Why do people think the 2000s are indistinct compared to other decades?

There doesn't seem to be much that stands out after 1999. What do I think of to describe the 2000s...hmm. The EMO thing did get really big, rap music took off more, and social media apps. That's all I got😊

I disagree with those podcasters.

I think the ‘decade thing’ makes for good mile posts but each decade influences and bleeds into the next to a degree.

As for some examples of obvious
cultural happenings here in The States hippies didn’t go away with the 60s, Disco didn’t die with the 70s and Greedy Wall Street raiders didn’t go extinct at the end of the 80s, etc.

Besides, they say ‘everything old is new again,’ so the 2000s will probably have a nostalgia-boost soon enough. Hang in there👍

I suspect it's a combination of two things: 1) those opinions are probably mostly coming from people who came of age earlier than you -- perhaps considerably earlier than you in some cases -- and are simply not as tuned into pop culture as they once were...

... and 2) the rise of the internet has changed both perceptions and, to an extent, the reality of how fashion trends shift over time. Used to be that you'd have gatekeepers on these things -- magazines, TV shows, &c -- and now (to coin a phrase:) everything is everywhere all at once.

There are still trends, of course, but everything is a bit more niche and compartmentalised now -- so you don't necessarily encounter them so easily.

It's a gradient and there needs to be distance to look back and see the trends which stand out and culturally hold strong as motifs of their period. The closer you are to the periods the more of a blur it is.

People who say the early 00s was the same as today are clowns. Back then nu-metal was huge, the fashion was different (go watch a number of films from 2000-2005 to see the different clothing and hairstyles), the internet was only starting to take off and cultural attitudes differed.

It's not uncommon to see dude-bro comedy films from that time period full of 'homophobic' content for example. Scary Movie (2000) was a huge hit, accounting for inflation it made nearly half a billion, no way a spoof film could gross that much these days...not to mention contain blatant 'transphobic' humor.

Another thing is that people love their easily defined cut off points. The year 2000 saw not only a new decade but a new century and millennium. People cling to it as an easy old-slash-new cut off point. It's sometimes a shock to people to realize that films released in 2002 are now 20 years old. Two full decades. It's simple math, but some people see the 00s as yesteryear and struggle accepting the passage of time.

I became of age in the 80s and I always wanted to ask people younger than me if there was a distinct difference in the music between the 2000s and 2010s.

Maybe because I'm young but 2000s look SOOOOO dated to me.

Bright colored clothes, girls with highlights, weird cell phones, iPods.

The sense of humor seemed to be saying outrageous, shocking things.

Yeah, totally different vibe.

True. The early 2000s was distinctive. Late 2000s might have blurred into 2010s and 2020s.

PS. I was an emo too. But mom was right, it was just a phase.

The 2000s were nothing like the 2010s or 2020s, not by a long shot. While the clothing is hard to place, the music, pop culture, and look of the era is actually more distinct compared to the later decades than a lot of people realize. I think what the younger crowd can't understand, is that the late 90s still had a subtle hold on the way people did things for the first few years of that decade.

I remember quite a few interesting fashion fads from that era. Toned-down bell-bottom, hip-hugging jeans, cargo pants, platform shoes (not as tall as in the actual 70s, but noticeable), highlights in the hair, tiny butterfly hairclips worn like headbands in the hair, tattoo necklaces, cat's eye bracelets, belly shirts, velour jogging suits...

I distinctly remember a minor trend towards Asian fashions. Some of the girls liked to put their hair up in single or twin buns with colorful, plastic chopsticks stuck in. Some of the shirts people wore were sewn to look like they were folded like kimonos. Chinese dresses and tops could be seen once in a while too.

The Goth look really took off and became more noticeable in everyday life.

Wedding/prom gowns from that era were much more figure-flattering than the chunky, sheer, retro 50s/60s styles we see today. The strapless, poofy look with either no waistline, or the bodice extended to the lower waist was common in that time period.

I miss the movies, tv shows, and music we had back then. It was better than what we have today, no joke.