Times change, and so do the things we thought were cool. Back in my day, Myspace was the new hip thing, but I doubt kids these days even know what that is!
What Used to Be Cool?
When scrolling through my favorite sub on Reddit, I came across a question asking users to share things that used to be cool. The varied responses offer a quick dose of nostalgia over a forgotten time.
Here are some of the top responses of things that are no longer cool, both from the thread and from my memory.
AIM Away Messages
When I was in college, AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) was the hot messaging app. Everyone had AIM. We set quirky and cool away messages to express ourselves.
One user said AIM messages didn’t truly go away; they just evolved with the times. “The AIM away message turned into the FB status and now the IG story,” they said.
Men’s Fashion
Fashion is constantly evolving, but one Redditor pointed out that there was a time when all middle-aged men dressed the same. Their response to the question was, “Middle-aged dudes with one earring, a soul patch, and Ed Hardy t-shirt.”
We’re actually glad men’s fashion is a little more fashionable now.
Facebook is still around, but it’s clearly no longer cool.
One user described Facebook as “a very washed-up celebrity that only people over 50 remember fondly and as a cool person, everyone younger than that remembers them as someone controversial, negative, irrelevant, trying to shoehorn their way into anything just to stay relevant, etc.”
Myspace
Of course, Myspace would make an appearance on the thread. The early social media platform was a must-have for everyone in the early 2000s, but it disappeared as quickly as it burst onto the scene.
We all remember Tom fondly, though.
Popped Collars
Guys from the 80s to the early 2000s wore polo shirts with popped collars to signify how “cool” they were.
The trend had negative stereotypes associated with it, even at its peak. “I was in college when the era of popped collars existed, and even then, we thought those guys were douchebags,” said one user.
Blackberry
A Blackberry was the first smartphone that everyone had to have. Many users said they loved their Blackberry, as it was the best mobile device they ever had. The keyboard made typing easy, and it had great functionality.
Apparently, you can still get a BlackBerry, but with Android and Apple being so pervasive, who would even know?
Playboy Club
“My mother-in-law said she and her husband would go to the Playboy Club for appetizers and drinks,” offered one user.
The Playboy brand implied sophistication and was everywhere in the ’80s and ’90s. The Playboy Club was just a string of regular nightclubs.
In today’s environment, where people are more aware of objectification, the Playboy Brand doesn’t have the same “cool” factor.
Ringtones
“The boost mobile phones that used to chirp” aren’t cool anymore, said one user.
Back in the day, when mobile phones were new, everyone set personal ringtones. We were all delighted by the fun sounds our phones made. It’s not cool anymore.
“Now you have to be a daring soul to even have your phone volume up,” replied another Redditor.
Personalized ringtones were cool for a minute, then we all collectively realized how annoying they are.
The Mall
Teenagers used to hang out at the mall. “I remember 20 years ago I’d go to the mall and it would be packed on the weekends and especially during the Christmas season,” said one Redditor.
With advances in online shopping, malls are slowly fading. We no longer hang out at malls on the weekends.
Kids these days prefer to socialize online.
Transparent Electronics
Remember the computers with transparent housing so you could see all the chips and wires on the inside? One Redditor claimed that seeing how your stuff was working while you were using it was “the height of cool.”
Others said transparent electronics are still a thing, but aren’t as popular. They pointed out that prisons rely on transparent electronics, and many custom-built gaming PCs have transparent side panels.
MTV
At one point, MTV was the height of culture. We’d be glued to our screens, waiting for the hottest new videos to drop, and we were obsessed with shows like Total Request Live.
MTV also spearheaded reality TV with The Real World, but that would ultimately become its downfall. Now, the network hardly has anything to do with music and is instead a constant deluge of awful reality TV, much like TLC.
Pagers
People who had pagers seemed so important. They’d get their page and absolutely need a phone right away!
Now that everyone has phones 24/7, nobody really needs pagers anymore.
Apathy
“Well, I’m a no-goodnick lower middle class brat, back-packed and I don’t give a sh*t about nothin” Sum-41 Fat Lip
Back in the day, the kids who didn’t care about anything were the absolute coolest. The kids who cared about things (like their education, extracurriculars, or anything else) were the “nerds.”
It seems like this has shifted, and today, it’s cool to care. I love that about kids these days.
Skaters
As a young adult in the early 200s, I will always love skater culture. I loved pop-punk music, men’s frosted tips, wallet chains, and the entire aesthetic.
Are there any new pop punk bands anymore? Do people still skate? I don’t know, I’m not cool enough to know.
Platform Shoes
When I was in high school, all women’s shoes had an extra few inches – even sporty shoes!
I used them to try to get past height restrictions at Six Flags, but they caught me and made me take my shoes off, so I couldn’t ride the new roller coaster.
I wonder if we will all have weird foot and ankle problems from the constant balancing act.
It Will Happen To You
The thread reminds me of my favorite Simpsons quote:
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore, and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!”
Every generation has unique fads, lingo, and expressions of coolness.
As trends change and evolve, things skyrocket into popularity and then fade into oblivion.
What Else Used to Be Cool?
Redditors provided a lot of Millennial trends, which makes sense because the website is filled with them.
What trends used to be cool for other generations? I’d love to hear from Gen Xers, Boomers, and even Gen Z in the comments!
Millennials, what crazy fads did we miss?