The 2010s Transformed Our Thinking

September is done, and 2025 is almost here. We are halfway through the 2020s. Time flies quick.

We’re now at a considerable distance from the 2010s, can we look back at that decade clearly yet? Possibly. But it’s tricky. So much of what defined that decade—social movements, decentralization, smartphones, algorithms—is still shaping us. It feels like we’re in the middle of a slow revolution and it’s not finished yet. But we can try. We’re already starting to see nostalgia for the 2010s pop up online from young people.

Roughly, we can say the 2010s started with the fallout from the Great Recession and ended with COVID. So far, it’s not seen as a popular decade. Many say it’s one of the worst decades in recent memory.

That’s not a surprise. Culturally and intellectually, it felt like a decline. The music was forgettable and sadder,

Hollywood went into decline

and fashion fixated on tight clothes and athleisure.

But that’s a surface-level read of the decade. I believe the 2010s are an important decade. I’ve written about some aspects of it before:

• Refinement Culture made homes, cars, clothes, people and everything else look alike 

• The Analytics revolution standardized how professional sports are played forever

• Authenticity didn’t matter as long as you made money

• …along with cynical politics, oppressive new social norms, and everyone constantly online.

The 2010s are represented as the rise of the millenial generation. This particular group is going to be very influential going forward. That’s because most AI training data is from millennials from the 2010s. You’re already starting to see it enter new technology.

A Clear Shift

Rather than a natural progression from the 1990s and 2000s, the 2010s marked a clear break from the past. This break was driven by two main forces. The first was top-down social engineering, led by governments, corporations, tech giants, and other institutions. The second was the rise of organic, bottom-up movements that transformed how we perceive society.

While the decade may not have produced enduring art or cultural products, it fundamentally changed how we act and think. We’re still living in its shadow, and that’s why it matters.

10 Ways the 2010s Rewired How We Think

1) It’s Ok to Be Fired From Your Job For Posting On Social Media

One of the biggest changes the 2010s brought was making people’s digital lives increasingly linked to their professional identities. The line between public and private life blurred, and the internet became a permanent, public record of one's beliefs and behavior. As a result, society began to accept that it was justified for people to be fired for what they posted online.

Before 2012, Social media platforms were seen as spaces for free expression by anyone who wanted to post anything outrageous or controversial. Your career and what you posted online weren’t connected. It was all bullshit.

Getting fired is a huge deal, especially in America, where falling income classes felt like entering a different country—one of violence and struggle. But by the 2010s, firing people over online behavior became almost routine. Every day felt like waiting to see who Zeus would strike next.

But then, post 2012, these places became tightly controlled environments corporate policies enforced behavioral conformity. and the normalization of cancel culture meant that individuals could face losing their jobs, for expressing controversial opinions online. There’s even a thread from 9 years ago about it with thousands of responses.

Is this Lindy? Well, in a Frankenstein sort of way. We’re never going back to the pre-2012 days, where you could post anything with your full name and not worry about losing your job. In his book, Jon Ronson highlights how the internet revived an ancient mechanism of shame into something global, permanent, and far more powerful due to the speed and anonymity of social media.

@professorneil

There’s no grand takeaway, here. Just that this place is bewildering and exhausting #socialmedia #tiktok #shaming #publicshaming #pileon #trolling

2) Caring About Metrics as a Fan Is Normal Now

The 2010s was the first time I heard fans of an artist or film argue over business metrics. For as long as I remember the art side was always separated by the business side. That distinction disappeared. Fans started talking about how much money something made. How many streams or followers it had. Metrics became a way we see value. Bizarre.

It wasn’t just in movies. In video games, people now cite Steam stats as definitive proof of a game’s quality. The same thing happens on YouTube—videos were once simply 'good' or 'bad,' but now I catch myself judging them by their view counts. This metric-driven mindset pervades everything, from politics to sports. It hollows out the way many people approach things.

Metrics are becoming shortcuts for judgment. Instead of evaluating something based on its substance, people rely on these external indicators, which might dilute meaningful conversations about quality, creativity, or originality.

The fan culture, once about passion and personal connection to the art, became a numbers game. You’ll see it crop up everywhere. Including salaries of entertainers.

@doomblazer

Man has enough money to MAKE an Iron Man Suit 💰 #doomblazer #marvel #mcu #robertdowneyjr #ironman #tonystark #doctordoom #victorvondoom #s... See more

It looks like this trend is here to stay. I constantly see people worrying about numbers and metrics for new art

3) Some Platforms Are For Couples and Other Platforms Are For Individuals

in the 2010s, the Platforms shaped not only our entertainment choices but also our social interactions. The differences between Netflix and YouTube, for instance, reflect the contrasting ways we engage with content as part of a couple versus as an individual.

A lot of Netflix content is "bad" but only in a certain way because it's meant to be watched with another person. It's easy to put something on that both people can watch together even if they don't love it. This kind of "bad" content serves a social purpose—it’s background entertainment that facilitates interaction. You can comment on the plot, half-watch while scrolling through your phone, or just have it playing without much thought. In this way, Netflix fills the role of creating a shared experience, even if the content itself lacks depth or critical acclaim.

Meanwhile, Youtube is meant to be consumed individually. Watching YouTube with someone else often feels awkward or disjointed because it’s so tailored to personal interests. The platform’s algorithm is designed to take you down rabbit holes based on your unique preferences, making it hard to share that experience with others. The intimacy of YouTube lies in its ability to cater to specific curiosities in real time, which doesn’t easily translate to group consumption.

4) Self-Improvement Became More Important Than Contentment

The ‘90s slacker—the guy who did nothing and made it look cool—was gone by the 2010s. In his place came the self-improvement junkie. The laid-back, indifferent attitude got replaced with a culture of constant hustle and personal growth. Doing nothing wasn’t cool anymore—productivity and self-optimization were the new markers of status.

Fight Club (1999) by David Fincher, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. The film critiques consumerism and the disillusionment of men in the '90s, embodying the slacker ethos with its main character, who rebels against the corporate grind.

The 2010s saw the rise of a relentless pursuit: self-optimization. Your health, your career, your finances, even your personal relationships—all had room for improvement. Satisfaction wasn’t just discouraged; it was seen as a form of failure.

• Silicon Valley Tech Culture: Silicon Valley pushed the idea that constant innovation and self-improvement were essential.

• Influencers and Social Media: Influencers on Instagram and YouTube sold the hustle, pushing fitness and productivity hacks as the path to success. Their hyper-curated lives set a relentless pace for self-improvement.

• Wellness Industry: The wellness boom, led by brands like Goop, turned health into a performance sport. Wellness wasn’t just about balance—it became a quest for peak optimization.

Hustle culture glorified the idea that rest was for the weak. Social media fed this mentality, with influencers and entrepreneurs sharing daily routines that left no room for balance. Side hustles became a badge of honor, and if you weren't working on multiple income streams, you were seen as lacking ambition.

5) Culture and Consumerism Increasingly Geared Towards Women

We take for granted that most consumerism and businesses cater to women by default now. But that’s not how it’s always been.

Products once sold to men were suddenly rebranded for women. Wellness exploded, beauty subscriptions took off, and even sports and fitness started targeting female consumers. Instagram influencers became the new tastemakers. The power dynamic reversed: companies stopped catering to men and started bending over backward for women. The consumer world got a makeover, and now women were the ones calling the shots.

With women’s growing financial independence and decision-making clout, industries across the board had to evolve to keep up.

6) Experience Means More Than Possessions

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