Why Is Gen Z Obsessed With Nostalgia?

[@justincarrillo226]

It’s not just gen Z. As a millennial I often think about the late 90s early 2000’s. Things were much simpler before social media came along.

[@ColeHastings]

I know, but i have to simplify the title. I mention this in the vid

[@goblins2k5]

Millenials have a thing for nostalgia, having seen the transition from telephones to cell phones to supercomputers in our pockets. A lot of what we view as millenial culture is actually a product of Gen X. Millenials weren't yet old enough to create their own culture in the 90's. Millenials grew up watching Gen X kids on TV. Millenials are also often children of Boomers, giving some sense of nostalgia for their parents place in time as well. Nowadays, young people can more easily broadcast cultural shifts and generational memes. But the youngest of generations still consume what previous gens produce (such as Gen Alpha being associated with 'Skibbidy Toilet', which is a product of Gen Z).

[@lalaland2107]

Don’t forget the millennials’ 90s nostalgia from the early to mid 2010s. “Only 90s kids remember…”

[@intellectually_lazy]

@@goblins2k5 i didn't used to be old enough to be an x-er, not when it was "cool", but then they invented millenials, before that it was, tentatively "y" or the pepp-see generation. back then millenial was that show with frank black. just goes to show generations are so totally a real thing and not just, you know, all about division and marketing

[@intellectually_lazy]

yes, i realize that's like the most old-timey stereotypical gen x shit in the world to say, but sure beats what it seems like the stereotype is now, bearded guys in their garage yelling about the wokes in star wars these days

[@timelapsega]

Nostalgia is interesting because it can make you feel very happy and very sad at the same time

[@ColeHastings]

Yes

[@johnjettfothergill4231]

@timelapsega Very interesting that you should say that, and it reminds me of a time about 15 years ago when I shared an experience with my now deceased father, where we both saw the same thing in two different ways. Very much along the line of your above statement. He saw the glass as half empty, and I saw it as half full, sort of situation. It was a special shown on and produced by the local PBS station. It was about local businesses and institutions that were no longer in existence due to whatever reason(s), and simply the passage of time. It was titled something very much like- 'Things that aren't around anymore.', and I asked dad if he would like to watch it with me. I thought it would be fun to be reminded of things that I had perhaps forgotten about. He however saw it as a sad thing being reminded that these places were long gone, because he would only be reminded of the fun he had back in those days with those places and missed them both. He was at the time in the back half of his 80s, and I was in the front half of my 50s. My mom (his wife) had passed a little over 10 years earlier, and he had lost no small number of his life-long friends by that time. I later reflected back on all of that and wondered if his feelings weren't influenced by all of those facts. To watching the show, he said no, he did not want to watch it. I could very clearly actually hear the sadness in his voice as he gave me his answer, and I instantly sort of felt bad for having even brought the subject up with him. Thanks for saying what you did and reminding me of an interesting incident that brought me cause for reflection and introspection.

[@cicicave1279]

+timelapsega For me, it depends on the nostalgia. Music for example: I literally have a playlist on my phone called "Nostalgia Ln. Music" which is full of different songs I used to listen to as a teenager and those songs not only help make me feel happy, but it reminds me of good memories and good times that I had w/my best friend at the time too. And tbh, she is the one who got me into the majority of my nostaligc music and for me, it's nice to be able to relive that and be in a good, happy mood no matter how old the song is. I do know there are some people out there of various age ranges that do listen to say 1980's and disco music b/c that's what they like and enjoy. And some also grew up w/that music despite being younger that some others too.

[@ChristinaMagma]

I never thought of this but it’s so true

[@kfk4441]

It's like a campfire video in a cold day. Makes you feel warm but constantly reminds you how cold it is now.

[@THEEGOBLINNE]

Because we live in a tech dystopia now and everything is bland.

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

yep

[@caydenph2741]

Change it.

[@THEEGOBLINNE]

@@caydenph2741 Thats the goal, hopefully.

[@alanatalksalot]

cap

[@furryballsploppedmenacingl8534]

​@@caydenph2741 How do you suggest people do that? Lmao

[@cherryhazard8002]

We are obsessed with nostalgia because it's the only thing we can think of that we all have in common, we are so disconnected as a generation, we have such different mindsets that all that connects us to each other happens to be nostalgia...I've seen it happen in real life, everyone's eyes light up when you mention something nostalgic for them, it's a good sight, however, it's kind of sad that it's one of the few things that connect us to each other. I've been obsessed with nostalgia things myself because things simply were truly better then.

[@KadenFinity]

Fr

[@RoninWeeb_187]

Well said. Times really do change. However one can't always be fixated on the past nostalgia and should carry on forward like what life does.

[@matthewboulter]

I would also add that there’s really nothing for this / next generation to look forward to anymore. Just in terms of socioeconomic and environmental conditions, everything that offers something valuable, let alone ideal, to most of us exists in the past; it’s therefore looked back on in the sort of reverence we cannot fathom looking to the future with. TL;DR: boomers fucked it up for us and we’re fated to relive the previous generation’s highlight reels through our screens because we have so little collective agency, organizing willpower, and hope to spark any systemic change even remotely substantive or radical for future generations, let alone our own.

[@bazilgamerdeer1239]

Bullseye, this puts it into words way better than I could

[@tunakiller72]

Because life was much better and people were less shallow before social media. Men and women didn't have inflated egos because subconsciously they think they have so many options to meet a significant other. Fuck. We are fucked.

[@Makoraias]

Gen Z (and I wouldn't be shocked or surprised if this extends to Millenials or Gen X or even Gen Alpha) are obsessed with nostalgia because there is no inspiration for the future today. There is no Space Race, there is no Atomic Age, and there is no beauty in anything like there was in decades past. The 40s all the way up to the 90s (and the decades in-between) all have some theme or flavor to the entire civilization: culture, music, fashion, art, architecture, automobiles, ect. Today, everything is brutalist and degenerate. Everything is minimalist. Everything is a shade of white, black, or gray. Everything is designed to be mindlessly consumed, then abandoned for "the new thing" with no thought or care to what came before. That's why more and more people from Gen Z (and the generations before AND after) are rapidly embracing the nostalgic times of decades past: they give life to an otherwise lifeless (modern) world.

[@BrysonBuilds]

Incredibly well put

[@HappinessDIY]

Not true. Ever seen fight club? That was the same premise, and we created our own culture, and it was bad ass.

[@DixieDaydreamer]

I'm in 50s, had a well paid career these past 35 years ad i can afford nice things but these days a good day is one where I simply spend time video gaming with my wife, we co-op on games now we're empty nesters. We get in the car, drive 70 miles to go sit by the sea for a few hours, talk and eat our curly sandwiches, simple pleasures. So sick of the tirelessly negative bombardment from all directions. 50 years and i've never known such a hateful, negative time. I know periods like this come along. i remember the 1970s as pretty grim, unemployment and shortages of stuff but the constant doom and gloom around the planet right now is not good for Gen-Z and millenial mental health, we need to kick start better, happier times are wer'e in for a world of pain in future if things carry on.

[@beingsshepherd]

All those Zeitgeists were driven by a naive but sincere optimism. Visionaries have now matured to see life as the Gnostics did. Nobody ever lived _happily ever after_ in this obfuscating world.

[@HappinessDIY]

@@DixieDaydreamer the saddest part is it’s over nothing. People have it extremely well these days in the USA but will swear their lives are worse than slaves.

[@YeTism]

Because we live in a dystopia and all we have is memories

[@mskay9597]

FACTS 💯

[@KT-rq9id]

it's either "be woke" or "be nostalgia" ..... most ppl rather choose nostalgia

[@User1924-se]

@@KT-rq9idat least ur not woke

[@pgg-i4c]

@@User1924-se bruh is sleep

[@drdrght]

I reject the notion that things are much worse for gen z than they were for past generations. The silent generation faced conscription in Europe, those that grew up in 50s, 60s, and 70s often had to work hard manual jobs and didn't get the higher educational opportunities we take for granted nowadays. 80s and 90s are looked back on as a boom period but this wasn't the case so much in England for example. We have our challenges but so did previous generations.

[@bottomtext593]

Many KZbin Videos say this. Its because when we were younger, we were promised a future that turned out to be a lie.

[@mercurysunlight5689]

I actually refer to most of us as "The children of the lie". 🤐

[@marmedalmond9958]

Thats millenials. Gen Z witnesses their parents going through a lot of finanical problems and millenials suffer a lot

[@HappinessDIY]

See, it wasnt actually a lie. You are just the first generations who started believing you were intitled to it without working for it to earn it.

[@beingsshepherd]

@@HappinessDIY 😄Someone should have sung them: _"You gotta fight ... for your right ... to paaaartay!"_

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

​@@HappinessDIYcap Boomer. that is not even close

[@sleepyseagull4200]

Because when we were kids everything was still fine. Now it’s not.

[@oldaronfranks]

Even just 10 years ago, it wasn’t even half bad. Edit: To the people down in the replies who say life was always bad, dark and scary… yes, but at least people back then knew how to TALK and COMMUNICATE. How about we all stop being WEAK and try to change this society and stand up for each other.

[@beingsshepherd]

@@oldaronfranks For blinkered whites perhaps.

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

​@@oldaronfranksyea i always say 2015 is where it went downhill

[@Minecraftgamezer789]

No, you just were not aware of the world's problems. There were problems then and problems now.

[@Anonymous-qh9gq]

Everything was not fine back then either; the world has always had dark, scary, and terrible things. September 11th, 2001, there was a terrorist attack on the US; the attack was fueled by hatred towards the US and it’s people, the intent was to hurt as many of us as possible; a lot of innocent people died and lost their loved ones as a result. In the early 2000s, the Great Recession hit the economy hard. We weren’t as affected by it as much because we were kids, but many millennials had to live through it and struggled. We live in a world where being gay can still get you executed in some countries, there’s war, poverty, homelessness, starvation, bigotry, prejudice, etc, but that’s nothing new. Older generations lived through Two world wars, and two cities full of innocent people were nuked and vaporized by the US. There was the Great Depression, the Cold War, and Chernobyl, and I haven’t even scratched the surface. So yeah, everything is going to shit, and it all feels completely hopeless rn, but the world has always been a messed up place. Life goes on, and humanity perseveres. Not all hope is lost. The world has survived TWO world wars, and the Great Depression ended. Empires and dictators fall, only for newer and stronger civilizations to take their place. The world we live in will knock you down to your knees and mercilessly beat you to a bloody pulp if you let it, so we must choose not to let it. We must hold onto hope and give each other strength. Our generation reports experiencing crazy amounts of loneliness, but we don’t make an effort to connect with each other. How does that make sense?? We let small, trivial things like political beliefs keep us from connecting and forming relationships. What good does that do?? Technology may have stunted our social development, but we can still work to improve it and work harder to connect with each other. There’s strength in numbers. Life seemed better when we were kids because we weren’t as aware of everything going on in the world; our parents took care of our finances, so we didn’t have to worry about it; now that we’re adults, we’re more aware of what’s happening, and these problems are affecting us now. History has repeatedly shown us that hard, scary times are not forever, and they will eventually pass. No matter what happens, we can never give up. It’s nice to look back on the past, but it’s better for us to look towards building a better future together.

[@batman5224]

I occasionally wish I could relive my childhood in the early 2000s with the knowledge that I have now, but I then realize I would also have to relive my school days, which I didn’t enjoy at all. If you ever think of yourself becoming too nostalgic, just think of all the terrible days you had in school.

[@gabrielpacana8596]

Yeah, same. Nostalgia is only the music, movies, video games, shows, and toys. The school part is what stops me from saying, "I wanna go back." I was never popular and now carry emotional baggage from those days.

[@batman5224]

@@gabrielpacana8596 I mostly become nostalgic because I miss my grandparents, all of whom are no longer around. I do wish I could go back in time and relive one of the weekends I spent with them, but then I would want to return to the present.

[@plantmama7442]

100%. I hated school and if I could go back without having to relive my education I would. But honestly I’m much happier now but wish I could go back when I was healthier, was in a loving relationship and didn’t live on social media lol.

[@iamwhoiam7887]

I was homeschooled. So... no that wasn't an issue for me.

[@supersonicslashx4741]

Still would give anything to go back and do it over

[@rodzynek561]

Nostalgia is so strong nowadays because we live in an era that is moving from "normal" world and going into this new digitized era of tik tok short attention spans brainrot and relationships fading away. Gen Z grew up during this transformation and their childhood was simple and now adult life becomes more and more complicated. So natually they look back and see simple life not only because they were younger but also because these were simpler times overall

[@iiCounted-op5jx]

yep

[@Intricateofmolasses]

Agreed.

[@darth6129]

There actually was a noticeable drop off point around 2012-2013 and you know what I'm talking about if you lived through it. I was still in high school, yet I still noticed it. Smartphones just fucked everyone up.

[@karinadelma]

@@darth6129You’re right. Smartphone literally changed EVERYTHING. I hate how people acting like this especially their attitude.

[@kilroy4123]

I believe we’re doing something I call “cultural cannibalism” where instead of making new culture/music/fashion/trends we just recycle old ones since everything new is just so clearly corporate. They’re not even hiding it anymore. People in my age group and younger are longing for a time before it and the earliest is the 2000s. Obviously the 2000s were corporate too but they at least tried to hide it a little bit and there was some creativity that wasn’t built for the “algorithm”

[@GLC48]

This kinda reminds me of a recent Scott the Woz video about the current state of retro games, in which he also discussed the retro game nostalgia era of the late 2000s-early 2010s. Someone in the comments mentioned that we’re now at the point where there’s nostalgia for the era where there was nostalgia for retro games.

[@andresdr]

@@GLC48 Nostalgiaception lol

[@tonyl7286]

Because the future is bleak; we're pushing 30 and long for the joy and optimism that used to exist.

[@TimmyTheTinman]

How about instead of just sitting and bitching about it we do something about it. That’s why I’m involved in politics. I hate when people do this and offer no solutions you don’t just leave your broken down car sitting on the side of the road and not trying to fix it.

[@jasonkoroma4323]

@TimmyTheTinman Fuck the political clown show, enterprise is what we should really be focusing on.

[@ciyrotix6240]

@@TimmyTheTinman To an extent I agree. However, what happens when the system doesn't listen to us? Sure if I could magically snap my fingers and make anything happen then tomorrow would be beautiful. But we have to go through politicians that do not give a single fuck about you or me. For a couple decades now the elities haven't even bothered hiding their corruption because who's going to stop them? Sure you could have a mass revolt but good luck with rallying that many people. Even if legislature does get passed everything happens too slowly to have any meaningful effect for Gen-Z. Maybe by the time they are old there will be change and the next generation will have it better.

[@TestKitTaylor]

​@@TimmyTheTinman That like sitting around waiting for a savior, fuck all those fake leaches. The revolution will not be televised, the revolution won't be voted on

[@notsojharedtroll23]

​@@TimmyTheTinmanjust enter politics bro

[@iamwhoiam7887]

Because everything new fucking sucks and we want to go back

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

fax!

[@X-999]

💯

[@caydenph2741]

Why not make things better, then? You can't go back.

[@samtron5000]

@@caydenph2741exactly. It’s because young people of today have no innovative thoughts, I guess. They’re going to bitch and moan about how much it sucks but then do literally anything but try to change it. Be nostalgic for a time they never actually experienced and somehow think it was better (it wasn’t, trust me). They can keep escaping, they’re just digging their own graves. Time is precious and every second you spend wishing you could go back is a second closer to your death. And when you take your last breaths, do you think you’ll be saying “I’m glad I spent my time imagining I was a cottage core prep in 1999 instead of changing the world” haha no. You can like old stuff, ppl in the 80s loved the 50s, ppl in the 90s loved 60s/70s, ppl in the 2000s-2010s loved the 80s. That’s normal. But it’s just a fantasy actually. It wasn’t “better” and you can never go back. If you think it sucks now get up and do something, innovate, make something of yourself. Stop waiting for the old ppl to do it. I really have to wonder if these younger people are this comically useless. If so, then we really are on the path toward idiocracy

[@SeethingSimp]

@@caydenph2741 Most of what everyone is nostalgic for are byproducts of what society at large was. For example, it can be somewhat freeing to quit going on the internet, but if only you're doing it and people aren't leaving the house en masse to disconnect, then there's really no point.

[@RO49569]

In the 90s and early 2000s people socialized in person. Times were different…

[@TheRealJohnnyWonder]

I think it’s escapism to a time we perceive far better than the time we live in now

[@kurt2022]

The older I get the more I realize that the simple things in life are by far the most important. I drive my 1987 Dodge B van with pride, I can repair everything on it for a fraction of what it would cost to repair a modern, over complicated vehicle, that will have the ability to snitch you out to the police on 2025 models and pinpoint your location to them through GPS navigation. About once a week I have someone come up to me, usually a younger person, and ask If I would like to sell my old van. Older, low-tech vehicles in decent shape are sought after today and for good reason. In the near future the ownership class will own everything, including you.

[@Drewcardello]

I feel the same way with a 2004 explorer, lol

[@neighslayer768]

We're not getting much substance in our modern age. So we might as well look back to when we had some style.

[@Axel-n8n2m]

Nostalgia was a time when we were happy, a time when we were free from constant stress and anxiety.

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

Unless you were from one of those strict families that always valued academics and learning and were all about discipline, order, and conformity.

[@Axel-n8n2m]

@theintrovertedaspie9095 Now, isn't that pleasant.

[@SPIDER-ut3wt]

This is what I believe. I believe that the early 2000's was the last great decade that we'll ever have. I don't mean to depress people with that statement either. Not everything about that decade was good of course, but for the most part it was an awesome ride. Very grateful that I experienced every year of the 2000's. It's a time when modern life felt good for the most part. Things honestly made more sense back then. Saying I don't like this "future" we live in is a HUGE understatement. For God's sake we don't really have video rental stores anymore!!! If i could wake up in say 2003 that would be A- Ok with me!

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

up till 2014 is where life was good to me personally. 2015 is the start of this dystopia. i was BORN in 2003 btw but i'd love to live in it😢

[@jadacampbell9331]

It seems scary, but the great depression period was still much worse. If we can get through that, we can make it through this. Voting is still important! Let's try our best! Harris and Walz!

[@peteyp123]

Born in 83 and agree with u. Use to have stores back in day u can just go browse if didn't even want buy anything. Now u ain't got non of that plus the phones

[@bilbobaggins9451]

​@@1950s_was_da_peakExactly. It's not just nostalgia talking. People even younger than you can see it. Most people don't believe me considering I was born in 97, so seem super biased. But I really do think around 2013 to 15 was when things started to get "bad"

[@Myself-yf5do]

Video rental stores? That's your example? How about global warming?

[@Cancelkevin]

Nostalgia grows in the absence of hope.

[@BarfingGerbil]

Nostalgia also grows in a re-establishment of hope. The future can be created from things in the past that worked.

[@nintendonerdjoseph]

Maybe in some people, but that is not exclusively how nostalgia works.

[@kaishel3037]

Yeah, I would be less depressed missing the past if the present and hope for the future was better.

[@CreativeWoff]

because this repersents the peak of humanity. it's all going to sh!t and down hill now, and will only get worse. kinda wish time would freeze us in 95-05 now

[@StyleshStorm]

Early to center 2000s was truly the best of both worlds. 90s still wasn't quite there yet. At least in the 2000s we had access to some pretty good technology but nothing to overshadow the great out doors and other public events.

[@jointhefun4]

Till 2014 and behind

[@scottandrews947]

This is really it. People are nostalgic for the past because the present sucks and the future is bleak. It's not about whatever nonsense this creator is making up.

[@staceyallen4913]

100%

[@fluffybunny1200]

For the United States at least, everything changed on 9/11. The whole tone of life changed.

[@Supiragon1998]

Because life was better before social media. From the 1950s to the 2000s was peak humanity.

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

THIS! i've been saying this

[@MiguelMartinon]

Vietnam and cold war were pretty bad though, but other than that, yeah, I can agree

[@cerealORRH]

@@MiguelMartinon and since OP included the 50s and 60s, Jim Crow aswell

[@MiguelMartinon]

@@cerealORRH I don’t know if the commenter’s race, so I excluded Jim Crow and other race based issues.

[@cerealORRH]

@@MiguelMartinon alr

[@2DoorXplore]

How does one experience nostalgia for something they never experienced? This is a deeper issue with being disassociated and being chronically online. Living life through a screen. A spectator.

[@gailainsley6939]

Right. Gen Z and younger never experienced Y2K but are obsessed with it. 😅 it’s a little sad they don’t have their own ‘generational theme’. As a millennial, I was trying to figure out what their ‘theme’ was but then quickly realised everything was just being recycled again. 😅

[@u.s7072]

Nailed it. The only cure for them is to get offline and actually experience life authentically.

[@Jeff-tt7wj]

I think there is a deep, human longing for a time when things were simpler and people had more common interests and shared in similar activities all across society. Nowadays with people online more than ever and algorithms tailoring exactly to peoples specific interests there is a huge disparity in the way people are seeing the world and it’s becoming harder and harder to make genuine connections.

[@OPSECHero]

Gen Z aren't all the same. Frutiger Aero was definitely a thing for early Gen Z and those more dark cinematic designs (Dark Aero) were popular in 2010's.​@@gailainsley6939

[@picsl8ed867]

Probably because we have so much entertainment that immerses people in time periods. There are so many movies about the 80s, I could easily see how many people in their 20s might be able to imagine that time period. The fact that most are good movies likely adds to the appeal.

[@Keonggreen]

I remember in your “why is nostalgia so painful” and “why the world feels like it is falling apart” videos, you mentioned nostalgia leaves out a lot of the bad parts which means our lives aren’t that good back then. When you realise this you realise that now is no different, you should live in the present and enjoy the journey of life.

[@ColeHastings]

I agree, but i also stand by what i said at the end of the video. Nostalgia can be used as a teacher to help us get back to the things that worked well in the past

[@Myself-yf5do]

Yes, there are times in our lives that we wish we could relive, but if we already lived them perfectly, why live them again? The adventure of life is that there's always something new, new challenges and new experiences. Life isn't about going back, it's about going forward.

[@chrisdrivesli5750]

I was born in ‘95, I have no idea what “gen” I am. All I know is that I love the feeling of nostalgia cause it takes me back to a time where I still believed in things like love & happiness. Somewhere along the line, life beat it out of me. So it feels good to be taken back

[@bilbobaggins9451]

Born in 97 and I feel the same way. Even though our childhood was filled with a sh!tload of misery looking back. 911, the war on terror, Katrina, the Great recession. None of these things were pretty, don't get me wrong. But I feel that the adults still genuinely had hope and optimism in their eyes. Yes, it's corny and lame to say, but I just had that feeling. Now, all of us are uncertain.

[@Jeff-tt7wj]

The image of a Charizard Pokémon card has a way of making me feel happy and nostalgic in a way that not much else can. I instantly felt happy when I saw it in the thumbnail. I’m sure others can relate if you’ve ever had one or even collected the cards back in the day. I’m 37 and can still distinctly remember how excited I was when I traded with another neighborhood kid for it. I felt like I had won the lottery!

[@Mr.Coffee576]

I remember feeling special that I owned a Dark Raichu and a shiny Dark Wartortle card. Crazy how these Pokemon cards were an influence to all of us at one point

[@laxusdreyar4165]

I love the video games of the past because modern games are too "pay to play" and focus too much on online competitive gameplay as poopsed to simple and fun casual single player that past games offer

[@beingsshepherd]

poopsed? 🧐

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

@@beingsshepherd I think he meant "apposed".

[@beingsshepherd]

@@theintrovertedaspie9095 opposed?

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

@@beingsshepherd Whoops. Yah that. My bad.

[@Giggles_iJest]

Because we had it so genuinely good. Good products, well-animated shows, quality videogames, etc

[@tunakiller72]

Because life was much better and people were less shallow before social media. Men and women didn't have inflated egos because subconsciously they think they have so many options to meet a significant other. Fuck. We are fucked.

[@gabrielpacana8596]

Social media changed everything, but there have always been shallow people.

[@sorbetheart]

@@gabrielpacana8596i think social media has created more shallow people… a lot of people now care about likes/followers/subscribers and they make that dictate their worth… then some get inflated egos due to that

[@GamingManual]

@@gabrielpacana8596social media has created more than already existed prior. That’s the root issue w that argument.

[@andresdr]

Theres always been folks with inflated egos. Social Media has made things more accessible to everyone. If social media existed back then you would see the same thing.

[@Reverse_sweep63]

Life is all but a moment. Appreciating the past is good too but moving ahead is crucial. This is what i felt

[@Reverse_sweep63]

So try to have less regrets as possible

[@DarkArmedDaddy1]

Well said

[@Reverse_sweep63]

@@DarkArmedDaddy1 thanks

[@ericshue2376]

The little things are m missing in life Going to a music store filled with albums with friends and buying music Getting a game that is wrapped in plastic that you can smell the new box scent and instruction manual So many little things like this are gone

[@Mr.Coffee576]

Nostalgia is the best feeling and the worst feeling at the same time. Back in 2021, during the lockdown, I created a spotify playlist of songs I listened to as a kid. Now fast forward to today, I listen to with dread. Its like my soul is telling me I'm just escaping and not living in the present.

[@Peter-mj6lz]

Growing up in the 2000s it was interesting how future oriented society mainly was. We could see with some movies like iRobot, I would argue even with the design of things, there was nostalgia like a new mini, beetle but it was also noticeably much more modern. Then we can see this with music. Nowadays it seems we aren’t as forward looking, idk if ai would change this. I notice new cars don’t try to look futuristic or even as modern again. Lo-fi and music influenced by past music seems bigger now than in the 10’s or 00’s.

[@edmundprice5276]

Because our childhoods were prosperous, our adulthoods are bleak

[@bilbobaggins9451]

Yup. Lack of healthcare. Lack of housing. Grocery prices skyrocketing. Even if I was to have kids, I wouldn't send them to these schools. Between common core and increased class sizes, not to mention school sh00tings, why would I send them? My wife (or husband. I'm bi) probably won't have time to homeschool them, so we're stuck with the sh!tty education system. Not to mention the increasing lack of vacation days. Child labor is back on the books. The return of company towns. Climate change. Literally nothing good on the horizon.

[@edmundprice5276]

@@bilbobaggins9451 things in britain aren't much better, different problems, but just as crappy

[@bilbobaggins9451]

@@edmundprice5276 At least you guys get public healthcare. There is no solution to our healthcare problem. It's just going to keep getting worse, and Americans are so pu$$ified that they'll put up with it forever.

[@dansrandomvideos2515]

We have a fixation with nostalgia because unlike every decade in the 20th century, the 21st century is grey and boring. Hence why we sometimes even have nostalgia for things we weren't alive to witness. I say this as a person born in 1999. The 00's were the last decade to have a 'theme' shall we call it.

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

as a 2003 baby, agreed

[@NicolaiTschenow7530]

I would say the theme for the 2010s was instagram, gta 5, hipster culture and dance music (at least thats the things i think of when i hear 2010s) but you are still right, the shared cultural experience isnt what it used to be for sure.

[@greeny1080]

​​​@@NicolaiTschenow7530Although massively popular in the 2010's I would say Dance music peaked in the mid to late 90s/early 2000s. It tailed off from 2008 onwards when it became too commercial with all that EDM rubbish. The Instagram generation & mobile phones have also killed the clubbing scene experience. It's now full of pretentious idiots with their phones out filming instead of dancing.

[@NicolaiTschenow7530]

@@greeny1080 I agree. Not to mention just live music venues in general, yes there are some places where people still go for the music and not to be on their phones. If you have such a place, support it 100%.

[@StyleshStorm]

90s baby here with 1 fellow 90s sibling (sister) and two other sisters that are considered Zs. My fellow 90s sister and I get warthm, joy and a bit of eerie combination of memories from the 90s and early 2000s. The two Zers, though behave as if the 90s and early 2000s was their era too when they grew up technically late 2000s and early 10+. There's a decade of difference between us yet for some reason it's like they are trying to siphon or share in our nostalgia when they didn't even exist yet or in a lot of cases barely existed. It's truly strange. No one's been able to explain why our younger siblings are like this.

[@GaryGeezer-l2s]

That's like the entire of Gen Z: pretty much stealing millennial nostalgia.

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

because it was better back then. why can't you figure this out?? as a 2003 baby, i like the 70s & 80s but 90s-2000s aswell

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

​@@GaryGeezer-l2sincorrect, it's not "stealing" it's idealizing/romanticizing but i am more into Boomer and Gen X nostalgia. the reason we do it is because it was better back then & we never had an identity, just bland corporate gray. why can't you figure this out??

[@flash_gp]

I don't know what is the point of that. How can you be nostalgic about a time that you didn't even experienced. I'm an older Z and I'm nostalgic about my era ( the 2000s and early 2010's) not 90s not 80s and 70s, that's ridiculous.

[@gsly6081]

It's not hard to decipher why they would do that lol. I mean if you are all siblings then that means you probably grew up with similar pieces of media even if it was at a different time from each other. Just because a person was born after the mid/late 90s, it doesn't mean that they can't feel nostalgia for stuff from that time.

[@Nisan-v6h]

1. Because back then we were LIVING IN THE MOMENT. If you played your Nintendo you had nothing else to worry about other than your Nintendo. If you watched Drake and Josh you were not distracted with something else. 2. we were more connected before and shared our hobbies, games, interests whatsoever with one another, I think a lot of games for instance that were popular back then like pokemon cards brought people together 3. We didnt worry about making everything looking aestheticly pleasing ( if aesthetic was even a word back then) before social media it was about excitement of simple things and feeling the joy

[@Intricateofmolasses]

Don’t forget the massive culture war we in. Everyone is obsessed with being a liberal or a conservative.

[@JanickSan89]

Everything was better. Music was awesome. Games were complete and replayable. Cartoons were the best. People not caught up in social media so actual social interactions were better.

[@picsl8ed867]

There is no rose tint on the glasses of someone reminiscing about the life they had before their limbs were amputated.

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

Speaking as someone who had to have a lotta surgeries in her youth, I can kinda see that. Yet I block that out (kind of. I write my feelings about it just to vent sometimes but overall I think I had a nice childhood despite that. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, but it wasn’t perfect either.)

[@Koresz]

Vaporwave, frutiger aero, Yabujin, webcore, the revival of intelligent dnb, jungle, 90s and 2000s rock and metal, tons of Gen Z people still watching golden age Cartoon Network shows, people still playing Half-Life and so many more… we're really obsessed with this stuff

[@Koresz]

I didn't even mention in Hungary we make memes and shitposts of 2000s/early 2010s celebrities, TV shows, even old internet stuff

[@ReznaQay]

toonami deep space bass

[@seia2758]

I still have my PS1, PS2, and PS3 (no PS4 because I sold it) in my stock shelf. This is not just simple nostalgia. The 90s and early 2000s really were the best eras and I'm sure lots of people will agree. I was born in 1991 and I remember the times being simpler, we enjoy the simplest of things, we go outside and play in the sunshine (and sometimes even in the rain), we connect with people outside, we eat outside, visit close friends and family in their houses, we find our future husband/wife outside, this is how humans have been connecting for thousands of years since ancient times. Now technology has suddenly took that away from us. Social Media, in particular, has suddenly made all of this disappear and our brains are not hardwired to adapt to these rapid changes. Nostalgia reminds me of the times when we were innocent of negativities going on around the world, we live by the moment and we die by the moment, with such massive information overload nowadays, our brains are turning into mashed potatoes, we became depressed and disconnected. Social Media and Smartphones will really go down in history as some of the most evil inventions in the world.

[@allen8959]

I'd say we millenials are even more locked on to Nostalgia. We seek nuance in what made the past so potent.

[@SaschaStradtmann]

I totally agree with you, but unfortunately corporate greed is still blocking the path. There are still too many companies looking to make fast money rather than getting substantital long-term growth by offering great products. Also, in the 1990's we did not have Covid, Housing crisis, exploding costs of living, mass layoffs, online harassment, Russia attacking etc. So in a way the 90's were indeed a much better time than today.

[@purpose6113]

As someone who has had nostalgic suicidal depression- nostalgia is my coping mechanism which I use to escape the present. I hate the present so much that I want to gi back to my teenage years, or even childhood, the times when I was truly happy. This generation is nostalgic because people are depressed due to the hedonistic dynamics we live in, where everything is a hyperstimulus: social media, prn, fast food, videogames (,which is 10 worse with vr), etc.--- they are desensitized and thus, depressed

[@luke_fabis]

I won't lie. If you show me a piece of electronics or storage media made from colorful frosted clear plastic, or if you show me skeuomorphic pixel art icons that have a soft, cartoonish vibe (think Mac OS 9, BeOS, or Palm OS), I get overwhelmed by a sore longing for that style to come back. I want to be a kid again, flipping through a computer catalog and coveting all the gadgets on those pages. Hell, show me glassy icons with excessive streaky glow effects, like you might find on an original XBox, Mac OS X Tiger, or a Sony Ericsson phone, and that'll kinda tickle the same feeling. Not quite as strongly, but it's the immediate successor to that style. Objectively, I actually prefer the clean, subdued design style of the present day. It looks better, it feels better, it works better. But I don't have such fond memories around it all. And it has baggage of its own, like persistent corporate surveillance of everything you do through everything you own.

[@bigjimslim]

Over abundance and the never ending stream of content means things like a new TV episode or new video game no longer bring us together. Endless “new” stimulation highlights the futility of it all.

[@sezi9art]

The present and future suck so of course Gen Z (including myself) want to focus on the past. We are the loneliest generation, we have to clean up the mess of previous generations and most of us don't even get to own our own home (or other things for that matter, everything seems to be subscriptions now). I have nostalgia for the 80's even though I wasn't even born then, the music, the movies and culture, I love it! I collect DVDs because the fact I own something appeals to me.

[@sb5421]

People don’t like looking forward, so they look back, which is a shame. We _need_ to look forward; that’s where we’re headed, and there are problems-BIG ONES-that need to be solved. But it’s the fear/anxiety/worry that we won’t/can’t solve those problems that has us all so nostalgic. Unfortunately, you can’t drive looking in the rear-view mirror-(well, not safely 😅). *There is no going back.* “For good reason, the eyes of man are set in his forehead, not in his hind-head.” - Emerson

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

don't care, i'm still looking back....

[@SeethingSimp]

The late 90s and early 2000s were good because of the optimism, there was looking forward to a supposed bright future.

[@EggTamago7]

Man. Millennial here, and I've been noticing this in myself. I unearthed my old Walkman/Discman/MiniDisc Player/iPod, have been buying cassettes and CDs again, and know damn well why. I seem to draw a hard line before I start convincing myself that "I should just listen to all music on cassette again", because I literally have memories of being frustrated by the limitations of cassettes when they were my only choice. I know that none of this is practical, and that what I use today is better in most ways. But, I know this is all doing something for me. For me, I think there's an element of trying to reconcile the passage of time. I'm in my late 30s, and if I don't think hard about it, it feels like life has flown by. Taking time to appreciate the details of these past eras I lived through shows me just how much time has passed since I was experiencing them, and also helps me appreciate more about the present. That said, I can really understand why gen z and millennials are leaning harder on this stuff than prior generations. Trying to navigate hyper-competitive careers and job markets, global pandemics, economies that explicitly and unapologetically benefit the billionaire class and no one else, a skyrocketing cost of living, the enshitification of pretty much everything, the inherently gross and exploitative nature of social media algorithms... there are a lot of things about the present that are just kind of worse. Sometimes it's nice to just enter the headspace of some idealized kid-version of ourselves that never existed, had no homework or responsibilities or nagging parents, who could just sit down with Final Fantasy VII for a while, throw some Deftones on the boombox, and not worry about anything else. And, as the video concluded, I'd like to think our awareness of this is a good thing, and we can hopefully use it to steer the world to something a bit nicer as we start to properly inherit the world and its power structures.

[@aborne]

14:57 The correct expression is "Long Winded" as in air / breeze / wind. The expression refers to using your breath to over-talk and over explain with your voice which is pushing air.

[@masonhancock5350]

I’m 48. It really was better in the 80s and 90s, not just because I was young then. Things really went to hell in the last 10yrs. I feel badly for young people in this era, especially young men. In the 80s, the philosophers like Baudrillard outlined the dystopia that was being created, but there were still avenues of escape from it. We had “slack” back then. The internet age brought an absolute control system.

[@KennethStokes]

Generally, In the 2000s the 70s were popular. In the 90s, 60s was popular, in the 80s, 50s were popular. The rule of 30 years.

[@kaishel3037]

I honestly don’t remember any specific decade being talked about or so sought after in the early 2000’s. I do remember 80’s movies being popular/well liked though

[@IALIFE88]

So for me I’ve had this talk with a couple of my friends and there parents and this is the conclusion we came to. For those of us who grew up in the late-mid 90s all agree things just kept getting better for us. From toys, video games, the internet, smart phones, cartoon, tv in general etc. form 1998 to 2012 we thought things couldn’t get any better. Until around 2012-2013 none of us know what changed but we all feel like it started there. Like a shift in people and things where things just started becoming stale, or worse. And since 2013 it’s only gotten worse. Same was said of our parents who were teens in the 80s. There viewpoint was it felt like a lot of things lost there genuineness in the 2010s and the internet became a trap not an escape. Most things started to dumb down there looks for “modernism” for building structures to simple things like logos. It feels like creativity started to take a major dive thats and with the rise of social media it felt like it divided us more than it brought us together. That and the rise of what we call the age of politics has made things far worse. When I was a kid people could debate and discuss politics and still have a beer afterwards. Not to mention most people didn’t even touch the political topics until there 30s. Now you can escape it it’s everywhere. Not to mention everything is so expensive now adays. For America at least it feels like everything is out of balance.

[@Mr.Coffee576]

I agree. It was around the same time, Apple, Google and all these big tech websites ditched their aesthetic design for material design, making everything flat and boring. And yeah, social media gave the most unhinged people an opinion in politics. The discussion has become tribalistic and entertaining. Back then, it used to be boring and the discussion was about policies. Now people are glazing their political candidates more than the policies they stand for.

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

i think it was 2015 where it went downhill

[@FXCKFEAR]

Part of the Zellenial group and remember Movies, TV shows, Games, Music etc. just connecting and feeling authentic with the person engaging before the tech rise. Majority of that today unfortunately is forced with agendas that dosen’t relate or connect with the average person anymore. Before social media influence, They had to try to earn your Intrest or business by making a good product that complimented the consumer.

[@deadfairfieldexpedition]

1993 was the greatest all around year of my life. 1999 summer was the greatest season of my life. Im happy to see younger people enjoy things that I loved in my childhood.

[@VanessaChats]

As a Xennial (bridge generation - either elder Millennial or baby Gen X), I get the nostalgia. I have it a lot as I re-watch tv shows from my teenage years to 20s because with the advent of streaming services and the sheer amount of movies/shows being produced and the quality going downhill (for story as all the shows seem to be a bland, and the movies are all franchises being regurgitated to death), I go backwards. I re-watched Friends recently, am re-watching Buffy from the first episode and same with Dark Angel. For movies, I've gone back to 80, 90s and early 00s movies (before all the remakes, reboots, franchises) Then there's the technological aspects, we didn't have the mass surveillance and lack of privacy as we do today. The future is grim as we all know how much privacy is a fantasy now. We are not nuanced human beings anymore, we are data. Gen Z has been data since they were conceived as Millennials posted their pregnancy tests, pregnancy journey and share photos of their babies and kids online (that's a whole other kettle of fish of course where kids become commodified by their vlogging parents making a buck online aka "family vloggers").

[@KyuketsukiRei]

Because the 90s and earlys 20s were just better. We've sucked the fun out of everything now.

[@Nikolas0269]

True

[@karinadelma]

You mean early 00s? Outside from 9/11, It has 90s vibes.

[@MadSociety-uy6zg]

The 90s and the early to late 2000s were the best with the best videogames ever.

[@ryeofoatmeal]

I have an intense nostalgia circa 2009-2013 bcos that's when I had the best time, and also how I discovered great music and my fave bands 🥰 looking at those years again with my current age ie 30 y/o, wonder how they were living back then 🥹 while I'm just a teenager. used to look up to those guys cuz they bring happiness to my days. they still do but damn, old days are good days

[@pgg-i4c]

I remember me and my roommate during Covid, he got back into his PS3 and I got back into Xbox 360 and my DS, so things were shit but we had weed and played old split screen COD. Didn't notice how easily we fell into nostalgia druing those months

[@gailainsley6939]

As a millennial I was wondering this myself with Gen Z. Gen Z are obsessed with Y2K which was my childhood and I was trying do to figure out why 😅😅

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

Y2K has Spyro year of the Dragon, that’s why. 😆 (I kid 😆)

[@lalaland2107]

I think most of them are obsessed with the decade of the 2000s, which a lot do remember, although it appears to mainly be the last two years of the decade more than anything.

[@darix_3944]

GenZ born an era in the middle of pop culture theyr not introduce with from the start...

[@beingsshepherd]

Wasn't _Y2K_ the nickname for the Millennium Bug?

[@lalaland2107]

@@beingsshepherd yes. Also, what we call a certain aesthetic of the late 90s until like 2002. Look at some music videos from those years, very futuristic look. Think of “Scream” by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. Edit: also “Scrubs” by TLC

[@Myself-yf5do]

Last year, I rewatched some videos I used to watch back in 2007 when they came out. I was unsurprised by the many comments saying that they remembered the videos fondly, but I felt a feeling that I can't really explain or describe when I read comments saying that the videos were posted before they were even born. One of them even said they were born the very day the video was posted.

[@Dj.D25]

I notice compared to past decades, there's hardly any fads, trends and pop culture related things in this decade that feel fun and exciting. It's 2024 and how many decade defining movies, tv shows, fashion, toy, music, etc are there for this decade? Even major video games are hugely lacking in variety like they used to. You have to go to indie games if you want variety. Or go back to playing old games you may have missed out on. I even work near a high school and when I see some of the teenagers walk by or being dropped off, the clothes they wear looks bland, Almost everyone is wearing very plain looking clothing with neutral colors. I hardly see anyone dressing up to stand out like when I went to high school in the 90s and early 2000s. Maybe today's teenagers see that life back when they weren't alive just looked more fun? Teen culture today even looks dead. Where's the tv shows, movies and music to appeal to or speak to them? The 2020s feel like a repeat of the 2010s, but with even less interesting things.

[@Mr.Coffee576]

Thats not true. Broccoli haircut and screaming on TikTok about political opinions is the culture.

[@DixieDaydreamer]

I've been saying this for years, kids today have no "tribes" these days. I'm Gen-X and I was goth and then a metalhead in the 1980s, I found my tribe in the thrash and death metal scenes of the late 1980s. To this day i still have my band shirts and my long hair ( now very grey!) and I still feel I'm connected to something. I'm forever part of something in my youth, I'm older and wiser now sure, I'm responsible for my job and my family and hell I'm actually planning my retirement now, but there's still an angry young man inside although even he's way more mellow these days than he used to be. I have something keeping me grounded, I'm part of something that meant something to me and allowed me to move from being a child to an adult. Kids today got sold fake plastic corporate manfuctured BS, we allowed it to happen and we never gave them anything authentic, one thing I'm truly sorry they never got, they never got the chance to start their own "tribe" and find an identitiy of their own.

[@GaryGeezer-l2s]

the 2010s was an extremely boring decade outside of 2010-2011. So hardly surprising that 2020s are proving to be as boring

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

​@@GaryGeezer-l2sboring outside of 2010-2014*

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

as a 2003 baby who's obsessed with the 40s-2000s, i can confirm that what draws me towards those decades is that yes, it was more fun (besides WW2 of course) but also life made sense....

[@Angelo-jd9un]

I just found this channel, and as a RuneScape addict who has been playing since 2007, you immediately earned my subscription. I didn’t expect you to bring up RuneScape but I’m super happy you did!

[@Nisan-v6h]

Kids nowadays have access to everything that they 1) cant put attention to one thing and 2) dont appreciate certain things. Back in the days my parents couldnt afford anything I wanted so whenever I got something I truly valued it, took care, played with it for months without getting bored and idk the excitement over the little things was so real.😢 My little Cousins who get everything they want never stop complaining about what they dont have and get bored so easily.

[@Milty2001]

Its crazy how nostalgia is both powerful and we use it to reminiscent about the past but at the same time too much nostalgia can be bad in a way that can make us feel like we're stuck in the past through modern times, and as someone born in 2001 this hits hard for me

[@frogblasttheventcore69]

-New Cole H video -Bowl of Baked Beans -Blanket -Dim Lighting name a cozier feel, Bros

[@ColeHastings]

beautiful vibes

[@Myself-yf5do]

I remember a book that was similar to a Where's Waldo book. It was the same concept: looking for stuff in pictures. It was Christmas-themed. It may have even been made by the same people. One of the images was of a forest of candy canes, one with vertical stripes instead of spiral ones and a word bubble that said "Something must have gone wrong"; another one with polka dots instead of stripes and a word bubble that said "I'm not myself today"; and a small one that was pure white and had a word bubble that said "I'm too young to have stripes." That book also had a picture of elves making wreathes on a sort of assembly line, and another one of multiple Santas on different roofs, all of which had word bubbles which said "I'm not real" except for one, whose word bubble said "I'm real." I wish I remembered the title of the book. Does this sound familiar to any of you?

[@World.21]

2 things pretend to be a friend but they are devils in disguise: Nostalgia and Hope.

[@TimmyTheTinman]

So you’re saying is to have no hope at all then what do you do about change? Then what’s the point of even living?

[@World.21]

@@TimmyTheTinman m saying hope can be dangerous and make u follow smtn thinking that u can achieve it when in reality u had no chance and u end up wasting life chasing smtn u'd never reach..

[@TimmyTheTinman]

@@World.21 first of all use proper English, secondly I don’t know what the whole point of life with no goals is because that’s what your alluding too

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

Hey I’m not a devil! (Bad joke 😆 my name’s actually hope irl lol)

[@World.21]

@@TimmyTheTinman nope, you only speak one language i speak like 7 so know ur place :)

[@kres6009]

I can’t speak for others, but I just wanted to share my personal feelings about historical nostalgia. For me, this isn’t really brought about by the idea that times then were better or cooler. I don’t feel particularly delusional about this time period. If anything, it’s just sheer curiosity of a time I never lived, and my nostalgia is towards the people than the time period itself: these famous people then who may or may not be famous now, those who’ve acted in cult classics, those who’ve attained this king/queen status for something, those that my parents also have fondness for and are nostalgic over themselves. I always get curious of “where they are now.” I think one of my first instances of this was when I watched Friends for the first time in 2019 (despite my peers having watched this in their pre-teens). For one, I was so intrigued seeing a young Jennifer Aniston since I’ve seen her in some movies like We’re the Millers and The Bounty Hunter. This curiosity also manifested in the rest of the cast. Another example around that same time is Julia Roberts since I came across Notting Hill on TV and ended up reading about her and how popular she was in the 90s. But yes, there are a lot of moments where I just get curious of someone’s career (e.g., Cameron Diaz, who looks like a baby in My Best Friend’s Wedding; Winona Ryder, whom I’m not familiar with but got intrigued after seeing a Friends clip; Michael Keaton, after being randomly curious after watching Spider-Man: Homecoming, and learning that I have watched him as Batman when I was so, so young lol) And this curiosity extends to music. From my random interest in Madonna and Michael Jackson (lol both aren’t even 90s) to Celine Dion and Christina Aguilera. I’ve heard of the latter’s name when I was young, but I’d never heard of Celine Dion until she was in American Idol or The Voice (can’t remember which). Because of this curiosity, I do find myself wanting to go through an actor/artist’s discography. I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to say “the music these days are so bad compared to [insert time period” lol but I want to watch/listen to the classics! One day, Y2K songs will be the “classics” anyway But outside of famous people, I do get curious about the seeming simplicity of those times for normal people. Recently, I came across a post by a “90s kid,” who posted this photo of her and her friends at age ~12 playing their PS1. I wouldn’t necessarily want to imagine myself during those times, but it’s always an interesting feeling to see how different our childhoods are.

[@kres6009]

I will say though, the digital camera trend does rile up a lot of nostalgia since my late childhood to near pre-teens was spent with these. By 13, my camera experience was already with a smartphone.

[@tscomplex]

Bc our lives suck🗣

[@nemanja36963]

Your life is in you, change your minds think positive and you will change outside. Let God will

[@cleigh113]

Haha! Big babies

[@Vorticough]

​@@nemanja36963 you don't know what other people are going through our individual struggles are different than yours it's almost never as simple as that

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

​@@cleigh113shut up

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

fax

[@Newguyz]

“Why are these content creators in love with making these videos” is a great video idea

[@khfan4life365]

I’m a millennial and can only speak for myself. I have nostalgia for late 90s and early 2000s because those were the good times for me. 90% of everything after was (and is) kind of crap.

[@vikk-u7w]

It was literally incredible how good we had it in the 90’s and early 2000’s. It was just such a buzz, the music, the movies, the tech, the video games, the vibes. I used to look forward to the future. Now I look ahead with dread. Life became so heavy.

[@juelesvarado]

Its because this generations are lost... feel lost... and to know the past is to know the present, and form a better future... the past gives you tools for the future and survive... the problem is to get stuck and not realize of this tools.

[@KratostheThird]

America used to make its own furniture and make cars that were reliable. Crazy, I know.

[@xirochamber5863]

I collect things from my past because i want my daughter to live her childhood like mine so she has something happy to remember us by

[@plantpoweredmuscle]

Before watching I’ll say 1. Today seems a lot worse today than it did when we were younger whether that’s real or just because we were kids and didn’t notice alot of the bad stuff and also we didn’t have to adult. 2. We are being fed things(controlled) in what we should want. All of these nostalgic videos with sad music making us want to go back but also causing depression as a result, keeping us sad and numb so we don’t better ourselves. I’ve fallen victim to this too. I was born in 85 but have missed the past a lot more after my mom passed away in 2005.

[@matth2471]

The feel behind the whole 80s Japanese citypop “nostalgia for a time never experienced” that you mentioned is exactly the reason vaporwave became as big as it is. That nostalgia drive is core to the genre.

[@rosmer00]

I'm gen x, by reading the comments it seems we all agree this "era" is pure garbage and that simpler times were better, excessive technological advancements, that at first thought they were cool have wrecked everything, corrupting minds at a young age, etc etc.

[@GaryGeezer-l2s]

Honestly, 2011 feels like the last good year, and even then, it wasn't an amazing year as the cracks were starting to show in terms of smartphones becoming standard, downloading and streaming services, gaming DLC having become the norm, often for stuff that should have been included anyway.

[@beingsshepherd]

Is this thread all about technology?

[@synthoelectro]

1977 - the same it's really bad now. Just let us be who were are, not who they want us to be.

[@tidyjii7348]

we are unaware that we are supressing our good emotions/feelings as we grow older. This is due to reality being a dangerous place so we always guard ourselves with lots of defense mechanisms and suppressing emotions is one of them. When some of these suppressed feelings are remembered, nostalgia occurs and we feel good. I just wish we never grew older and kept feeling the excitement with everything in this world

[@jaden00834]

Come on Cole, the emperor has no clothes No one is happy. We all want to go back to simpler times where we connected more. World is going sh**t.

[@NGW_Studio]

Runescape made such a difference in my life, taught me crucial life skills. I recently made a medieval hip hip playlist inspired by runescape, still influencing me even after 15+ years

[@ika_666]

cause this world SUCKS

[@1950s_was_da_peak]

agreed

[@jago09]

As a millennial who grew up in the 90s. I definitely have a nostalgia for the 90s and early early 2000s. I feel older GenZ can maybe somewhat relate to that pre smartphone lifestyle but a good portion of them have succumbed to the brainrot and that tends to be on the younger end of their generation.

[@kenl.6340]

We're not obsessed with nostalgia... Everything new and current just sucks. We gravitate to better products, better stories and better experiences from a better time. I'd be less "nostolgic" if our current culture wasn't ass.

[@Nikolas0269]

THIS ☝️

[@KratostheThird]

At least in the early 2000's we could laugh at juvenile humor and not get offended so easily. Now we try to make edgy humor online, someone gets offended and has to talk about it. Our culture is garbage.

[@lotusblossom223]

I think a lot of us are also overwhelmed with what’s going on with the world. Reminiscing on how simple and laidback things were back then elicits a sense of comfort, relief, and like you mentioned continuity. Nostalgia IS my sanctum when i don’t want to deal with reality.

[@BuildNewTowns]

Gotta build our own cool new walkable towns - with new economies.

[@fowlerfreak7420]

hope there aren't a lot of black ppl there

[@brucewayne9639]

That works until one town needs more resources from another town that refuses to give it leading to war.

[@BrakeCoach]

@@brucewayne9639theyre talking about walkable neighborhoods, its not a metaphor. Suburbia has to go.

[@qoganjacks146]

My reason for nostalgia is kinda opposite. I had a terrible childhood that left me with lots of trauma. When I saw the games or movies or animes that I loved as a child, I'm being reminded that I can see the light even in the darkest of nights. They also remind me of how far I have come. It really help a person like me who tend to blame himself 24/7.

[@DoofenSpyroDragon16]

Honestly same. I’ve gone through some traumatic experiences as well in my childhood (in short, surgeries are not fun) and I didn’t choose to focus on that. I chose to focus on the good parts of my childhood, just making voice memos and letting my imagination go. I kinda miss the days when I wasn’t on KZbin. And it may seem like I AM focusing on my bad parts of my past but I only brought it up to back up my point. Anyway I get it. And I agree 👍

[@bandolierboy1908]

Life from back then was so much better than now. Everything made today is so soulless

[@cookiemonster5438]

As a millennial born but lived the childhood of the time of the 90s and early 2000 I loved the time I spent with close friends back then that was the essential thing to do and you actually remembered where your friends addresses or numbers were to see them. People actually met up at parks or malls and now alot of that doesn't seem popular anymore nor safe or the same. Sucks kids can't be a kid nowadays

[@Candyanthrax]

New stuff isn’t that great tbh, streaming ruined entertainment

[@Its_hoekin_time]

Yea thats part of it

[@synthoelectro]

i'm gen-X and that's completely true. I think this era has taken away the feeling of ownership and in so little time this occured. Not only are we wanting the older things back early but we want better games like they made them during the start of the video era. Doesn't matter if the graphics are super good, it's the game play that we crave.

[@DixieDaydreamer]

As Grampa Simpson famously said, "I used to be with it and then they changd what 'it' was. Now 'it' seems awful scary to me.". My daughter is 22 and she often says she wished she'd been around to live through the 1990s or even 1980s. She absolutey loves 1990s grunge bands, she loves 70s rock and 80s pop music, she lieks some modern music but it's mostly 1990s rock and grunge she loves most. She's seen the pics and vids of my wife and I in our youth ( "Wow you guys looked so cool when you were young!" ) and knowing what she's been through these past 10 years I can understand the simpler times of the 80s/90s would appeal to her and her troubled generation. Gen-Z and millenials are being bombarded with so much negativity from climate change to gender politics, they're so beaten down that I can understand why they would crave simpler times we enjoyed pre-2000. They were simpler times, we could cope with the pace of life back then, technology improved fast but it was a race you could keep up with. I guess now I'm an old fart in their 50s I feel like it's finally happening, I'm losing my grip on life, it's moving too fast for me and the more time goes on the harder it's going to be to keep up. I crave the simpler things in life, enpty nesters now my wife and I love our quiet times together, we co-op video games and got on days out just to go places, talk and enjoy eahc other's company. Simple stuff we did when we first met, just time together we never had while the kids needed our attention. My own father is 84, he's simply given up and doesn't give a shit anymore, he just lives his life on his terms and everyone can go to hell if they don't like it. Kind of like that attitude, hopefully I'll be a little like that one day, leave the stress of daily life to others to worry about while I go back being an old "selfish brat", ha ha!!

[@IntrovertMaxxing]

Because Gen Z lack originality. Think about it. We older people never had ai, google and all these othwr creativity assistants. Before this age, we HAD to be original to succeed. This is why gamers yearn for remakes because they dont trust great games can be made today as they were 20 years ago. Music too had much more depth in the past

[@immadaddyyourpig8878]

And whose fault is that? Gen z didn’t create modern day technology…YALLS generation and y’all’s parents generation did! So don’t come trying to blame us over technology that the older generations created! We just so happened to be born right at the beginning of modern technology 😂

[@dylanrunner2001]

All generations are obsessed with the good ol' days

[@unkono]

I literally just looked up tamagotchi just before watching this video.

[@gouki_da]

I think the problem is that social media saturates the brain. People “relax” by watching TikTok, but the brain isn’t really resting.

[@vooshoos]

what we do here is go back..

[@ColeHastings]

Otis

[@xanaxity]

"The best time was the time we never lived" I still can feel the nostalgia I felt when Emil Cioran book came out in 1970s, I'm in my 20s but I can still feel the sense of nostalgia when I read this back in '70s in library.

[@tonatiuhnino3711]

To be fair, with the world the way it is now, we could use some nostalgia. No politics, no gender wars, etc.

[@bilbobaggins9451]

As someone who is pretty left leaning, I kind of have to agree.

[@catsadilla324]

Historic Nostalgia is so real! I wasn't alive in the 80s, but love the vibrant, energetic, macho, flamboyant vibe and feel a deep nostalgia for it. I recentl saw some very young kids trying to buy some N64 games from a carboot, clearly from before their time.