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Original poster

Were things really boring in the 80s?

272 replies

Egyptiancottonhouse · 28/04/2023 13:54

I was born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s but it's difficult to imagine now how things were.

I'm watching reruns of Brookside from 82 I think.

It's very nostalgic but things must have been so boring, although people didn't know any different. I don't think most of us today would cope without the Internet, TV on demand, online shopping, social media.

Being able to research anything you want in a second, look up a recipe, look at a map and street view.

The Internet really has changed our lives beyond recognition.

OP posts:
legrandcolbert · 28/04/2023 14:35

I don't think most of us today would cope without the Internet, TV on demand, online shopping, social media.

Was born in 1975, so grew up during the 80s and 90s. But we did cope because none of these things existed. I can't recall ever being bored. There was always something to do rather than just watch tv and mindlessly look at stuff online.

Yes, some of these things are great, but at the same time, they bring complications, particularly social media. Am so glad the latter was not around when I was growing up. (Even now as an adult, I don't really participate).

I often feel that the internet and social media has caused many to become insular and far more self-involved which results in a more fractured society.

ditalini · 28/04/2023 14:39

Humans are very flexible. I reckon if you were without the internet for say, 4 weeks, you'd be weaned off it and would find other ways to occupy your mind.

You can be deathly bored scrolling through most internet content. Sometimes I think it's as much a displacement activity as sucking your thumb.

Sirius3030 · 28/04/2023 14:40

Absolutely. Like many others, I spend several hours a day looking at other people's social media accounts. I don't know how I survived the 80s.

User158349890 · 28/04/2023 14:41

I loved it. Sitting looking at a screen and online shopping can be quite boring.

Goodyetalso · 28/04/2023 14:42

I was 2-11 in the 80s and loved it. But I do remember being bored beyond belief on Sundays. Church/Sunday School followed by endless hours of sitting about. Nothing on tv, no shops open. I was pretty good at making my own entertainment during the s book holidays and the evenings but there was just something about Sundays that felt deathly dull. Sometimes we’d visit my grandparents for Sunday lunch so that was always better, but the Sundays when we were at home were the worst.

Cinderellasfeatherduster · 28/04/2023 14:42

Not for me. Bike riding, tree climbing and messing about with pesky ponies. One of the best times of my life.

x2boys · 28/04/2023 14:42

It was different not boring ,we used to watch s tv together as a family as there was only one tv,,and I would really look forward to certain shows
if you were meeting someoneone you had to rely on them being g where they said they would be at the agreed time ,m mum was very sociable and she made friends where ever she went ,some of them had emigrated she would receive airmail letters from them ,and I'm fact I loved receiving letter ,s from pen friends I met on holiday and later,friends so had gone to university when I was doing my nurse training ect .

WowIlikereallyhateyou · 28/04/2023 14:43

Much better,less complicated times than now IMHO.

ditalini · 28/04/2023 14:43

Actually, thinking about it now, I've been on holiday to places without internet and you're weaned off it within 24 hours or less - if it's not there then you just find something else to do.

Maybe it would be harder if you only knew an internet enabled world - I was in my mid 20s before I had a regular internet connection with still a long wait for broadband or mobile.

MissDollyMix · 28/04/2023 14:44

I was only a young child on the 80s. There wasn’t the same culture of ‘entertaining’ kids that there is now. Or there certainly wasn’t in my family. I was an only child and didn’t live near any of my school friends. I was so bored. I remember I used to sit and watch the test card for something to do 😂 I can see it was a good time to be a teenager/young adult though. I still feel waves of nostalgia for the 80’s/90s.

hermioneee · 28/04/2023 14:45

I remember being bored but I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't think it's good for the brain to be constantly stimulated. It also made me do different things. I did puzzles, played solitaire, counted the circles in the artex, went for a walk. I reckon the variety of stuff I did was more than now for sure.

SundaeLove · 28/04/2023 14:47

GreatBigBoots · 28/04/2023 14:27

I think all the new technology has pros and cons. As a teen in the 80s there was a lot more 'looking forward' to things than my own teens have. Eg. watching episodes of TV shows each week as they aired, waiting for a film to be at the cinema or released on video (sometimes years later, and then having to go on a waiting list to rent it from the local video shop), planning trips out etc in advance. This created a sense of excitement and shared experience that I think is sometimes lacking now that we can binge watch several series of a TV show and don't want to discuss with friends as they have watched more/less than we have. Trips out seem less planned as everyone just whatsapps to say where they are etc. Visiting somewhere new also seems less exciting, as everyone has watched videos of the area/read 500 reviews of each hotel/restaurant/attraction. There seems to be much less of a sense of discovering new places for yourself- although obviously the other side of this is that now we are much less likely to go somewhere that turns out to be rubbish or get lost looking for somewhere.

I also think sometimes teens feel less able to 'switch off' than we did. They feel they need to check their phones all the time or risk missing something exciting/not being part of the discussion etc. Nowadays teens also know that anything they do/wear etc is likely to be photographed/videod and may be shared on social media. Back in the 80s, I once had a 'make over' with a couple of friends before going in to town for the afternoon. I ended up wearing a canary yellow polka dotted jump suit and my makeup was my friend's facial bronzer, yellow eye shadow and blue mascara. As a very pale red head, the effect was a cross between a children's TV presenter and an umpalumpa. My friends were also dressed... interestingly- although we thought we looked amazing. We were laughed at and called names by a group of boys in McDonalds so we went home, agreed that they were idiots who would not know fashion if it bit them on the arse, and continued to think that we were awesome. Nowadays we would almost certainly have been posted on social media and pictures shared with every teen in the area- with loads of negative comments.

I love this ! All true for me too

ALongHardWinter · 28/04/2023 14:49

There were no mobile phones or internet in the 80s,and there weren't hundreds of TV channels to choose from. Nowadays that sounds dead boring. But you don't miss what you've never had!

Appalonia · 28/04/2023 14:50

Shops were fantastic, music was great, good time at the cinema, there were loads of pubs and clubs and going to see bands was much cheaper than it is now. It was WAY better than now to be young during that time!

notaswearwolf · 28/04/2023 14:51

It really wasn't boring, much more in the way of amusing yourself. I also quite liked Sundays as I always stayed at my friend's on a Saturday night and hung out with her and her big brothers friends and her mum made us all a roast.

VioletCharlotte · 28/04/2023 14:51

I was a child/ early teen during the 80's, but I dont remember being bored. As a child I used to play out all the time when the weather was dry, riding bikes, making dens, playing football. On wet days or in the winter we'd play indoors, lots of make believe, barbies, board games, reading, drawing, etc. We went for family days out, but a lot of the time we would entertain ourselves while our parents did the garden or DIY.

As a teenager, I'd go into town all day on a Saturday with my friends. In the holidays we would meet up at the park or go swimming. At home, I spent a lot of time reading or pouring through magazines, practising hair and make up, doing homework, listening to music, chatting to friends on the phone.

The internet is great in a lot of ways, but I think it also causes a lot of issues.

readbooksdrinktea · 28/04/2023 14:53

Sulusu · 28/04/2023 14:03

No, it was better. I was never bored personally, I had loads of books, it was easier to play out with friends, radio was a constant companion etc.

It was also less stressful in some ways, the biggest thing for me was being able to switch off mentally. Now we are bombarded with bad news constantly through TV, internet, social media. This started in the 90s with the upsurge of 24 hour news channels etc.

The cold war was a constant existential threat in the 80s, but now it's Russia, environment, covid etc all hanging over our heads no matter how much we "detox".

Agree with all of this very much. I miss it.

MissAmbrosia · 28/04/2023 14:53

I was 12 in 1980 so it was my decade of growing up. I thought it was marvellous! Great music, wild clothes, lots of brilliant tv shows. I used to actually speak to my friends rather than doing everything via Whatapp. The new technology was maybe simpler but still very exciting. As PP said, there is a great element of waiting for something - new album, new tv show, new film etc without getting everything on demand. It was so exciting when the new edition of Smash Hits came out. Lots of trips to pubs and clubs and youth centre discos when younger. Lots of live bands. <<deep sigh>>

Commonsensitivity · 28/04/2023 14:54

People were more social so no it wasn't boring!

Tidsleytiddy · 28/04/2023 14:56

I was in my 20s in the 80s and had an amazing time. New Wave, New Romantics, ra ra skirts and smoking in pubs. What’s not to like? 🤣

Cherryblossoms85 · 28/04/2023 14:57

I turned 13 in 1990. I spent my childhood writing many, many letters; pressing flowers; making "perfume" with random stuff from the garden, playing with the hosepipe, making dens, reading, going to my friend's house. I regret what the internet has done to us all.

Appalonia · 28/04/2023 14:58

And the excitement of watching Top of the Pops and seeing pp like Boy George, Madonna etc for the first time! I really miss that experience of every one watch ing a tv show at the same time and then chatting with all your friends about it. There's v little of that on TV these days, maybe sports, Strictly, Bake Off or some reality shows. Don't think there was such a thing as a "spoiler alert" in those days!

purpleme12 · 28/04/2023 15:00

I was born in the 80s so grew up in the 90s really.
So no phones or internet for a good part.
I think now we've got phones/internet we've forgotten how to occupy ourselves naturally and forgotten how to just 'be' and relax (if that makes sense)
Ie personally I don't think lack of these things would necessarily make it boring

stbrandonsboat · 28/04/2023 15:00

No, it was great. Far less pressured and neurotic. I can never remember being bored, there was lots to do.

hermioneee · 28/04/2023 15:02

Lots of people (including myself) talking about being a child/ teenager pre internet.

I do think it's a bit different as an adult, particularly if you don't have children. I seem to remember when I first moved out into my own flat and smart phones and Netflix didn't exist I'd mooch around town a lot and meet work colleagues for lunch (shock horror!).

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