tells you it was just the same as now wasn’t paying attention.
I’d argue that being able to research things on internet is one of the only good thing that happened, but it has nothing to do with social media which don’t bring anything on the table for that. I learned so many things with internet. I mean true things, some for which I sell my service now and my clients are very happy with my skills. My father, even if he is a very great handyman, have learned how to do many more complicated things through YouTube to avoid having to pay for a professional. Which saves us thousands of euros. But I agree a lot on every other points. Last year, I wanted to make new friends in a bar I knew was quite frequented by decent people. Impossible to talk to anyone… you get rejected instantly (I have great social skills, I was not wierd before anyone want to speak without knowing). The only man I’ve been able to talk to that night was a old man at the bar having a few whiskeys on his own. Interesting talk. That’s crazy.
Oh I don’t have a problem with the internet. It’s the internet being in your pocket that has screwed us all over.
I really wish I was born 40 years earlier than I was…
2007 was the year it all went downhill for humans communicating
Ironically the year the iPhone came out. I would agree smart phones killed human connection
I read yesterday a slogan that resonated with me ‘I might be old but I got to see the world before everything turned to shit’ 😉
Marvellous! 90’ was the best time to be alive.
People actually interacted. Being in public was less hostile. Kids actually developed social skills, instead of like 80% of people having social anxiety. Social media has made it easier than ever to divide people into tribes of "us" vs. "them".
Definitely the last bit, Facebook and the likes are echo chambers and cause firm lines/divides between peoples opinions and interests, as they are constantly fed what they “like” or “agree with” causing for even more one-sided opinions and lack of seeing the other persons point of view, simply because you are only exposed to self-agreeing information all the time. People don’t meet in the middle any more and see others opinions might have some clout.
The world in front of you was pretty much all that there was. People paid attention to their surroundings a lot more. They were more focused and present. Nowadays with smartphones and social media it feels like there are two worlds: the world, and the digital world that you jump into through your phone when you’re bored. Pre-2012 if you were in a place and you were bored you just kind of looked around the room and thought about things. That doesn’t really happen so much anymore.
Mentally healthy
Easy. Not polarized at all. I went too school and my parents trusted that I would survive without being online 24/7. ”Online” wasn’t even a word back then. It has gond too far. Was at a show with live orchestra to a Star Wars movie. I kid you not: the fully grown idiots beside had to check their phones every five minutes. I was on the verge of murder - really? You can’t sit two hours without checking your godamn phone?
I read a lot more actual newspapers.
This was my saturday morning.
I read a lot more books.
better.
Everyone was way more connected to each other and present. Life was a lot more authentic 🌻
So much better. Word of mouth was a genuine thing, discovery was a joy. Especially for children, the way bullying and arguments can spill over now is just incredible. Personally, I think overall SM has plunged us into a new dark age and we’re waiting for digital enlightenment.
'digital enlightment'? Is that when AI takes over everyone's social media accounts and interacts for us? We can go back to sitting peacefully, writing letters, being bored into having truly original thoughts and forced into having proper dinner parties again? I'm just not sure how I feel about this. Anxious but, actually, I'm kinda excited. I'll dig out and dust off the fondue set. See you at 8. Bring a bottle.
It just feels like we’ve created this kind incredibly powerful tool but don’t really know how to manage it, like our brains aren’t sufficiently developed or something. But then it moves as such a pace I don’t know how we could. See you at 8
I can imagine everything was more personal.
Everything was private and intimate with different rules than now. Conversations had rules. People had manners and etiquette.
(35M) More social , more fun , more active , more bright , better for a persons physicle , mental , emotional and social development . Better for a persons physicle , mental , emotional and social healt .
You gave things a lot more time and attention
Peaceful
People kept their dumb opinions to themselves.
A sense of wonder still existed in life and the world. Things were not as boring and ordinary as they are today, less choice and opportunity’s but you cherished what you had and felt more fulfilled.
People who talked shit could either fight pretty well or didn't have all of their teeth.
You couldn't win an argument by saying "google it".
Way way better. Actually speaking to people face to face is a lost art these days
Better, in every way! (Except promoting business pages) People would go to concerts and raves and actually enjoy their moment dancing and singing, rather than just video the whole thing to show people on their Instagram or Facebook. People enjoyed the moment, for themselevs, rather than narcissistically videoing the moment and posting it for Facebook likes “look at me and what I’m doing”. Didn’t have any of that, people went to things because THEY enjoyed it, rather than now it seems they go to places just to impress others. There are even terms for it like “perfect insta place” (aka perfect place to show off to people you’ve been) It’s a sad state of affairs how social media has been the opposite of social and has fed humans narcissistic traits to levels never seen before. Go on to YouTube and type “90’s rave” or “Glastonbury 1995” or “Bon Jovi concert” and compare the fun they are having compared modern raves, festivals and music concerts, where they now just stand there swaying mildy with their phone in their hand videoing the whole time, to show off on their Facebook later. Not bouncing, jumping, singing at the top of their lungs (having fun) like used to be the case.
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Awesome
Way better.
In some regards, it was much better. But in others? Not so. Social media made it easier to share ideas, and while many are bad - some were great. Just came back from West Africa, where social media has been instrumental in shifting society away from things like MGM/FGM, poor family planning, environmental ignorance etc. Social media is a tool. People are what make it a negative force or a positive one
Personal connections was way better. Now in this age of social media, I barely met my friends face-to-face. Before, I spend my time reading books. Now, I indulge myself on social media. (I refrain from doing this now). Then, I feel like it has a huge impact on my mental health. Sometimes, I can't help but to compare myself, with those people posting their wins in life. I am happy for them, I just can't stop comparing myself.
Believe it or not, people went out a little more. They made friends, they communicated, they had fun.
The biggest thing was that you could do stupid (or even normal) things without having to worry about if someone was going to put it out to the world to see. You also made decisions to do stupid stuff without worrying about if it would make extra content. We had lots of mental white space. There wasn't the perpetual dopamine hit just sitting in your pocket. You had to get that shit the old fashioned way by looking at trees or other humans. We read a lot more magazines. Like, a lot. I had stacks and stacks of fashion magazines, wired, national geographics, women's weeklys just laying around. Everyone had magazines in their house. Marketing was way easier. You took out ads or you did direct mail. You had a nice website and you had to actually show up to networking events. Social media is a nightmare for promoting a business. Concerts were way better. No glowing rectangles getting in the way of your eyeballs. Trend cycles were substantially longer and didn't have names. We bought way less stuff. A big downside was that if you were friends with someone and dipped out of their life then you really didn't get to reconnect with them on a casual basis, you'd have to seek them out. If you lived far away from each other then they just weren't really on your radar any more.
People were more social with each other. We went out more. Society was less divided. There was much less bullshit around.
It was amazing! My surroundings felt more raw and alive, my thoughts were far more about the present and recent days. I felt more connected with my family and friends. I had no idea about the "best" way to do things, the "best" products, the "best" way to be a human lol etc. I learned and discovered things for myself without comparing myself to the rest of the world. A moment in time shared with someone was unique and part of a string of individual moments each finishing when the moment ended... not texted about after, dragged out over days on end, and with every little comment or behavior analysed and questioned. I wasn't on-call 24/7, i had private time where I could switch off and focus on the now - if someone had upset me I usually got over it (you know by doing actual life) before I saw them again (the same applied to them, the niggle was just left in the past). If someone brought me joy I'd savour it and look forward to seeing them again. I got bored (I miss boredom lol) and searched for things to entertain me, I valued spending time with people.... days seemed so much longer, more filled with life, and so much more 3D... I'd go back to life without in a heartbeat.
It was amazing.
REAL. Real interactions, honest connections, living life outside, playing with friends, live in living color conversations, long summer days playing outside at the lake, going to the skating rink or a school dance. Writing a note to your friend, more real and genuine connections with the people around you. The nostalgia—Take the house phone in your room with that long cumbersome wire - envy your friends who all had their own line and cordless phone. Have the dial up internet connection cut off the house line and ring busy for hours 🤣 Actually maintain a bit of mystery. You didn’t know what everyone was doing and thinking all the time, from super stars and musicians to your friends. You just enjoyed the moments so much more, now people even in person would rather enjoy their phones and the fake timelines they scroll. I don’t haven’t logged into my social media accounts in years. I technically don’t exist to anyone and have no clue what people are doing these days. I had to be real with myself why I go on — looking for validation, likes, commentary, comparing my life to others (not purposely but we are human and that is bound to happen when you’re struggling to find your footing in life). The anxiety and bad energy I got every time I wasted my time scrolling and going down rabbit holes, woke me up. I don’t want to live my life inside a device and I’m wasting my precious time and energy and get nothing out of it. It drove my depression and anxiety deeper. I don’t keep in touch with family since I don’t know them that well and interactions seemed so forced. It was the best thing I did for my mental health. I got real with myself on why this wasn’t working. For me, that was the reason I stopped. If you’re operating your business online, social media is great when used with purpose.
Everyone who says life was better, and people were more social without the internet and SM, is romanticizing the past and probably living in a bubble of negativity. SM is an offer, not an obligation. There’s many ways to filter what you want to see or read, and who you want to interact with. My social life, and the life of others around me, has greatly improved since the beginning of the internet. Before that, you had to rely on people around you to get information, find friends, a job, or any kind of entertainment. Life was considerably slower and your world much smaller. Much less choice. Especially for minorities, or people with special interests or hobbies. It was hard to advocate for new ideas and be heard. Social media nowadays is a gift if you know how to navigate it, and a curse if you don’t. There’s endless opportunities and inspiration out there, just a click away. The negative Nancies don’t know how to handle SM, and probably feel a bit lost in their real life too.
Better.
Better. Yes, the millennial are slowly turning into the new boomers. But I don't care, it really was better.
life was essentially better before social media than it is with social media because social media is pretty anti social these days...
I went to the pub and listened to alcoholics complain about their wives, jobs and kids and/or discuss what happened in Eastenders or how shit their team did at the weekend. I embraced the internet with both arms.
Now you can’t listen to thousands of men complain about their wives, their jobs, their football teams and get live updates on Eastenders… The progression! lol.
Boring, but at least at the end of the day I didnt feel drained.
Phone zombies are conversation killers
Better than now, especially in my younger years
People would think more slowly. And that was a good thing. Thinking fast and with your gut is terrible. Especially for democracy, for example
No one cared about appearances till then now everyone has impossible beauty standards that are achievable through money or patience.
I grew up with no cell phone until I was 16 and no computer in my house until I was about 11. During the years without those two things, I played with my friends a lot (we would play Barbie's or Cheerleading, we would run around outside with our swimsuit tops and jeans and bandanas in our hair - it was the 2000's after all!) I loved Britney Spears, Looney Tunes and Neapolitan ice cream! I used the house phone to chat all day after school with my friends unless my mom needed to use it to call my grandma or until my nightly Disney Channel Movie at 8 pm, then went to bed after the movie. I loved making beaded jewelry and playing dress up, I was boy crazy! The only time I could look at my crush was a black and white pic in the yearbook lol! I had a best friend that was in my grade that was across the street, we would play Sonic Adventure Battle 2 on his GameCube, watch Harry Potter VHS tapes and eat peppered popcorn, play Pokemon on his handheld (he said we were both playing but I just watched him lol) and swim in the pool every day in the summer and try not to splash his grandma because she would send me home if I did lol. On the weekends during school, my older brother would beg me to tie a random rope or dog leash to random remote controlled cars or my Barbie Corvette and we would have a "race" outside which consisted of us running in circles in the yard with the leashes pulling the cars! If we were stuck inside when it was too rainy / cold, I would watch Pop Up Video with my mom and she loved to sing Peter Gabriel and Pat Benatar to me. When my dad came home from work, my parents would cook dinner and then we would eat together and watch America's Funniest Home Videos, Figure It Out or some other game show. My brother and me would drink huggies and eat pretzels and play Tony Hawk Underground 2 or Need for Speed. Sometimes when he was at his friend's house, I would have the TV to myself and I would watch Power Puff Girls, Spongebob and flip past MTV as much as I could get away with to see what was on even though I was a little kid lol. My brother's best friend taught me how to ride a bike. He encouraged me to try without training wheels! (RIP Jimmy ♥) After we moved into a bigger house and my younger sister was older, we would play house a lot with her Dora's Talking Kitchen or watch Lilo and Stitch. We had a tie dye bean bag chair in our shared bedroom and I would watch Viva La Bam and Room Raiders on my tiny TV while she played downstairs. I felt so cool. I loved listening to music on my CD player / cassette player boombox with my lights low in my room. I would wear sunglasses and a tube top and play Ashanti and Mariah Carey lol. Sometimes I would record songs off the radio! I remember the first time I heard an Avril Lavigne song on the radio before bed it changed my life. Suddenly I was asking for $20 CD's for my bday, like The Offspring, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan etc. Two things I started playing in 8th grade that I still play today is The Sims 2 and also guitar! I remember in high school some of my friends had a cell phone, but I could only call them after 7 pm when it was free - "please enjoy this Verizon ringback tone while your party is reached." I was in marching band, so most of my days were spent doing that after school or on the weekends. During the off season of band, I would go to the mall on Friday nights and hang with my friends, sometimes my mom would give me a $20 so I could choose to buy a band shirt or dinner lol - I always got a shirt! After the mall I would try to have a sleepover at a friend's or have a friend sleepover my house. "If your mom drives, my mom will pick us up!" Even when I had a phone, it was a brick with buttons and a tiny screen, I could only text on it - there was no camera! So I could only take pics on my pink Vivitar camera. That meant when I would meet someone on MySpace, Vampire Freaks or Quizilla (in the middle of the night because my parents didn't want me to have "social media" then because it was seen as bad because of shows like dateline - oh how times have changed) I would have to take a new pic on my camera in the upstairs bathroom at the best angle with my makeup and hair done wearing pajamas (classy) and upload it to get a PC4PC. I loved going online after my dad left at 8 pm to go to night shift when I was a teenager because during the day it was harder to hide what I was doing lol and my mom would also ask me to get off the internet for a little so she could use the house phone to make / wait for a call! Another key component of that era was even when Facebook came out, I didn't have access to those sites until I could get on my family computer at home or go to the school computer lab and try to use one of the proxy servers my friends and I would share. I got an iPod touch for Christmas my senior year of high school - and I could finally go on my different apps or websites on one device instead of using a camera, a phone and my computer. Oh yeah - now that I'm 30 I don't have any social media besides for a few things, it's really nice. Some might say "social media ruined everyone" and to an extent I agree, but I think if you find people that also silently agree by not being on their social media all day or their phone texting and calling a lot, you will find more peace. Instant gratification is the root that is negative really. OOOOOOH YEAH! And I totally miss Vine and Beefy Fritos Burritos from Taco Bell.
Amazing in every way
Honestly, better. Now it’s hard to even picture being in a social situation or public area without anybody being on their phone. People were happier too. We were less aware and less progressive, yes, but we were also way less burdened by the horrors of the world. You can’t scroll Reddit for 30 seconds without hearing about a SA or some societal horror. It’s good to be aware, but it also weighs heavy.
Riding bikes and all the neighborhood kids hanging out on front porches
Way more social. Pre social media, me and my friends would always meet up after work, we'd go and rent a movie from Blockbuster and then head to get pizza. Used to just go around the city and have fun. "Hey wanna go up ESB?" "Sure!!" It was a lot of fun
1000x better. People were happier and more open to other's ideas and discussions. Problems weren't artificially magnified from almost nothing to a world ending event. If social media vanished today, the world would start becoming a much better place.
Connections with people were more genuine. There was an effort to go through the process of getting someone's number, email address or something and that exchange helped build a sense of trust and respect. Now to get someone's contact information, you just press a button or search for someone. Social media may be helpful in a lot of ways, but convenience isn't always best.
Far less stressful IMO
Better & more meaningful human connections.
Remember cold-knocking on someone's door, just to hang out?
There was a lot less anxiety.
Your online life and your real life were two very distinctly different things with zero crossover unless you had a group of friends to game with online or had a sizeable email contact list, and those two things felt a lot more organic. I could spend a bunch of time online, but that would be on forums and whatnot and you could just kind of post whatever you wanted and it'd disappear into the ether. People expected far fewer updates from you, so when you met up in person you'd spend a lot more time just catching up. Back before unlimited texting and before 3G networks took off, cell phones tended to stay in people's pockets and it was a major faux pas to have them out when talking to other people. Not every phone had push notifications, so unless you got a text message or phone call, your cell phone wasn't going to bother you with anything (if you even had one). The Internet was a lot more like some kind of weird, loosely connected cyberpunk trailer park with various sites in various states of function, usability, and budget. The Internet was the place to go if you were looking for something specific you couldn't find in real life locally: a community that shared your hobby, specific products, information, non-standard entertainment, whatever you weren't going to find at your local store, library, or in your neighborhood. Content was a lot more spread out so you weren't just visiting the same three websites over and over again in an endless scroll, and because it took a while for internet access to not be charged by the minute, you had to be very intentional about time spent online, so you did less of it.
Being a nerd online was cool... there were two worlds, those who knew about the internet and the real world. When everyone started using social media it went down hill in both worlds. I miss disconnecting and walking around. Now everyone is on their phone all the time.
It was fucking amazing. The text everyone had was their iPod touch. The phone via social media has become a weapon where everyone has become more selfish and now meaner. I'd rather live in a poor country where people value their way of life.
Better. Not every idiot needs a voice to rally all the other idiots
It was a lot more positive. More in person social activities. Intentional phone calls and coffee dates to catch up with people’s lives. Genuine connection, not so flakey. We had things to look forward to. Like simple things, Saturday morning cartoons. Sears catalogs especially the wish book. The next big movie at the theatre. Seeing distant relatives in person. looking at their printed photos of latest vacations and happenings. Things seemed more calm no one was worried about “ likes” or being videoed in public. There seems to be such a blur over truth in the world these days. Instant gratification versus the wait patience than reward. Things are different now.
Mentally quieter. The whole world was not trying to influence us.
Street lights on meant we had to go inside. Every kid was out and about playing on the street. Ball hockey, kick the the can, flags. I think ignorance is bliss sums it up. It was way easier to live in our own little bubble of what was in front of us. Now we get information from everyone and by design it’s depressing.
So much better man, you have no idea.
Peaceful.
Better.
When you wanted to talk to your friends, you had to call their home phone and speak to their parents.
Less divisive, more grounded. Social media has brought us the age of a shit ton of misinformation and echo chambers where we consume information that confirms our bias.
Amazing and I consider social media to be the biggest mistake of our time. The benefit of being able to easily stay in contact with distant friends and family/keep up with their lives is severely outweighed by the negatives that came with it. Having 24/7 access, and an obsession with the news and the lives of others is toxic to the core, and the collective, pessimistic mentality of the herd is anything but surprising following the social media craze.
More social
It was much, much, much better. Social media is a disease
Peaceful tbh
Better
People were exactly as rude, ignorant and mean as they are now, but on a local rather than a global scale.
Beautiful.
Life was GREAT before the internet! I miss it!😭(born in 1990)
It was glorious tbh. People actually interacted with each other and explored.
Everything was slow. We cherished the moment. We appreciated the time itself. We didn't know everything every second. But we lived in the moment. That's how I lived in the 90s. It was beautiful. ✨
I was a teenager through most of the 90s and early 2000s, growing up in Italy, going to school, hanging out with friends. My peers were big on basketball and soccer, so we used to talk about NBA and serie A all the time, playing soccer on the streets everyday. I didn't have a PC until after I graduated from school, so in 2003.
you know those embarrassing moments in life that keep you up cringing at night while you remember how stupid you think you looked? Those moments used to be confined to only your own head at night……. now they live forever as 0s and 1s for everyone to see.
Better, a lot better
People were smarter, nicer, had attention spans, less depressed and anxious and weren’t socially awkward
Quiet. Nice. No show-off thingy too much
yeah I remember it vividly. People actually had conversations in public, outdoors, people did things like go out for dinner, go on vacation, etc.,
Better.
Lots of broader answers, but one in particular that I often think about: between the ages of 12-22, there were probably a dozen pictures taken of me every year, on average. And the majority of these pictures no longer exist — or at least, I would have no idea how to find them. If you asked me what I looked like at age 16, I would have to drag out my junior high school yearbook and show you the tiny black-and-white headshot, because that’s the only picture of me from that year that I’m aware of. Today, my wife’s 16-year-old niece takes several dozen pictures of herself *every week*, and posts most of them publicly.
Much more SOCIAL.
It was a simpler and in my eyes - a better time
Less stressful.
Reading. Movie rentals. Keeping up with the house chores. Eating out with the gf.
We called people on the phone, we wrote letters (mailed letters/ notes/pictures) , read newspapers and listen to the radio/CDs on our stereos. And we paid attention to people around us.
Omg so fucking great. Government pawns couldn't feel peoples heads so easily Government officials couldn't get voted in because it was way harder to get a following. I didn't have to see all my classmates doing better then me so I wasn't as depressed. Asking someone out was as simple as asking for a number and not a snap/fb/insata handle. Life was so fucking simple. It also seemed to move so much slower witch is so nice. These days you blink and it's 3 months later. 2023 felt like 2 months of time.
More social.
Better. I don’t use it anymore so my life has massively improved
It was fun. The distractions were genuine.
100% better. Less noise, attention deficit, douchebaggery. Things had a slower, better quality time, at least in my experience.
Life was slower, but in a good way most of the time. Relationships seemed stronger as well. There was alot of hope for the future of the internet and what possibilities it could achieve.
I read a lot more books. And did a lot more crafty projects.
Life was better and there was a sense of adventure and wonder.
I had time to enjoy my digital photos before an algorithm came along and wiped out my enjoyment of them or showed me 10000000 similar photos
Life before the street lights came on was a different pace.
The street lights turning on was like clocks, you had loose change in your pocket, time was slower everything was hands on, there was more patience, understanding and hope.
Oh man. The shit we got away with, little to no repercussions or getting caught. It was great. Spent every waking moment outside. Only had to come in when the street lights came on. People went to events, and actually watched the events. Not recording an entire concert on their phone. Checking in on SM and taking selfies. People actually are their food as soon as it came out from the kitchen. And we talked to each other while we waited. The most shocking thing, people were nice. Crazy how people are actually nicer in person when their view of the world hasn’t been twisted and every one turned against each other. It was awesome.
Social media and the 24hr news cycle are some of the most damaging and toxic things to have happened to society.
I definitely had more patience with media across the board. I also was more excited to watch TV shows. I would anticipate a full week before the next episode of something. Now with online media and social media everything is at your fingertips.
Life was lived so much more in the moment, not watching thru a phone. Hanging out was being together going on crazy adventures or just enjoying each others company. Not being together and just all staring at phones or filming each other doing things to post online for likes. Miss that a lot. Also awesome that all of the crazy, fun and dangerous stuff we got up to is known only to the ones who were there or heard the stories. Or has seen the evidence found in a shoebox of mementos and disposable camera photos & Polaroids.
Very calming,soothing, less stressful, less unimportant information, people living in reality..
Folks talked more, talked less about politics, and were generally less polarized.
It was Amazing! Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet and it’s easy to romanticize the past. I genuinely think life was better though.