Tumblr, fandoms, Youtube, Coachella, King Kylie, Musical.ly… These words undoubtedly evoke the most intense feelings of nostalgia for our generation. I was chronically online on my iPad Pro, wishing so badly I wasn’t 11, but rather 16 instead. It boggles my mind that 2014 was 10 years ago. The Tumblr era has recently been brought back, but it just isn’t the same. In my eyes, 2014-2016 was a cultural awakening. Social media was on the rise and as a tween, I was all over it. I am not even embarrassed to say that I ran multiple Instagram fan pages for Harry Potter and The Hunger Games. I was OBSESSED with those dark aesthetic tumblr profile pics, and I still resent never buying that one alien t-shirt. However, I had plenty of chokers to spare. With these years came my favorite eras to exist, so this is my personal love letter to 2014-2016. Your tweenhood is about to be resurfaced.
My chronically online obsession started with Youtube in 2014. This is around the time where Youtube celebrities were growing with fame. I watched Alisha Maria, MyLifeAsEva, Bethany Mota, Zoella, Connor Franta, Niki & Gabi, Joey Graceffa, Bratayley, 7 Super Girls, Tyler Oakley, and tons more (I even watched Crash Course because I loved John and Hank Green). I owe them my life because they made Youtube incredibly fun, and I would do anything to be 11 again watching them on my iPad for the first time. Their videos were so fresh, aesthetically pleasing, and fun to watch; Especially Coachella vlogs. I remember being so excited to be their age and wanted SO badly to be on the 7 Super Girls Youtube.
Don’t even get me started on fandoms. My friends, ten years later, still make jokes about my fan accounts. Listen, if you didn’t run a fan page, were you even present in 2014-2016? TBH, you probably lived a more normal life outside actually touching grass. I was so obsessed with running my fan pages and I made SO many internet friends who also ran fan pages. There were so many fandoms on Instagram that I can’t even count: The Fault In Our Stars, Harry Potter, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and The Hunger Games took over my feed at all times. I would say they died out after 2016, which is so unfortunate. I thrived during that time and miss it so much!
Tumblr and Instagram were my main sources of social media. I never posted on Tumblr because I was incapable of taking aesthetic photos on my blue iPad with a chunky Otterbox case. However, I would steal photos from other people’s Tumblr’s and use them as my profile pics because I thought they were so cool. I basically did this from 2014-2016 as different aesthetics changed. The grunge aesthetic was something I LIVED for and I’m dying to bring it back now that I’m older. I also loved Kylie Jenner during her King Kylie era. She was the blueprint of 2016. Now onto Musical.y…I envied the people who could do those cool transitions and move their phones to mimic sounds. I failed miserably every time I whipped my iPad out to make one; I would undoubtedly cringe immensely if I time traveled back to when it was still there. Baby Ariel, Loren Gray, and Kristen Hancher were the musers of our century.
As this unbeatable era is creeping up to 10 years ago, I think we need a major resurfacing. Tumblr 2024 will be on the rise, I am calling it! 2014-2016 brought music that I still love and listen to today. They hit just the same, and I even have a Spotify playlist called “Tumblr girl” which has all my favorite songs from 2014-2016 that scream Tumblr. Tove Lo, Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, G-Eazy, Halsey, Melanie Martinez, Lorde, Marina & The Diamonds…TOO GOOD! I am reentering this era as a 20 year old, just without the fan accounts (I am still obsessed with them though).