Things change. Whoa, that’s a real shocker, I know, but bear with me! The fact of the matter is that even the things, places, and people we love most in the world change over time. It’s inevitable. However, while some things improve and mature like good wine set down to age in your fancy castle cellar, others… well, others age like cheap milk, left out on a sunny windowsill for far, far too long.
Redditor Open-Outcome-660 went on r/AskReddit with an intriguing query, asking others to share the things that they think used to be great but have become incredibly bad since then. The question instantly hooked internet users and the thread got over 3.4k responses.
It all came flooding out, from people sharing that MTV has steadily gone downhill over the years to folks pointing out that the internet is no longer as great as it was in the good old days. Have a read through some of the best responses to the thread and upvote the opinions you agree with, dear Pandas. Do you have any of your own examples about things that have become really bad over time? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
Bored Panda had a friendly chat about nostalgia, change, and some of the things that actually went from bad to great with Open-Outcome-660, the original poster of the question. Be sure to scroll down for our in-depth interview with them!
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The history Channel. I used to watch it in the 2000s. Now it's all swamp people and aliens
According to redditor Open-Outcome-660, the reason why the question resonated with so many people was that it's a spin on an age-old statement. "I really didn’t expect my question to gain as much traction as it did, but, in retrospect, the reason for it is that it’s the age-old statement of 'things were better in the past' turned into a question," they told Bored Panda.
I wanted to find out more about the inspiration behind the question and the redditor was more than happy to talk about it. "The question started when I was browsing through YouTube one morning and got frustrated by how polluted the platform has become of ads," they mentioned something that many of us can relate to. "Most videos had multiple commercials. Most commercials were 20 seconds long. Even 5-second videos had at least 5 seconds of commercials before I could watch them. Naturally, my first thought was that this platform had gone from great to worse. My second thought was what went up on Reddit: 'Is there anything else that’s had this trajectory?'"
Appliances. Used to be made to last. Now they're just made to last the warranty.
I don't know, I'm in S. Korea, and the microwave we bought in 2011 is still showing no signs of dying. Each smartphone I had, except for one, I changed only because they started getting outdated, and, as the software becomes more and more demanding, you need better memory and storage. Same goes with computers and tablets. We changed our fridge in 2016 for a similar reason (simply needed a bigger one, the previous one was really tiny, but still fine and working), and it's still as good as new. Same goes for the freezer, and the laundry machine. Our TV, bought in 2017, still no signs of dying. Air conditioner, bought in 2016, still strong. So..... either you are unlucky with faulty products, either you live in an environment that's unfriendly to appliances, or you need to learn better maintenance.
Internet in general. I used to be able to search Google for a subject and then get a list of reliable websites to read from. Now it's 99% crap infomercials/ad ridden sites that all want to sell me things I don't need.
In Open-Outcome-660's opinion, nostalgia definitely plays a role in how we perceive how things were in the past. "If I could go back in time momentarily to compare things, I’m pretty sure I’d like many of today’s things more. I’d probably also discover things I really don’t like about the old experience. It’s probably easy to look back with nostalgia goggles since we probably have a very selective memory when we make comparisons," they shared. However, that's doesn't mean that some things weren't objectively better in the past.
"Nevertheless, I definitely think that there are truths in people’s thoughts of some things being better back in time. In my case, I definitely think that YouTube has become a worse experience in terms of its ads. In other cases, people might experience that their society has become worse in some aspects, and that may very well be true. It’s not the whole truth, but the factors may be sufficiently big to put on those nostalgia goggles and determine that the whole thing is worse now," the redditor mused.
My knees
Patriotism. It used to feel like a good thing to be proud of my country, to be grateful for the blessings of living here, trusting that our government is at least trying to do the right thing. But now this has devolved into this nasty "My country first, best, and alone" crap, all others are bad, wrong, and are enemies. It doesn't have to be that way.
Cooking websites. Everyone knows the struggle of scrolling through 273 paragraphs of bulls**t before getting to the recipe, but now some actual antichrist websites are putting a 2nd page inside the first where after you get past the 273 paragraphs it’s like “now click here for the recipe”. Rage inducing.
While it can be a lot of fun to whine about how bad things have gotten, from time to time, it's best not to forget that there are plenty of positives in life, too. I wanted to get Open-Outcome-660's opinion about what things have gone from bad to great.
"There’s a whole lot of things that have turned from really bad to great. One example is acquiring knowledge, where just a few decades ago, everything would have to be gained either through books or lectures; whereas now it’s at your fingertips. Another example is ease of living: fixing things such as buying things online, signing contracts, picking a movie to watch, or listening to music has become a lot easier, safer, and more accessible compared to a couple of decades ago. A third example would be ease of travel, where nowadays it’s quite easy to get by with English around the globe, flights are cheaper and things are waaay easier to book, find reviews on and look up at a moment’s notice if needed," the redditor shared what things have definitely improved with time.
Flying. From the incredible shrinking seat, crazy people, covid, no food, baggage fees, carry on fees to questions about planes safety.
I am old enough to remember when flying was a really elegant way to travel. We dressed up... we were polite to one another and to the cabin attendants.
MTV. It was so good back in the 90s. Actual music videos, shows that featured artists, MTV Unplugged, Daria, Beavis and Butthead, Aeon Flux, TRL, Celebrity Death Match... Then Pimp My Ride and Cribs were pretty fun though it was the start of reality tv style shows
Beavis and Butthead and Celebrity Death Match were brilliant. It's a shame, a damn shame I tells ya!
Streaming services online, Netflix was op back in the day, now you have to have 15 different services if you want to watch all your shows
"Thinking from this other perspective also made me realize that we often compare things in the past with the time they were in. It’s a bit hard for me to say that the internet was really bad a couple of decades ago because that was a part that society and those technological times. If we somehow got to swap the internet experience today with 20 years ago, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the experience would have been perceived as going from great to really bad."
There’s no shame about being nostalgic for the good old days. Most of us are guilty of it. (Some, like me, are a tad guiltier than others, but hey, I loved the ‘90s and early 2000s.) In fact, nostalgia can be incredibly comforting. However, there does come a point when reminiscing about the past can become problematic.
Facebook
Hollywood. They ran out of ideas.
They haven't, it's just that the executives of AAA movies prefer safe options.
Child and adolescent therapist and member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, Kemi Omijeh, explained to me during an earlier interview that many psychologists believe that our childhoods are the foundation to who we are as adults.
“It explains why we frequently revisit our childhood as it influences our present," she told Bored Panda.
Therapist Kemi revealed that we’re nostalgic about our childhood if our experiences have been full of being loved and nurtured. On the flip side, it’s hard to feel nostalgic for a time in your life where you felt anxious, unloved, uncared for.
Entering the workforce and saving up. Never was great in my lifetime, but I've heard stories of people buying their first house after like 2 years of saving. That's just a fantasy these days.
First timers are practically unable to buy their first home, so they are forced to rent, which developers have Jumped on and are building hi-rise cubbyholes (250sf) for rent or tiny little houses (500sf) with zero lot line which they’re only able to afford with two or three roommates
Politics - it was never great, but there’s no room for two people with different views to actually talk. It’s not a sports team, why is everybody so entrenched and angry.
“If we’ve had a difficult childhood, it can be hard to feel nostalgic, instead it will feel like something we need to get over in order to move on," she said.
"Nostalgia can also be a good coping strategy for times of low mood and challenges," Kemi told Bored Panda, adding that this is only true up to a certain point. Once nostalgia starts interfering with our everyday lives and our ability to be present in the moment, it’s time to scale back.
Amazon. It’s slowly turning into Wish.
I use Amazon more as a search engine. Find what I want, then go to the company website and buy it from the company rather than off of Amazon. It is way easier to notice when something is a straight up scam. Never buy clothing from Amazon, it is all now just rip off Chinese manufactured crap. I use Amazon less and less all the time. They don't vet their sellers and I am just done with getting ripped off and returns now being a pain in the ass.
I used to love a good conspiracy theory - UFO cover ups and so forth - but now its just these redneck crazies crowding into the most outlandish shit ones like microchips and lizard people.
The air. Literally breathing in pollutants.
Depends on where you live, and at what point in time you start counting. In the US, for example, the amount on dangerous pollutants in the air is down by 75% from the 1990s.
"If we end up comparing it to our experiences today and feeling like nothing is as good as it was, then this will inevitably affect our mood and our ability to do what we need to do. We can become stuck in our nostalgia; in which case it might be best to seek help from a counseling professional to help you process your past in order to enjoy your present,” she said.
Something to keep in mind is that we see our past memories through a filter when we relive them, so all the tiny details might not be as accurate as we think. That doesn’t necessarily mean that MTV wasn’t amazing years and years ago, however, it might mean that things weren’t as overwhelmingly fantastic as we remember them.
Not being busy. Not constantly “hustling” or trying to do it all. Not “living for the weekend.” Down time can be a good thing.
The search to buy your first home used to be exciting and filled with choices. Now it’s “take it or leave it” overpriced homes you can’t afford, in a terrible neighborhood. Or continue paying your super high rent.
Being able to go outside. Maybe not so much in the cities, but in the suburbs there was all these open fields and forests to go into, you could stay out till the sun went down just riding your bike. Now those fields and forests are paved over and turned into a strip mall. Those big areas with playgrounds? Bulldozed for some shitty half-assed jungle gym.
Can't go out on the streets anymore. Kids get the cops called on them constantly. So much more private property too.
And if you wanna go somewhere that isn't outside, you better cough up some money. Every place charges you to be there now. And not for long.
I'd say this is dependent on where you live. I'm in a small town in Scotland, nothing but wide open spaces, trespassing isn't a thing as you can walk on peoples land within reason obviously - right by me there's a big country house that has peacocks and a pen of boar that we can walk up to to go see them. Loads of free parks, playgrounds etc - both in my town and Scotland as a whole
Youtube
TBH YT is decent if you constantly give the feedback so that it shows only the stuff you like
Living.
When I was young life was awesome. Friends, fun, adventure, meeting people, partying, sex, music.
Now it's all work until you can't work anymore, sleep, work some more.
Life had stayed the same, it is you who had changed and gotten older.
Etsy is all Chinese garbage now and you have to search forever to find something handmade.
Radio. Wth are they playing now?
If you're able to stream your music, do that! Way less ads (or none if you pay for a service) and you can tailor the music to your tastes!
To be honest, quality of work in professional settings.
Like fatty typos in legal settlements worth hundreds of thousands of dollars! Drives me INSANE. Quality is getting harder to find lately.
Cars. They used to be awesome. Affordable. And fixable. Now they're the cheapest pieces of crap and highly overcharged. They're faster than they used to be maybe but the cost isn't worth the parts. And they fail so easily.
Yahoo answers lol it's dead now but it used to be fun kind of like reddit but then later on karens took over... couldn't even ask a simple question about cooking or anything innocent without getting a lecture
That reference picture though... I don't want to know what happened in that interaction...
Disney I always loved dark gothic disney cartoons Now its just rubbery overproduced cheesy stuffs only.
News media, not saying "great" but it used to function
Totally agree that the news media has died. It is ALL opinion, telling people what to think, sprinkled liberally with emotional blackmail. Now I have to read various sites and piece together common threads to find the truth
Doc Martens. They sold the trademark to a Chinese company and changed the real product to Solevair.
Standup comedy. There used to be some great comedians out there that were actually funny. All the comedians now are either too afraid of triggering their audience or just hateful people bashing their political opposition.
But truth is that a lot of comedians don't have any jokes left if you strip away the sexist and racist jokes from their act.
Airport security
What? The incompetence, the rudeness or the bias of the TSA agents?
Burger King was great in the 1980s. Now it’s the fast food equivalent of Gary, Indiana.
Hungry Jack's (Australia's Burger king) was so much better 10 years ago. They have changed their chips and onion rings which both suck.
AAA games
They used to be really good but now it's just big companies putting out unfinished games because they know it will sell
Plus they get "HD Remaster" and "Ultimate Edition" and other such gimmick re-releases every few years. And they can't even remake them right any more, either. Even when the source material is 20+ years old. Looking at you, Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, with all your bugs and ugly fonts and whatnot...
Why is it like the 90s in the early 2000’s cartoons are just fantastic and now like the new stuff is kind of crap in some cases
Driving. I hate it there’s too many damn people on the road. I wish I didn’t live in small town America
It's not the amount of people, it's the amount of psychopaths who go ballistic in a roadrage when your car accelerates faster than theirs.
Geocaching. A few years ago it used to be amazing good fun, but the app is basically killing it because you have to pay for everything
American news.
It's near impossible to find an US news channel that doesn't spread biased misinformation. I haven't found one unbiased channel which only sticks to proven facts, instead of guessing, hinting and alleging the weirdest things. Although US politicians indeed seem more concerned for their own welfare than for the welfare of the people , one might think that at least one news channel is able to strip all the nonsense down to cold hard facts of what is happening in that crazy clownesk cabaret of US politics.
Family Guy. It’s been steady downhill ever since Seth stopped writing.
After last season Im about to put Rick and Morty in the same category. Felt season 4 was a bit of a downturn but S5 just felt like the writers wanted to show us how clever they could be. Folks, half your audience or more is stoned when they watch this show keep that in mind moving forward.
Tumblr. Yes, it was a hub for radical SJWs, but aside from the loud people there was so much great art and really, really funny posts, studying tags for help with school, cosplays, and just a lot of other people to relate to. I met my best friends on there almost 8 years ago (holy shit) and we still talk all the time even though I’ve only met one of them in person, which was 5 years ago (holy shit).
Then it killed itself with the adult content ban. Now it’s only blogs that glorify eating disorders, fanfiction that got left behind, and extreme SJWs that are scared of twitter because people might actually challenge their statements.
SJW = social justice warrior in case (like me) you didn't know. I've invented one of my own: POT. It means 'professional offence taker'. People who always seem ready to be offended on their own or someone else's behalf.
The Simpsons
Eh, I guess. But even the new ones have their moments. Homer has always been great and no Mr. Burns is the funniest character. I agree most new episodes only have 1 or 2 good bits per episode, but I will take it. Homer still makes me crack up after all these years!
Renaissance festivals. Now they are basically game of thrones and Harry Potter cosplay events.
OKCupid. Used to be an innovative dating site with a multitude of features that distinguished it from its competitors. Everything went downhill when the Match group bought it.
dating sites only want you to pay money to get matched with fake accounts
Ryanair
Mainstream media.
Breyers ice cream.
Blizzard.
Though I suppose you could argue that they've been bad for a while, and we just didn't know about it until the recent lawsuit.
My fat ass thought this was about Blizzards from DQ...I was gonna put up a fight lol
Craftsman
I think this is referring to Craftsman tools. They used to be well made and guaranteed for life.
Bill cosby
Capitalism
Sorry folks who hate capitalism. Name one other economic structure that allows people to start their own business, anywhere, at any time, where you can decide how to run it. Where competition is designed to keep pricing low. What people hate when they say they hate capitalism, is how malignant it has gotten from those who refuse to practice its principles and instead are focused on getting every dollar they can no matter how sleazy they need to become.
So many of these are simply misdirected gripes about the OP reaching middle age.
Rock music. It has become so corporate and safe. Blandness with no bold innovation anymore. Perhaps we have reached the limit of music. There are only so many notes out there. And whatever happened to protest songs? We sure could use some now!
I'm not a boomer and even I agree. Rock is dead.
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BP puts out surveys to create posts like this. So if there are more American specific topics in the post it's probably because more Americans responded to the survey.
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So many of these are simply misdirected gripes about the OP reaching middle age.
Rock music. It has become so corporate and safe. Blandness with no bold innovation anymore. Perhaps we have reached the limit of music. There are only so many notes out there. And whatever happened to protest songs? We sure could use some now!
I'm not a boomer and even I agree. Rock is dead.
Load More Replies... BP puts out surveys to create posts like this. So if there are more American specific topics in the post it's probably because more Americans responded to the survey.
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