‘Was the UK in the 90s genuinely more fun and united, or are we just getting old?’ 15 reflections on the decade of Cool Britannia

8.

A lot of it is tied to being young with better health and fewer responsibilities, but genuinely the music was and is infinitely better than anything today, films were out this world, the Internet was just starting up and hadn’t been ruined, computers and games were improving at a rate of knots. There was no social media or phone cameras to record all your embarrassing moments.

I’ll always have hugely fond memories of the 90s.
Weird-Statistician

9.

I’m white, straight, cis and born in 1980. Speaking for my very specific demographic it was, indeed, pretty great.

However, I do remember the way people, including myself, spoke and “joked” about others that weren’t in that demographic. Some of it was just accepted behaviour and not really meant maliciously, but it’s pretty toe-curling to think back on now and I can easily imagine the nineties golden era not being so great for others.
focalac

10.

Euro 96 felt like such a sweet moment too. The whole country came together. It’s all been downhill since Southgate missed that penalty.
JesusOnly8319

11.

In the 90s, especially the late 90s after we just kicked out the Tories, there was genuine hope that things were going to be better in the future. The direction of travel was already positive; the iron curtain had recently fallen and Russia appeared to be reforming and becoming a sensible country. University was essentially free for young people and there were well paid jobs to be had.

Plus, social media didn’t exist beyond the bulletin boards of geeks (yes, I was there).

The future certainly does not look so positive right now, and that’s partly due to social media, but I fear that’s not the only reason. The outlook is genuinely worse, and especially so for young people. The gap between rich and poor has grown enormously, most young people will probably never own a house, and there are far fewer opportunities than there were. The truth is becoming more difficult to discern; even media outlets we used to trust in the 90s has proven itself not completely trustworthy anymore. The climate crisis threatens the futures of anyone who expects to be on this planet for more than a decade or so, fascism has reared its ugly head in our own countries, and war in Europe is a real threat again.
AnnieByniaeth

12.

I feel the same, no one speaks to their neighbors anymore. People don’t socialise at work as much. People don’t tend to chat in public.
Pie_Bovril

13.

Grew up in Glasgow in the 90s. Nope, the past was the worst.
Shakis87

13.

It definitely felt that way.

Social media gives every single twat in the country an amplified voice, and let’s them find ‘their people’. It also makes them harder to ignore.

In the late 90s/early 00s, I felt that the biggest problem in the UK was the media – now I feel it is social media. When people actually try to live with their neighbours and get along, things are better.
YerManOnTheMac

14.

As a 31-year-old, I think this about the 00s. You know why? I was a child. I didn’t have to work; I didn’t have bills to pay; I didn’t have to buy food; I didn’t have rent or a mortgage. I enjoyed primary school and spent the rest of my time playing. That’s what was good, not the decade itself.

Also consider the one thing you have now when thinking about the 90s that nobody had back then: certainty. You know that the decade turned out alright, so you can enjoy focusing on the good bits. At the time, people wouldn’t have known what was going to happen with Y2K, Al Qaeda, the IRA etc etc, and that would have been less comforting.
I_ALWAYS_UPVOTE_CATS

15.

It was so much better for kids. (Unless you’re neurodivergent). Parents weren’t as paranoid. Technology wasn’t as suffocating. No social media. Kids played out all day. I’m a parent and wish I could let my kids have the freedom I did. The main worry I face is the roads, people drive so fast and don’t expect kids to be crossing the road, they also can’t see between the cars when crossing as the cars are so tall.
tinned_peaches

We’re with this person.

The only thing I can boil it down to is that the 90’s had a sense of hope. That’s long gone now. There was a future in the 90’s that never came to be, we now exist in the shadow of that.
OrdoRidiculous

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