Futurist Arthur C. Clarke predicted in 1966, by the year 2020 we would live in flying houses. Homeowners would be able to move their house all the way across the country to sunny beaches without even leaving the comfort of their beds. Obviously, we don’t live in an era of flying houses, let alone flying cars, but over the past 10 years, we’ve seen lots of changes in technology and culture.

Songs by year

2010: “Tik Tok” by Kesha

2011: “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele

2012: “Somebody That I Used to Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra

2013: “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz

2014: “Happy” by Pharrell Williams

2015: “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

2016: “Love Yourself” by Justin Bieber

2017: “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran

2018: “God’s Plan” by Drake

Technology

We don’t have flying cars yet, but numerous brands have introduced self-driving technology – most notably seen in the release of the Tesla Model S. There have also been several major technology changes as Apple became one of the most popular technology brands.

Before 2010, Apple was just introducing the smartphone which at that time rivaled the popular Blackberry. Apple released the iPhone 4 along with the iPad in 2010. Since then, we have seen 21 different iPhone models and 21 iPad models.

One of the major changes in these models was the death of the headphone jack in the iPhone 7 and introduction of Airpods. We’ve also seen innovation in smart wear such as Apple watches and Fitbits that have become a runner’s best friend.

Social media

The 2010s are most notably the decade of social media. In the 2000s, social media was just becoming a thing and many didn’t hop on the trend. Now, it seems everyone from eight-year-olds to 90-year-olds is on it. Instagram’s release in October of 2010 created a platform for memes and social media influencers.

Snapchat has become one of the most popular social media apps among adolescents in a span of seven years. Most teens now use Snapchat as their key source of communication among friends. Yet throughout all the updates, Snapchat still won’t allow us to change the cringey usernames that haunt us. 

We cannot forget all the crazy internet challenges, like the cinnamon challenge, ice bucket challenge, chubby bunny challenge, salt and ice challenge, Kylie lip challenge and, most recently, the Tide Pod challenge. Although some challenges were funny to watch, other challenges became threatening to health. 

Youtube also became filled with several song challenges like the Harlem shake or mannequin challenge, which inspired millions of recreations.

Today’s comedy has become widely centered around memes. It’s crazy how one simple tweet can take over the internet in a span of minutes. Let’s go down memory lane of some of the most iconic memes, including Kermit sipping tea, Grumpy cat, distracted boyfriend, left shark, Harambe and Salt Bae.

Some memes also split the internet in half – most notably the dress. People spent countless hours arguing whether the dress was blue and black or white and gold, but it was clearly blue and black.

Some of these iconic memes were brought to us by Vine. Vine played an important role in internet comedy throughout this decade. The app that allowed users to share 6-second videos sadly died in 2017. Thankfully, we can still find countless compilations of Vines on Youtube. 

Fashion

There was a time in our elementary school years when mustaches were all the craze and on everything from shirts to earrings. Flower crowns were a huge trend in the 2010s, which led to countless youtube tutorials on how to make them.  Remember Shutter shades, those sunglasses with horizontal slats through the lenses? Chokers came back into style in 2016, one of the first marks of 90s fashion making its way back. One of my personal favorite 90s fashion trends that has come back into style is denim skirts. These skirts should have never gone out of style, as they are so versatile; pair it with a distressed band tee for a casual look or a floral blouse for a more dressy look.  Purposely ripped jeans came back into style and are still popular today; just make sure they are not worn to any family outing, or you will be judged. I’m not exactly sure why, but tiny sunglasses became a thing a couple of years ago – another trend that came back from the 90s. Over the past two years, crocs have become popular among teenagers. These foam shoes bring back many childhood memories, as teens often fill them with their favorite Jibbitz.

Childhood TV shows

Most of us grew up watching Disney Channel and Nickelodeon as a typical source of entertainment. The beginning of the decade was the end of some of our favorite shows that shaped our childhood such as “Hannah Montana,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” “iCarly,” “Big Time Rush” and “Victorious.”  Thankfully, the recent release of Disney Plus allows us to binge our favorite shows for hours on end. In my opinion, the second half of the decade lacked quality TV we grew up with at the beginning of the 10s. 

At the beginning of the decade, Netflix started offering online streaming. This transformed the TV watching game, as people could binge hours of their favorite shows without commercials. Since then, multiple companies have introduced their own streaming services. Now, people are starting to use streaming services more than cable. 

“Stranger Things” has been one of the most popular shows over the past couple of years. Whether it’s the nostalgic feeling of the 80s or Sci-fi cliffhangers, people can’t stop watching. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have created their own original series in an effort to bring in more viewers.

In my opinion, there haven’t been as many tv shows that top the ones we grew up with. However, over the last couple of years shows such as Stranger Things, with its nostalgic 80’s feel, and The Office, with its witty humor, have become very popular.