Super relatable article! I’m the same age as you, and much to my dismay I have personally seen a huge influx of nostalgia for 2014 and specifically the internet fandom era of it, so I don’t necessarily think the wide existence of social media in a time will lessen the nostalgia for said time. I think that the existence of social media actually heightens some longing for the past, almost like stumbling on an old diary in a thrift store. There’s a personal touch to looking at social media relics vs only having movies and TV as a time machine.
Culture has sped up to an alarming rate since COVID though, like the summers in the 2010s (despite having things like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, etc etc) had distinct cultural flavors that have been missing in the post-COVID years. Perhaps that is just me getting older and losing touch with the youth or perhaps it is, as you said, a collective transplant of our memories from our minds to our phones.
I’ve found a small antidote to it for me is to revisit analog media (polaroids, DVDs and CDS, sending letters) and making an effort to actively use it. Alongside watching TV from days gone by, it soothes the buzz social media causes in my head just enough to think more clearly. I’ve said for years I think smartphones will be viewed akin to cigarettes in the distant future. We can only hope the idea of having one in your hands at all times will be as foreign to our ancestors as smoking on planes is for us.
I think you make a really good point, something I had not considered, especially seeing how much nostalgia content there is out there (which is what inspired this whole thing ironically!). I need to reflect upon that because honestly yes you're right. I can see 2020 nostalgia posts hitting the contect factories soon.
I do think tho that so few people (even all belonging to the same age group) have the same online experiences and sees the same content, which will maybe lessen the impact of these nostalgia resurgences.
I love the idea of analog media - recently I got a new analog camera and I am so excited to fill out the albums.
Super relatable article! I’m the same age as you, and much to my dismay I have personally seen a huge influx of nostalgia for 2014 and specifically the internet fandom era of it, so I don’t necessarily think the wide existence of social media in a time will lessen the nostalgia for said time. I think that the existence of social media actually heightens some longing for the past, almost like stumbling on an old diary in a thrift store. There’s a personal touch to looking at social media relics vs only having movies and TV as a time machine.
Culture has sped up to an alarming rate since COVID though, like the summers in the 2010s (despite having things like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Tumblr, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, etc etc) had distinct cultural flavors that have been missing in the post-COVID years. Perhaps that is just me getting older and losing touch with the youth or perhaps it is, as you said, a collective transplant of our memories from our minds to our phones.
I’ve found a small antidote to it for me is to revisit analog media (polaroids, DVDs and CDS, sending letters) and making an effort to actively use it. Alongside watching TV from days gone by, it soothes the buzz social media causes in my head just enough to think more clearly. I’ve said for years I think smartphones will be viewed akin to cigarettes in the distant future. We can only hope the idea of having one in your hands at all times will be as foreign to our ancestors as smoking on planes is for us.
thank you for your comment!!
I think you make a really good point, something I had not considered, especially seeing how much nostalgia content there is out there (which is what inspired this whole thing ironically!). I need to reflect upon that because honestly yes you're right. I can see 2020 nostalgia posts hitting the contect factories soon.
I do think tho that so few people (even all belonging to the same age group) have the same online experiences and sees the same content, which will maybe lessen the impact of these nostalgia resurgences.
I love the idea of analog media - recently I got a new analog camera and I am so excited to fill out the albums.