If you were in your late teens/early 20's now

05-01-2016 07:18PM

No way would I have wanted smartphone cameras in corrib village in Galway..

seachto7 · 05-01-2016 07:21PM

When I was in my teens/early 20s, everyone, male and female, dressed like Kurt Cobain.
Now, as I play gigs most weekends, I notice that women of this age bracket seem to make a huge effort to doll themselves up. I'd be tormented most weekends!

Canadel · 05-01-2016 07:24PM

Magico Gonzalez wrote: »

Also, if half the idiotic things I did were caught on social media I'd probably have chucked myself off a tall building. There's nothing better than things being in the moment and captured only in the memory of those who were there. I hate the phone cam culture of today, twitter shaming and all that horrible nonsense.

I consumed a precarious cocktail of coke and booze a few years ago and apparently posed for a picture with some strangers on the street with my trousers down and c**k hanging out. I randomly ended up tagged in the picture the next morning on facebook by a person I was friends with who knew the strangers. I wish I could say that was the end of it, or even the worst part. But no, I was still so f**ked up from the night before that I made the picture my profile picture for the day. My dick is probably still floating around in an internet cloud, and many people's memories.

SEPT 23 1989 · 05-01-2016 07:39PM

Canadel wrote: »

I consumed a precarious cocktail of coke and booze a few years ago and apparently posed for a picture with some strangers on the street with my trousers down and c**k hanging out. I randomly ended up tagged in the picture the next morning on facebook by a person I was friends with who knew the strangers. I wish I could say that was the end of it, or even the worst part. But no, I was still so f**ked up from the night before that I made the picture my profile picture for the day. My dick is probably still floating around in an internet cloud, and many people's memories.

I don't think I could survive the level of fear that scenario would bring on after doing that

Fleawuss · 05-01-2016 07:42PM

Canadel wrote: »

I consumed a precarious cocktail of coke and booze a few years ago and apparently posed for a picture with some strangers on the street with my trousers down and c**k hanging out. I randomly ended up tagged in the picture the next morning on facebook by a person I was friends with who knew the strangers. I wish I could say that was the end of it, or even the worst part. But no, I was still so f**ked up from the night before that I made the picture my profile picture for the day. My dick is probably still floating around in an internet cloud, and many people's memories.

Thanks for the warning.

DivingDuck · 05-01-2016 07:53PM

I was so lucky. I'm young enough that the internet was around, so I could use it to connect with fellow nerds/weirdos and made friends which I really believe saved my life at the time. But I'm also old enough that most people weren't using it, so I didn't have to deal with all the social media pressure kids have now.

I'm not anti-social media in general, but I do think the obsessive documentation/sharing of every experience has the potential to be very detrimental to people's futures. It'll be interesting to see whether this actually plays out as the years go by, or whether it'll become the norm and accepted that everyone has photos of them naked/pole-axed floating around and becomes something nobody cares about anymore.

desertcircus · 05-01-2016 07:57PM

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I'm not a member of any PC Brigade, but...

Seriously though, nobody was talking about being violent homophobes or any of that nonsense.

They were talking about identity politics advocates that have disappeared up their own arse and feel a need to make sure everyone is as miserable as they are. Well, they try anyway! Thankfully as I'm now older I'm free to completely ignore them, but I do wonder about their influence on young people, who as I said are under increasing pressure to fit in and conform to certain people's ideas for society.

It's ironic when you think about it really.

Who are these identity politics advocates? 99% of complaints about "PC gone mad" that I see boil down to exactly what I said - people who are annoyed that they're being called out for acting like complete cocks.

Captain Flaps · 06-01-2016 10:39AM

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I'm not a member of any PC Brigade, but...

Seriously though, nobody was talking about being violent homophobes or any of that nonsense.

They were talking about identity politics advocates that have disappeared up their own arse and feel a need to make sure everyone is as miserable as they are. Well, they try anyway! Thankfully as I'm now older I'm free to completely ignore them, but I do wonder about their influence on young people, who as I said are under increasing pressure to fit in and conform to certain people's ideas for society.

It's ironic when you think about it really.

Not really. Do you not think that, to an extent anyway, the whole concept of identity as it comes across now is specifically a reaction to the pressure to conform and fit in? You're contradicting yourself in the above post.

Being young can be ****e. The internet has allowed a generation of 'misfits' and people too awkward for their own skin to discover that there are thousands, if not millions of people who have the same issues, insecurities and as yet undefined sexual identities that they can connect with. Sure, the side effect of this is a few precious snowflakes who think everything is offensive and you can't be a good person if you're not a minority pansexual who uses they pronouns and self publishes a 'zine. I think the current point in time actually has some of the LEAST pressure to fit in that we've ever seen.

This is of course discounting Facebook envy and cyberbullying, which are unfortunately the other extreme.

The_Captain · 06-01-2016 01:09PM

Girls dress way better now than they did when I was 18/19. Guys too, to be fair.

Girls would wear jeans to nightclubs and put no real effort into their appearance.
Guys would get crap haircuts, bitta dax, Joop, blue jeans and the "going-out shirt" and you'd always have the guy who thought he was a legend for getting in by putting black socks over his runners to fool the bouncers.

Now girls wear dresses and generally look amazing going out, guys go to the gym, get nicer haircuts etc. Sweaty lads in Lynx Africa don't make the cut anymore, girls are more demanding and don't want guys who don't look after themselves.

It's good though, young people are generally healthier, seem to smoke less and don't drink as much. They're probably more active despite being online more.

Tinder and online dating are game-changers. It was for weirdos and cat-ladies when I was college aged, now people are meeting up all the time from it and there's no shame in meeting someone online.

Mister Vain · 06-01-2016 01:27PM

The_Captain wrote: »

Girls dress way better now than they did when I was 18/19. Guys too, to be fair.

Girls would wear jeans to nightclubs and put no real effort into their appearance.
Guys would get crap haircuts, bitta dax, Joop, blue jeans and the "going-out shirt" and you'd always have the guy who thought he was a legend for getting in by putting black socks over his runners to fool the bouncers.

Now girls wear dresses and generally look amazing going out, guys go to the gym, get nicer haircuts etc. Sweaty lads in Lynx Africa don't make the cut anymore, girls are more demandingand don't want guys who don't look after themselves.

It's good though, young people are generally healthier, seem to smoke less and don't drink as much. They're probably more active despite being online more.

Tinder and online dating are game-changers. It was for weirdos and cat-ladies when I was college aged, now people are meeting up all the time from it and there's no shame in meeting someone online.

I agree with most of your post but girls being more demanding is not a good thing. Yeah guys and girls generally look after themselves more these days, but a lot of that is a by-product of the narcissistic Geordie Shore culture that is prevalent now. On nights out now young people are more interested in looking good for facebook photos rather than actually having a good time. I think they're less approachable now and as you say, more demanding.

SEPT 23 1989 · 06-01-2016 01:35PM

The_Captain wrote: »

Girls dress way better now than they did when I was 18/19. Guys too, to be fair.

Girls would wear jeans to nightclubs and put no real effort into their appearance.
Guys would get crap haircuts, bitta dax, Joop, blue jeans and the "going-out shirt" and you'd always have the guy who thought he was a legend for getting in by putting black socks over his runners to fool the bouncers.

Now girls wear dresses and generally look amazing going out, guys go to the gym, get nicer haircuts etc. Sweaty lads in Lynx Africa don't make the cut anymore, girls are more demanding and don't want guys who don't look after themselves.

It's good though, young people are generally healthier, seem to smoke less and don't drink as much. They're probably more active despite being online more.

Tinder and online dating are game-changers. It was for weirdos and cat-ladies when I was college aged, now people are meeting up all the time from it and there's no shame in meeting someone online.

If a 2016 20 year old pumped up,fake tan,luminescent teeth,SS hair cut youngfella walked into a 80/90's era nightclub he would be laughed out of the place

Mister Vain · 06-01-2016 01:41PM

BTW there's nothing wrong with Joop. Tis a great fragrance. :cool:

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

If a 2016 20 year old pumped up,fake tan,luminescent teeth,SS hair cut youngfella walked into a 80/90's era nightclub he would be laughed out of the place

The same could be said of vice versa in fairness.

Galwayguy35 · 06-01-2016 01:46PM

Can't say I ever remember girls going to nightclubs in jeans, although a lot of them did wear denim minis all right, mostly dresses though.

Rikand · 06-01-2016 01:57PM

CINCLANTFLT wrote: »

Have you seen what young ones wear today!!! I'd love a go off some of that... All they wore in my day was jeans and a body top... These days it's little bodycon mini dresses and such! The best I can hope for now is to stalk my younger cousin's friends on the Facebook :-(

In the 90's and early 00's this would have been a perfectly acceptable post to make.

Not anymore sadly

Mister Vain · 06-01-2016 01:59PM

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Can't say I ever remember girls going to nightclubs in jeans, although a lot of them did wear denim minis all right, mostly dresses though.

I used to see it in some of the rougher places. The sort of clubs that would have ambulances on standby because of the amount of fights that took place. My local dishco which was adequately named "The Cage" was notorious for this.

wakka12 · 06-01-2016 02:13PM

We are definitely not better off. If you're not popular or if you're not good looking your social media accounts will make this pretty clear to you if you weren't aware. And vice versa with popular and hot people. Everything is vapid and shallow, I can't wait until Im older and Facebook and instagram die
And I wish I could delete my Facebook before you tell me, but its essential for contact with other students for college projects.

One eyed Jack · 06-01-2016 02:23PM

Captain Flaps wrote: »

Not really. Do you not think that, to an extent anyway, the whole concept of identity as it comes across now is specifically a reaction to the pressure to conform and fit in? You're contradicting yourself in the above post.

I don't think it's specifically a reaction to the pressure to conform and fit in at all tbh. I think the whole identity politics thing is just another way for people who want to self-exclude themselves from society, and then claim that it's society has the problem.

Captain Flaps wrote: »

Being young can be ****e. The internet has allowed a generation of 'misfits' and people too awkward for their own skin to discover that there are thousands, if not millions of people who have the same issues, insecurities and as yet undefined sexual identities that they can connect with. Sure, the side effect of this is a few precious snowflakes who think everything is offensive and you can't be a good person if you're not a minority pansexual who uses they pronouns and self publishes a 'zine. I think the current point in time actually has some of the LEAST pressure to fit in that we've ever seen.

I'm not sure that's a good thing tbh. I mean, of course being young can be shyte, we've all been there, but the internet has allowed people to insulate themselves from reality, from other people - the same young people around them who they probably have more in common with than they realise. They don't realise it because they are, as you put it - "too awkward in their own skin". It's a self-fulfilling thing - young people with little or no social skills, become adults with little or no social skills. They never learn to break out of their own online group they identify with, and learn to mix with young people who are in some way different to them.

Captain Flaps wrote: »

This is of course discounting Facebook envy and cyberbullying, which are unfortunately the other extreme.

That's true alright, there are extremes, but if young people never learn to deal with people calling them cocks, then they may never learn to deal with this sort of craic -

desertcircus wrote: »

"PC brigades" is shorthand for "people who insist on pointing out I'm being a cock when I act like a cock".

I don't think one needs to be a member of any "PC Brigade" to point out the irony in that sentence - "Conform to my way of thinking, or you're a cock", is essentially the message there.

desertcircus · 08-01-2016 09:52AM

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I don't think one needs to be a member of any "PC Brigade" to point out the irony in that sentence - "Conform to my way of thinking, or you're a cock", is essentially the message there.

Nope, the message is " don't be a cock, or you're a cock". I have plenty of friends who disagree with me on major issues, but I'm friends with them because they're not cocks. Again, most of the "PC brigade" nonsense boils down to someone being a complete prick to someone less fortunate than them and then being astonished that other people call them pricks for it.

RDM_83 again · 08-01-2016 10:28AM

Boards definitely has an older demographic now anyway, can be seen by the fact that the post drooling over the amazing 90's has so much thanks.

On the question, swings and roundabouts, was a broke student in Dublin in a high hours course for majority of the full on Celtic tiger so had the scrabbling to find a place to live thing and the coke fueled mega w@nkers. Got about a year and a half of the good times then everything went to sh-t.
At least young people today expect things to be bad, I think the generational difference is between those that secured themselves before the crash and those that didnt or came after.

Worked with some young lads* last year, seemed basically the same apart from having more sex, not everybody is sitting on Tumblr or being cyberbullied.

*For girls might be a bigger difference with the over drive on body culture (I think people forget the male equivalent-spice boys been around for ages)

Captain Flaps · 08-01-2016 10:53AM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

Got about a year and a half of the good times then everything went to sh-t.

The crash happened exactly halfway through my BA in Photography... some sleepless nights were had!

Figbiscuithead · 08-01-2016 11:21AM

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Can't say I ever remember girls going to nightclubs in jeans, although a lot of them did wear denim minis all right, mostly dresses though.

Depends on the club. Women definitely got dolled up back then but probably didn't frequent the types of places Boards posters went. I was a teen in the 90s and would wear jeans and a top or a dress and tights and platforms or docs and a bit of mascara but then I'm from fairly small town Ireland and hung around with the grungers/indie type people. I don't see so much of that type anymore when I'm home and it seems the pressure to look sexy is a lot more intense, which I know I would've hated if that was the case in the 90s.

I was more concerned with looking cool/nice enough to get a lad to shift me. I didn't have the money for new clothes as it was before the high street shops had really cheap options and all the money I got from my part-time job went on cigarettes, nagans, trips to Dublin and the odd item of clothing. Though the pressure was there to be attractive, it wasn't half as intense as it seems to be now for young women and men. It seems extremely cut throat and all consuming now.

Mister Vain · 10-01-2016 04:00PM

Figbiscuithead wrote: »

Though the pressure was there to be attractive, it wasn't half as intense as it seems to be now for young women and men. It seems extremely cut throat and all consuming now.

Definitely. The amount of "models" I see on facebook is ridiculous. There are all these competitions now like Diva Next Door, Miss Bikini Ireland, Miss Sunday world, Modified Car Babes etc. Every nightclub is a beauty pageant where girls dressed to the nines pose for photographers. It's all very exclusive and superficial. Girls are validated by the amount of likes they get on social media.

Figbiscuithead · 10-01-2016 08:17PM

Mister Vain wrote: »

Definitely. The amount of "models" I see on facebook is ridiculous. There are all these competitions now like Diva Next Door, Miss Bikini Ireland, Miss Sunday world, Modified Car Babes etc. Every nightclub is a beauty pageant where girls dressed to the nines pose for photographers. It's all very exclusive and superficial. Girls are validated by the amount of likes they get on social media.

I'd a very funny/strange experience a few years ago in my hometown when we all went out on New Year's Eve and every single girl in the place was beyond dolled up to the point that their heels were so high that they couldn't dance properly; they kind of stood in one place and moved their bodies about while all of us in our 30's were giving it socks around them.

Anyway, the lads around them seemed just like the lads were in my day i.e. wearing shirts and jeans and shoes and I just thought, "jaysus we were probably terrifying in our gang of young women to approach back in the day but I can't imagine what it's like now". The women physically seemed so much older than the guys around them and tbh, they looked absolutely fantastic - I'd be incredibly intimidated by it all if I was a young guy.

I'm not going to deny that getting the attention from lads around was one of our main aims when we went out in our late teens/early twenties but we had a whole load of fun in the process. In fairness, I'm sure they are too and I'm just being an old fuddy duddy but looking absolutely perfect and sexy really wasn't our goal. Perhaps it's just certain bars and certain clubs? As I don't live in Ireland, don't go out to a huge variety of places when I'm home and very few people get dressed up to that extent here (except in the very, very exclusive posh areas), it was a bit of a shock, tbh.

Jaysus, I'm really getting auld.

Mister Vain · 10-01-2016 08:51PM

Figbiscuithead wrote: »

I'd a very funny/strange experience a few years ago in my hometown when we all went out on New Year's Eve and every single girl in the place was beyond dolled up to the point that their heels were so high that they couldn't dance properly; they kind of stood in one place and moved their bodies about while all of us in our 30's were giving it socks around them.

Anyway, the lads around them seemed just like the lads were in my day i.e. wearing shirts and jeans and shoes and I just thought, "jaysus we were probably terrifying in our gang of young women to approach back in the day but I can't imagine what it's like now". The women physically seemed so much older than the guys around them and tbh, they looked absolutely fantastic - I'd be incredibly intimidated by it all if I was a young guy.

I'm not going to deny that getting the attention from lads around was one of our main aims when we went out in our late teens/early twenties but we had a whole load of fun in the process. In fairness, I'm sure they are too and I'm just being an old fuddy duddy but looking absolutely perfect and sexy really wasn't our goal. Perhaps it's just certain bars and certain clubs? As I don't live in Ireland, don't go out to a huge variety of places when I'm home and very few people get dressed up to that extent here (except in the very, very exclusive posh areas), it was a bit of a shock, tbh.

Jaysus, I'm really getting auld.

At some point, nightclub promoters became entranced with the idea of paying minor celebrities to make "public appearances" in nightclubs. More depressingly, it seems to be wildly successful. It basically seems like the death of nightlife. But as a touring scene, it's one that currently has more nationwide appeal than any music scene does.

Going out used to be about getting pissed, getting laid and headbanging to some savage choons, but there is none of that now. Just disparate groups of bored looking people all trying to impress each other.

mravaya · 11-01-2016 02:19AM

the evasion_kid wrote: »

youth is wasted on the young...

So bloody true!!, I wasted a lot of my youth just to get my leg over

TheBiz · 11-01-2016 02:39AM

Well I am 18, in Leaving Cert and I think a huge thing now is that out attention spans are getting shorter. It's much harder to avoid procrastinating because everything is there at your fingertips.
At my age this validation from likes doesn't happen to much. But we actually had an issue in our school amongst girls in 1st-3rd year where they wouldn't like each other's pictures or get into arguments when someone didn't like their picture. They then broke off into different groups and prefects/teachers had to step in.

JupiterKid · 11-01-2016 04:57AM

I'm looking from the vantage point of 40 - I was very happy to be in my late teens/early 20s in the 1990s. It was a great decade.

I don't think I'd like to be 19 today.

Mister Vain · 11-01-2016 07:16PM

TheBiz wrote: »

Well I am 18, in Leaving Cert and I think a huge thing now is that out attention spans are getting shorter. It's much harder to avoid procrastinating because everything is there at your fingertips.

This is something I've often thought about. If I had the same level of internet access when I was in school as I have now, I don't think I would have gotten any homework done.

At my age this validation from likes doesn't happen to much. But we actually had an issue in our school amongst girls in 1st-3rd year where they wouldn't like each other's pictures or get into arguments when someone didn't like their picture.

I've actually seen this with adults and its quite sad really.

Captain Flaps · 12-01-2016 11:31AM

Not so much arguments, but I have come across situations where girls I know will think there's something going on because certain friends will be all over certain people's FB but not others.

If you were in your late teens/early 20's now

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