Happy Thursday!

I am continuing my visual and cultural guide to the 2010s today. The later part of the decade rarely makes any noise online, but there actually were a lot of significant moments. If you haven’t seen the first part, you can check it out here. Subscribe to the Yapper tier to read the full letter. 

For some reason, no one really romanticizes the second half of the 2010s that much, with the exception of 2016. It was interesting to think back at this time because people don’t talk about it as often. Truthfully, I had to rack my brain a little more since I don’t talk about (or see anyone talk about), say, 2018 that often. Once I did go down memory lane though… wow. The visions. I love to see how we change every year as a culture. The back half of the decade really was a fun time too, despite the many horrors. Here is what it looked, sounded, and felt like. 

If the previous year is when social media users started posting more #aesthetic things, this is when everyone — knowingly or not — began curating their personal brands. While the earlier days of Instagram were meant for sharing any and/or all pictures in your camera roll, influencers began taking over the app, changing its look and culture. Whereas people would previously post whatever they wanted, at any time, this is when users became more mindful about the quality of their photos and the peak posting time. (Despite the more polished look, this is also the year that athleisure took off, with joggers, leggings, and sneakers becoming everyday staples.)

There was still an earnestness on the internet. BuzzFeed Videos became very popular on YouTube in part because of their quirky, silly, and real personalities. This era of the brand introduced us to many of today’s internet mainstays including the Try Guys, Safiya Nygaard, Michelle Khare, Watcher Entertainment, and of course (now on TV) Quinta Brunson.

Somehow, we were simultaneously getting more woke and more offensive. I guess you could say that about most years, with any progress being met with regression. The infamous Tumblr blog yourfaveisproblematic peaked the previous year, which ushered in modern day cancel culture. This punitive attitude toward famous people’s mistakes led to the conflation of ignorance and malice, which became the standard to which we hold everybody on the internet. 

While the consequences of this behavior reverberate to this day, it did allow us to have very frank, open conversations about problematic things in culture — of which there were many in 2015! Cultural appropriation was pervasive, best embodied by the amalgamation of global influences for Major Lazer’s “Lean On,” featuring MØ and DJ Snake (and the song’s music video). Tropical house, which was largely influenced by Caribbean music, and pseudo-Indian imagery were everywhere. This vigilance toward insensitivity likely also made us more open to changing societal norms, which feels both quaint and impossible today. Here were some of the wins of this year: Same-sex marriage was legalized in the U.S.; The body positivity movement was gaining popularity in the mainstream; and the Black Lives Matter became massively influential. All of these things have since come under attack, especially in the past two years.

I won’t go too long on 2016 since I’ve talked about it a couple times already. The influencer era had begun its takeover by the decade’s midpoint. It had a ripple effect across Instagram, which rolled out a new algorithm at this time. Even teens with no audience (me and my peers) began taking, selecting, editing, and filtering our photos to look a certain way (typically faded, desaturated, a little pink). Dedicated Instagram walls began cropping up outside of buildings and in brunch spots across the country. This is an era of Los Angeles supremacy, as the city became the influencer capital.

People talk a lot about how the 2010s look and feel more optimistic. Past the midpoint of the decade, I think that optimism became more of a performance than a real feeling. When I look at the visuals, music, fashion, and social media posts from this time, a lot of it feels like a projection of an ideal. People were looking to flex (see: the rising popularity of streetwear brands like Supreme), but it was a little empty. Social media became more polished and a little less fun, although none of us really admitted it. Perhaps that’s why so many photos were posted through a rose-tinted filter. 

I also think this is when we began thinking about ourselves too much. In addition to the vibe shift on Instagram, many of us were on Snapchat looking at our faces through filters that slightly snatched our faces. Yes, the dog filter was fun and silly, but other popular ones like the flower crown made you a little slimmer and lighter. We saw the rise of Instagram face and the various cosmetic procedures popularized by the Kardashians. I don’t think we were meant to be looking at our faces so much. It’s no wonder so many young people were becoming more self-conscious and anxious.