Looking Back on The 2010s: A Decade of Digitalisation and its Impact

It is difficult to believe that 10 years ago, Disney Channel had captured the hearts of young children, MySpace reigned supreme in the world of teens, and Blackberry phones were in the hands of every businessman. Now, as we are ushered into an unparalleled era of technology, we can look back at the milestones of the 2010s with a sense of clarity that comes with hindsight. The past decade of digitalisation has integrated itself into the very fabric of our society and the culture of the new generation.

To me, the 2010s brought about a new era of social change: the decade began with the Arab Spring, and the decade ended with protests in Hong Kong. In both these events, social media played a major role as a key tool for activists, empowering them by facilitating the quick spread of information. The digital decade gave minority groups an unprecedented voice: #blacklivesmatter, #pride and #metoo are all movements that stemmed from the media and spread like wildfire, shedding light on the parts of society that are often hidden in obscurity. No longer limited to just photo-sharing platforms, social media has transformed into a force to be reckoned with. Digitalisation has pushed our world towards inclusivity, encouraging our generation to be more open-minded towards different values and communities than the generations that came before us.

However, the past decade has also given rise to new problems. Living in the post-Snowden era after 2013, digital data privacy has become a major concern; this was reinforced by the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal in early 2018, which revealed that Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of millions of people's Facebook profiles without their consent and used it for political advertising purposes. This major political scandal allowed the public to fully comprehend the dangers of personal data leakage, precipitating tighter regulation of tech companies' use of personal data. Furthermore, with easy access to information comes exploitation. An increasing number of people are growing susceptible to misinformation, or “fake news”, which can sway support for government institutions, terrorism, and bigotry, depending on how it is packaged. Hate speech, particularly neo-Nazism, has also made a comeback, especially utilising the loose monitoring of social media platforms to spread their ideology, wielding the media like a weapon. This has led to controversy and debate over the blurry grey area of social media responsibility and where to draw the line when it comes to freedom of expression versus hate speech.

In 2010 came the birth of an app that would later shake the world: Instagram. In the last decade, this omnipresent, ubiquitous media-sharing app has turned us all into amateur photographers - as a Gen Z, I cannot remember a world where we didn’t take dozens of photos of our food before digging in, where we enjoyed the scenery in front of us instead of through the lens of our Instagram stories. Instagram has also redefined fame and what it takes to be a celebrity - there is now a community of “influencers” with millions of followers hoping to go viral. Studies have shown that the pressure of these impossible standards on display on Instagram have begun to take a mental toll on young adults, nudging us to dive headfirst into a world of filters, angles and Photoshop. Cyberbullying and trolling - once unheard of - have now become painfully common due to the misuse of electronic devices, especially in schools. For better or worse, Instagram and its rivals have completely altered the way we experience and share our lives with the world, encouraging us to curate our social presence into the perfectly presented version of ourselves.

The 2010s have also had a profound impact on an entire generation of people: people who grew, who learnt, who thrived in the ten years. This generation, our generation, has been dubbed “Gen Z” - an accurate depiction, albeit laden with negative connotations. Our “quirky” world, filled with social media, TikTok, and Netflix, is cultivating a culture of instant gratification: the desire to experience pleasure or fulfillment without delay or deferment. The algorithms on these apps are a new interface of social engagement, learning what we like to see and then serving video after video for us. Everything we do on our screens gives us instant feedback, and we are able to respond to texts, emails and tweets near real time. In this impatient new generation, efficiency is prioritised: instant information, instant response, and instant communication are breeding a new value system where everything is catered to be delivered at rapid-fire speed. We have become hardwired to want things, and to want them now. The popularity of streaming services such as Spotify and Netflix, and the invention of delivery services such as Deliveroo are all to accommodate and further foster our need for instant gratification. Gen Z-ers, armed with our hydro-flasks and smartphones, are beginning to shape consumer trends and development patterns, significantly altering the course of the global economy.

As we enter 2020, a chapter in history is closing. The new decade opens a window to endless possibilities and an era of transformation.