No matter what we do or how we feel about it, time keeps marching forward. And while reminiscing about the past can be a double-edged sword, providing both melancholy and comfort, the Facebook group '80s & 90s Kids Everywhere!' invites people to do just that.
Though this online community is quite young (it was created in January 2019), 1.1 million people have already joined it, sharing everything that they remember from the two decades.
So whether you want a strong dose of nostalgia or simply to learn what the good old days were all about, we invite you to check out these handpicked posts we gathered from the group.
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For some Americans, the 1960s and 1970s had been a troubling time that undermined their confidence in fellow citizens and in government. So in the 1980s, a new conservatism arose in social, economic, and political life, which can be identified through the policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
The decade is often remembered for its materialism and consumerism and it also saw the rise of the "yuppie," an explosion of blockbuster movies and the emergence of cable networks like CNN and MTV, which introduced the music video and launched the careers of many iconic artists.
However, there were great challenges, too. The AIDS crisis would go on to kill more than 700,000 people in the United States alone.
In fairness, somebody's aunt Linda is still sharing those half-baked "facts"...she just has a wider audience with the Internet.
The 1980s, especially in New York but also in cities all over the world from Cologne to Tokyo, was a period of media excess and frenzied stock market speculation, typified by aggressive large-scale paintings that sold for lots of money.
(But in 1991, the art market crashed, closing galleries right and left. Prices fell by more than 50% for many contemporary artists, and average art prices didn't recover to their pre-crash height until 2003.)
This is absolutely what it was like. If we were lucky it was a friend with a pool in the summer.
The 1990s are often remembered as a decade of relative peace and prosperity. The Soviet Union fell, ending the decades-long Cold War, and the rise of the internet brought a radical new era of communication, business, and entertainment.
However, many forget, that the decade was not without violence and tragedy, including the Bosnian genocide, the Rodney King beating, and subsequent L.A. Riots, and the bombing of the World Trade Center. The Columbine High School shooting marked a solemn chapter in gun violence, and the devastatingly deadly Oklahoma City bombing by a domestic terrorist followed lethal standoffs between federal agents and armed civilians at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas.
While conjuring fond fuzzy feelings from our past makes us feel good, there's a lot more going on.
"Consuming nostalgic media of all types gives us a way of thinking about who we are, and helps us make sense of our purpose in life," said Krystine Batcho, a psychology professor at LeMoyne College and longtime nostalgia researcher.
"Familiar media from our past brings us emotional comfort, but it also meets a cognitive need: it encourages the belief that things will get better because they’ve been good before," Batcho added.
Nostalgia is also one way we cope with things like social isolation, disconnectedness, and loneliness. This may sound counterintuitive since it typically involves private reflection on our personal history, but nostalgic memories remind us of our relationships with other people.
Batcho believes nostalgic recollections can encourage us to seek out social and emotional support because they frequently feature important people from our past.
I could do it faster than my friends and thought it was a real talent
Much of nostalgia makes us recall periods from our childhood. Batcho said a big reason for this is that during that period, we were loved simply for who we were.
Maybe that's why online communities such as '80s & 90s Kids Everywhere!' are so popular. Who doesn't like to remember when everything was so simple and seemed fine?
i had to go the hospital because i broke one open and drank it. i was fine i think
1. Bevis & Butthead, 2. Married with Children/The Bundys, 3. Roseanne/The Connors, 4. The Simpsons, 5. Full House/The Tanners, 6. Fresh Prince of Bel Air/The Banks
Why did it feel easier for me to write one word all the way down rather than write the sentence across?
Because it was easier. Lots faster too. Ask me how I know. LOL
Load More Replies...I once had to do this but it said "I will not flip off my classmates" after I got caught giving the finger to someone. :)
OMG NO THE TRAMA!!! im 14 and my grandma would do this to me. record of number of senteneces you ask? 1,000. yeah. but now i have very good handwriting and write in italics. trama man, trama
I once dropped it from second floor. Went, collected all the pieces, put them together and it started working again
Nah, my mum made excellent cakes back in the 70's. She once made me a fort, square sponge base, then chocolate fingers for the wooden walls and the internal buildings, then scattered my cowboys around it.
They were banned in my primary and secondary school. I will never know the reason.
I broke the machine in a half hour but the cat sure loved those little hard plastic basketballs on our wood floor
Deaf people have trouble with their ears, not their back. Ba-dum-tish!
I am old enough to very vaguely remember playing minecraft with the nether castle reactor core thing
I'm always surprised when i see these pictures of gems of days past and no one ever mentions C&C Red Alert.
Wired queen , the only think idk it's Andy Griffith's show. I'm from Catalonia sorry :), but hey , struggle to bring back 80 and 90 . You are clever . Hug queen panda :)
I wish I actually was old, so I could just roll over and die... Now I just feel old but still have like 50-60 years ahead of me and I have to look at these posts all that time.
I am old enough to very vaguely remember playing minecraft with the nether castle reactor core thing
I'm always surprised when i see these pictures of gems of days past and no one ever mentions C&C Red Alert.
Wired queen , the only think idk it's Andy Griffith's show. I'm from Catalonia sorry :), but hey , struggle to bring back 80 and 90 . You are clever . Hug queen panda :)
I wish I actually was old, so I could just roll over and die... Now I just feel old but still have like 50-60 years ahead of me and I have to look at these posts all that time.