Best and worst years of the 2010s decade

[-Apples-]

As 2020 is about to wrap up, I decided to start a thread on what you think was the best year and what you think was the worst year from the previous decade, based on large-scale events (including film, games, and more). You can include 2010, but not 2020.

In my personal opinion, I think 2011 was the best year of the decade when it comes to large scale events. While it wasn’t as rough as the rest of the decade, it was the year the 3DS came out, the year Osama bin Laden was killed, the year America’s troops were pulled out of Iraq, and the year the last Harry Potter film came out. The only real bad thing about 2011 was the Texas Drought. As for the worst year, 2016 was the worst of the decade. It was the year of all these celebrity deaths, the dreaded 2016 Election, the Orlando shooting, and this whole Harambe craze. It was also when Pokémon Go came out (which isn’t a bad thing, but considering the early controversies with Pokémon Go, it sure contributed to 2016’s mess).

 

[CasualWheezer]

I feel that any year between 2010 and 2013 or 2014 are the best years of the decade. In terms of video games during this time period, the consoles like the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 were still kind of kicking but were in its twilight phase. The next generation of consoles just didn't seem as exciting as those ones. I also really got into Minecraft in 2012 so that was a pretty fun time. I feel like pop and internet culture were pretty good. I'll never forget Gangnam Style and all the countless parodies I wrote for that song. Youtube in general was also a less toxic and controversial place too and I feel that the videos of that time are better than today. That's just a generalization though. At least for me, it was just a simpler time to be alive and it was may more fun than what was to come. But I guess that's because I was just an elementary school kid. Personally, I feel that 2019 was also a good year for me but I'd say it's not concerning all the events of that year. I'd say the worst years were probably 2015 and 2016. 2015 personally was a really bad year and 2016 with the election started to politically divide the USA at least and the whole political climate got really bad to where we are today. The years on were not that great in my opinion either. 2017 in particular, there was the Unite the Right rally. Shootings just seemed to happen more as the years went by and one time where I live there was a person going around making threats to schools so they had to shut them down for a day. So I feel it's become more unsafe in general. And I feel that politics have gotten worse since the 2016 election.

 

[Mariah]

2017 worst year of my life.

 

[Midoriya]

Really don’t think there’s any one “best” or “worst” year as far as decades go. Every year has its ups and downs (with the exception of 2020. 2020 sucks and can go away asap).

So to answer your question, I’m just going to be biased and say 2011 was the best, but because the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA championship. And the worst is every other year.

 

[-Apples-]

And I feel that politics have gotten worse since the 2016 election.

I agree, especially in 2020. However, I felt that Pandora’s Box opened even earlier than that. I felt that it started in 2008 with the bad economy and the two wars in the Middle East, and in 2012, the floodgates begin to open. There’s no going back at this point, as every year in the 2010s gets worse when it comes to wide scale events (with 2016 being the most intense point in the decade). However, it’s not strictly going downhill. Some years were better than others. Just letting you know, the problems with 2020 did not make me forget how bad 2016 or 2012 were (and 2008 too).

 

[Radio]

I'm just going to talk about personally, because I'd need to refer to wikipedia or something to see what current events happened what years.

Best: 2014. Last half of senior + first half of college. This was the first summer since middle school I didn't have summer homework and could actually just straight up enjoy it. It was very social and I liked making tons of memories with both people who were about to exit my everyday life (friends from high school) and people who newly entered my everyday life (new friends in college).

Worst: 2016. I had 3 people I was close to die this year, 2 being family members. Sure, other stuff happened. But when I think about 2016 the deaths overshadowed everything else because they died pretty spread out, so I spent the majority of this entire year in various stages of grieving for various people.

 

[visibleghost]

i was severely mentally ill the entire decade, so like it's a bit hard to choose a good one, but i would say that for me personally 2015 or 2016 would be the worst for several reasons. Mainly my mental health was uhh not great. it wasn't great before or after either but those years were more chaotic with things going on and involuntary treatment, being taken out of school and whatnot.

ever since i got on working medication, i have been more okay than i would say i have ever been in my life. therefore 2019 is probably my best year of the decade, not because i was extremely happy or did extraordinary things, i just wasn't suicidal all the time for most of the year.

 

[Mr_Persona]

Best year was 2016 because that was the year me and my sisters and brother would all play on our 3ds consoles with each other! And also other events like so many parties. Worst year for me was 2017 because one reason that caused more reasons. I had two seizures that year and ended up in the hospital two times. Ambulance was fun to ride in though xD And l stayed over night at the hospital when l had my first seizure and then l went home and next day l got another seizure. Then l went back to the hospital but my dad drove me instead and stayed at the hospital until 5 am. And had an EEG tests that year which was not enjoyable at all, and rest of the other years. After being diagnosed with epilepsy and autism, my mom always treated me differently and other people, and l hate it. Thank goodness I don't need to take EEG tests anymore now because my doctor said so this month! Best part about 2017 that l went to my first wedding even though all l did mostly is watched people dancing xD

 

[ting1984]

I noticed you mentioned large-scale events rather than personal ones. With that as the criteria, I think most of us would agree that the 2016 U.S. presidential election really divided the nation, so I'd pick 2016 as the worst year of the decade. As for the best, that's harder to say, but I'd probably pick a year from the earlier part of the decade when we were finally out of the 2008 recession and things started to look better. One year I cannot pick from that range, though, is 2011. The Joplin tornado, as well as other large-scale tornadoes (Huntsville, etc.) were horrible disasters that killed many (this is also admittedly somewhat personal since I lived in Joplin at the time, though thankfully my family's house suffered minimal damage, and my parents weren't injured -- I was out of town at the time).

Since others have brought their own lives into the discussion, if we're going to start including that, then personally the worst years for me (besides 2011 with the tornado) were 2017 when I lost/quit several jobs in a row and got really sick toward the end of the year, and 2018 when my mom died after a long battle with COPD. As for good years, 2016 was actually a mostly great year for me, personally (except for one incident which I will get to in a bit) -- I got married, my beloved and I finally got out of our parents' homes and got an apartment, I got a Wii U from him, had a successful substitute teaching gig going where I helped teach a special needs Kindergarten student his letters and how to decode words, and the Cavaliers won the NBA championship in what was my favorite season of basketball ever (2015-16 season). The only bad thing that happened to me that year was when I got in a fight with a guy on YouTube that got so out of hand that the police had to investigate it, but thankfully no charges or further incidents occurred when the guy who was fighting me finally stopped because his place of employment ordered him to do so. (Oh, and Kevin Durant left the Thunder -- that was heartbreaking.)

 

[amemome]

This is super hard oof!! Yes though, I agree with the sentiment that 2016 was pretty catastrophic at least in regards to larger U.S. politics. However, 2016 was also the year Pokemon Go dropped and we got to see everyone hunting for Pokemon around time and generally being friendly to each other. So maybe 2016 had the highest highs and the lowest lows?

I can't remember my best year, but I think my worst year was 2018 or 2017. I fell out with a lot of friends at once around then and felt pretty alone.

 

[Envy]

The 2010s were a very complicated decade for me personally. In the end, I think 2015 and 2016 stand out as the worst and best, but the reality is that the end of both of those years was quite the opposite of that perception. I'll explain.

2015 was quite a harsh year for me. I think of my ex and I suddenly falling apart. Sure, it's not completely accurate to say "suddenly" (very late 2013 through all year 2014 was a bit sketchy), but lets just say that in that year one day she was happy to see me again, and then it never happened again, with no explanation. I was in turmoil for pretty much the entirety of that year from Spring on. Then on top of that, a dog of who I loved very much suddenly passed away. He was one thing that had kept me going through all of the years. When he passed away, I was completely devastated.

But 2015 had a turn that I never expected in the late summer into the fall, and that was me getting back into music and finding an amazing private lessons instructor who put me on the road to returning to college. It reinvigorated me so much.

So 2015 ended on a very bright note. (although the pain of losing my ex was very strong, as that process continued.)

Now 2016 was a continuation of the end of 2015, and I remember it being a time of a lot of happiness for me. I also ended up falling for someone new. It didn't go anywhere, but it did make me see what was going on with my ex clearly and end the turmoil. I returned to college that August, which is a long story of how amazing that was... From 2013 on, I had given up on the idea ever happening. I got to take Music History I, I got to be in the Wind Ensemble, where I had a band director and students that recognized my hard work and complimented me. I also got my own place by the university, and got my own French bulldog, who I love a whole lot.

The catch with 2016 was the election. It really spoiled such a happy year. My faith in America was shot right through the heart. How could America elect such a vile man? Really, you have to understand that while I've always despised conservatism and saw it as completely and utterly wrong, I didn't think as lowly of all conservatives around me, as I thought they just didn't see how toxic their views were because conservative politicians wrapped up the bigotry in such "niceness", but when Trump came around, that was gone. Bigotry was right out in the open, and many conservatives I know as well as conservatives all around the country were completely onboard.

I completely lost faith in the country. And it hasn't come back. It will never come back. The USA is full of cruel people.

 

[lemoncrossing]

My take on this is highly subjective, but I'll go for it anyway. The best years for me were probably 2012-2014. I was in the fifth grade from 12-13, and then the sixth grade from 13-14, and those were honestly just some good times for me. I had a nice little group of friends, something I haven't had since then, and also Animal Crossing: New Leaf came out, which was a game changer for me. I had some nice memories with my friends both in real life and in game, and I wrote my first book at that age too. (Not a very good book, but a book nonetheless.)

My worst year was 2016. Not only was it middle school & I was in a school with verbally abusive teachers (as well as surrounded by people who went out of their way to harm me), but the election happened and Trump became president. I was absolutely shaken by this, even at the age of 14 when I really didn't know that much about politics. Between being in a horrible social situation, and the terrible political scene (if you could even call it that-- the president isn't even a damn politician), that year wasn't fun for me at all. Being alone all the time also lead me to the online scene, and I became pretty aware of all the social problems going on in the world. (My parents kept me pretty sheltered, so I was never really on the internet a lot until 2015-16.)

 

[*The Oakboro Mayor*]

My life was very sheltered from being in private school until 2016.

My life from 2010-2015 was really, really nice. It felt like simpler times, playing on my 3DS, playing Wii Resort Sports, and Mario Cart with my 2 sisters. We had such a fun time back then and everything was looking up. My sister and I were going to move up to the public school, and that was a huge change for us. But for now, we were living it up with our good grades, and me still thinking I saw smart and a gifted student with no body insecurities and little anxiety. Around that time I was told I have chronic headaches that made thinking through the pain kind of hard, so I take some vitamin supplements for my off-balance brain.

2016 was a really scary time, with the people in my town who took the whole clown trend a little too seriously. One of my most vivid memories was seeing a clown in my woods running to the street. It was a really weird experience for sure. But I was in public school with my sister, and we had each other and a couple of friends we really liked. I'm still friends with 3 of the 4 original, OG crew! But I didn't understand why everyone was freaking out about the election, I didn't really understand the weight of politics just yet because we didn't go over it in private school. But my family was about to be hit by the tariffs, and it was about to turn sour really fast.

Around 2017 we started having trouble with a friend from the 4, and it turned really toxic really quickly. Body shaming, bullying, it was all really scary and my sister and I had to struggle through standing up for ourselves and cutting ourselves out of it. That's when I started being called stick and skeleton, so I had body issues around 2017-2018. That's also when I suspect my anxiety started, or should I say got more noticeable.

2018 was difficult, with friendship trouble again! Only this time it was a girl who is one of my very best friends. My friends and I saved her from a toxic relationship with manipulation, peer pressure, and all that. We became great friends and it took about that whole year to get rid of everything that happened in that relationship again. 2018 was one of the better years, with not much but studying and grades and friends.

2019 had a big atmosphere change because everyone around me was aware of how the world was crumbling around us. World problems were being brought to light in my grade, and people were changing. I started drifting from some of my friends but that was a part of life. I didn't mind so much, and I was very focused on my grades because that was the only thing I could really focus on. 2019 wrapped up with the inkling something was about to go wrong, but that's for the next decade.

So that's my story through the decade! It's not that important, but the main thing is that in 2016, everything really started to go downhill. Sorry if it has a couple of errors, I don't feel like proofreading all that But to tie it back to the original prompt, I think 2015 was one of my best, most simple years.

 

[DinosaurDumpster]

I'd have to say the years 2010-2013. Entertainment was amazing, and it was before songs and video games just got... trash. I loved my life then, and I felt like I could just have tons of fun for hours and hours without getting bored. I was a small child then, so it kind of made sense lol. It retained the same energy that I loved about the 2000's for me, which was amazing. It was the time that even though I didn't have any friends, I could just sit in front of my TV all day without any bad entertainment.

Then, I feel that 2014-2019 was just... not as great. Everyone got sucked into their phones, and society just got garbage. Nothing that came on my favorite channels was funny anymore, which really sucked :/
Not only did my favorite things become sub-par, but I started to get really depressed and people just turned against me at this point in time. I was just in a really bad place in these years.

 

[samsquared]

Really don’t think there’s any one “best” or “worst” year as far as decades go. Every year has its ups and downs (with the exception of 2020. 2020 sucks and can go away asap).

So to answer your question, I’m just going to be biased and say 2011 was the best, but because the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA championship. And the worst is every other year.

My boyfriend would likely agree with you i feel like not a day goes by without him talking about how much he loves dirk

I noticed you mentioned large-scale events rather than personal ones. With that as the criteria, I think most of us would agree that the 2016 U.S. presidential election really divided the nation, so I'd pick 2016 as the worst year of the decade. As for the best, that's harder to say, but I'd probably pick a year from the earlier part of the decade when we were finally out of the 2008 recession and things started to look better. One year I cannot pick from that range, though, is 2011. The Joplin tornado, as well as other large-scale tornadoes (Huntsville, etc.) were horrible disasters that killed many (this is also admittedly somewhat personal since I lived in Joplin at the time, though thankfully my family's house suffered minimal damage, and my parents weren't injured -- I was out of town at the time).

small world- i'm from Joplin. although i moved away from joplin MANY years ago, a lot of my family including grandparents still live there. no one lost their house (except some of my grandparents' family friends) but after the tornado, they basically rebuilt half the town- I was born at St. John's & that hospital isn't there anymore. We went to visit in Christmas that year (or the next one?) & there was nothing left of whole neighborhoods but foundations- no trees, nothing. The high school, I will never forget that, was a disaster. It looked like a bomb went off in there. Now it's one of the most beautiful high schools I've ever seen lol. (ironically, my grandparents eventually did end up losing their house in a fire). everyone was saying the same thing- it was LOUD. Nothing basically from my childhood is left in Joplin & it's partially cuz of the tornado displacing people (but mostly fires LOL lost my other grandma to a fire.. but i'm getting off topic)

personally- my best year was probably 2015. moved out of my parents house & went to college. made new friends. the world was really opening up to me at that time.
my worst year... hard to say. 2018-2019 & even 2020 have been awful for the world, but have been good for me. 2010-2012 were better for the world, but horrible for me & my mental health. Overall I will go with 2010. I was the most depressed that year & the music was kind of awful, let's be honest. I was still in middle school & many horrible things happened to me there. I wouldn't go back in time.