“TV Would Be Changed Forever”: People Who Grew Up In The Y2K Era Are Sharing The Biggest Misconceptions, And It’s Fascinating

1 month ago 25

"How rare and exciting it was to order something off of the internet and have it arrive at your house. What a magical concept!"

1. "I don't think it can be properly conveyed just how remarkable and novel reality TV was. The first season of Survivor?! We did not get assigned homework the night of the finale! It was such a huge deal. Season 1 of Big Brother? The idea that we could watch them 24/7 by going online? Absolutely revolutionary. American Idol, voting contestants off in real time? All of the things that feel tired and overdone and crass now were the talk of the country, and there was so much concern for how TV would be changed forever..." — violetmemphisblue

2. "Being 'not like the other girls' is seen as ultimate 'pick-me' behavior today, but that actually was the feminist movement of the early 2000s. Women and girls were all expected to be hyper-feminine and have stereotypical interests (the color pink, makeup, shopping, etc) and it was 'cool' to put down women that conformed to those ideals. Being viewed as 'one of the boys' or rejecting those feminine interests was a way to rebel against that societal norm. P!nk’s 'Stupid Girls' and Avril Lavigne’s 'Sk8er Boi' are good examples of this. Neither of these songs would fly in mainstream media if they were released today, but the underlying messages behind them absolutely were seen as progressive at the time." — deathtonormalcy

3. "How rare and exciting it was to order something off of the internet and have it arrive at your house. What a magical concept! I miss not being overwhelmed with choice and not having as many physical stores to go in and try clothes on at." — Latter_Table193

4. "Post 9/11 Islamophobia was so mainstream it was considered socially acceptable." — thatplaidhat

5. "Homophobia was INSANELY normalized in all levels of culture. I was in a screamo/metal band in ‘03 and started wearing tight pants like 5 years too early. Got called the F word literally every day of my life all of high school until Lil Wayne put skinny jeans on in '08 and all of a sudden everyone was cool with me." — FrodoFan34

6. "Stan culture was basically just listening to your favorite artist’s CDs on repeat, going to their concerts/movies and/or reading about them in magazines when you could, putting up posters, and daydreaming. As someone born in 1986, I was aware of fan clubs you could write letters to but they weren’t super mainstream. Definitely less parasocial overall than it is today." — TacosBeansGuacOhMy

7. "I've been rewatching Lost but with my kids, and it's strange trying to convey how much of a phenomenon certain TV shows used to be. Not to mention that when they whine about having to wait until the next day to watch another episode, I get to say 'back in my day' like an old person explaining that at least it's not a whole summer!" — TrimspaBB

8. "While I’m glad there’s more media out there, I kind of miss the monoculture. It was nice to have something basically everyone watched." — HearTheBluesACalling

9. "IMO social tech has devolved since the Y2K days. Back then, anyone who wanted a good MySpace or Tumblr page had to know at least the basics of coding or befriend someone who could make a sick template. We were more engaged and shared stuff more extensively because algorithms didn't exist to tell us where to go and what to look at. It was far more social and easier to have a unique voice back then and the current social media spaces feel really regressive." — caffeinatedspiders

10. "As bad as you think it was for women, it was worse. It was really, really, really hard to be anything over a size 8. As a size 12/14 at the time, I was referred to as a 'hippo.' Photos of Jessica Simpson performing were plastered across tabloid front pages with the grossest headlines about her weight." — Camillyledger

11. "Not to be an old man yelling at a cloud, but we really were so much freer to be extremely stupid as young people because we were not under constant surveillance. I cringe when I remember things that were popular back then, but I'm also grateful that I was able to participate in bad trends without considering an audience at every turn. The only people at risk of seeing me dressed in my strappy dress with jeans and a wide, slouchy belt were the people present at the mall at the same time I was!" — Accomplished_Book427

12. "Concert tickets back then were also insanely cheap (by today's standards.) You could see huge acts like NSYNC or Britney for less than $50 a ticket sometimes." — ShannenB1234

13. "For me, it was how crazy it was to see pics of people I knew. MSN had this profile page and I couldn't believe a girl from my school filled hers out out had a digital picture up. It felt so invasive and weird, looking it." — VenusRainMaker

14. "The misconception that annoys me is the idea that subcultures were simply aesthetics. Until recently, if you dressed like you belonged to a subculture but didn't listen to the music or go to events or participate in the community, you were considered a poser, and that was something to be embarrassed about. Also, most people didn't really switch around their personal look that often, because it was tied to community, to some degree." — CemeteryHounds

15. "Back when being a poser or sellout was incredibly humiliating and to be avoided. Nowadays, nobody has any shame, and they just don't care. But they should." — Cakeday_at_Christmas

16. "Paparazzi culture was just as crazy as you think it was. Magazines were nasty to everyone and about everything." — aliveinjoburg2

17. "The idea that bubblegum teen pop defined Y2K as a whole is really confusing. People thought at the time when the big five of teen pop of the Y2K era (Britney Spears, The Spice Girls, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and Christina Aguilera) were at their prime, older audiences (mostly Gen Xers) viewed their music as too spurious and too commercialized for them to listen." — icey_sawg0034

18. "Pop-punk/ emo had a thing for a while: Blink 182, Motion City Soundtrack, Dashboard Confessional, Sum 41, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, etc. A lot of kids then (myself included) started actual bands." — chetpancakesparty

Can you think of any other misconceptions about the Y2K era? Let me know in the comments or in the anonymous form below!

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“TV Would Be Changed Forever”: People Who Grew Up In The Y2K Era Are Sharing The Biggest Misconceptions, And It’s Fascinating

3. "How rare and exciting it was to order something off of the internet and have it arrive at your house. What a magical concept! I miss not being overwhelmed with choice and not having as many physical stores to go in and try clothes on at." — Latter_Table193

4. "Post 9/11 Islamophobia was so mainstream it was considered socially acceptable." — thatplaidhat

8. "While I’m glad there’s more media out there, I kind of miss the monoculture. It was nice to have something basically everyone watched." — HearTheBluesACalling

12. "Concert tickets back then were also insanely cheap (by today's standards.) You could see huge acts like NSYNC or Britney for less than $50 a ticket sometimes." — ShannenB1234

13. "For me, it was how crazy it was to see pics of people I knew. MSN had this profile page and I couldn't believe a girl from my school filled hers out out had a digital picture up. It felt so invasive and weird, looking it." — VenusRainMaker

15. "Back when being a poser or sellout was incredibly humiliating and to be avoided. Nowadays, nobody has any shame, and they just don't care. But they should." — Cakeday_at_Christmas

16. "Paparazzi culture was just as crazy as you think it was. Magazines were nasty to everyone and about everything." — aliveinjoburg2

18. "Pop-punk/ emo had a thing for a while: Blink 182, Motion City Soundtrack, Dashboard Confessional, Sum 41, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, etc. A lot of kids then (myself included) started actual bands." — chetpancakesparty

Can you think of any other misconceptions about the Y2K era? Let me know in the comments or in the anonymous form below!

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