Long before smartphones and tablets became part of everyday childhood, many children of the 2000s were already growing up surrounded by screens, gadgets and digital entertainment.
A new BuzzFeed quiz revisits that era with a playful question: were children who grew up with iPods, computer games, television and early social media the 2000s equivalent of today’s “iPad kids”?
A childhood filled with screens
For many children, entertainment meant coming home from school and switching on the television, playing computer games or waiting for their turn on the family desktop computer.
The decade also saw the rapid growth of instant messaging, social networking, digital music and online video. Research from the Pew Research Center showed that teenagers were already using the internet to communicate, create online identities and share photos, music and other digital content.
MySpace, instant messaging, iPods and digital cameras became familiar parts of youth culture. By the end of the decade, YouTube and social networking had become increasingly important elements of young people’s digital lives.
The technology was different, but the habit feels familiar
Today’s children may carry entertainment on a tablet, while their predecessors relied on televisions, desktop computers, CD players, MP3 players and early gaming consoles.
The difference was often portability. Smartphones had not yet placed an almost unlimited stream of videos, games and social media in children’s hands.
That makes the comparison with today’s “iPad kid” culture more nostalgic than scientific. The 2000s generation experienced an important transition from largely offline childhoods to increasingly digital ones.
A nostalgic look at growing up
The BuzzFeed quiz invites readers to recognise familiar memories from that transitional era.
For many, these memories may bring back a childhood of shared family computers, favourite television shows, MP3 playlists and the excitement of getting online.
Technology has changed dramatically since then, but one thing remains familiar: children have always found creative ways to turn new technology into part of growing up.