Emily Hill - Y2K Baby: Decoding the Communication Era of My First Year

The dawn of the 21st century marked a pivotal and transformative era for both the United States and the world at large, with numerous key events serving as catalysts for issues and changes that continue to shape our global landscape in 2024.The interplay of technology and communication was more present than ever before, especially at the turn of the century, when many were worried about the Year 2000 Bug, or Y2K, where it was not possible for many computer programs to switch the year to a new century (Rutledge, 2022). In particular, many industries such as telecommunications, banking, government, medical equipment, manufacturing, and insurance were very fearful, and this fear spread to the average American household believing that the world would end at the turn of the century (Rutledge, 2022). This phenomenon and society’s fears reveal what a great time of change the year 2000 was, particularly as we become more reliant on technology and media in our daily lives.

Despite these fears, America in particular invested widely in technological advancements, and the Dotcom Bubble, a period from 1995-2000 where there was rampant investment and overvaluation of new internet and technology stocks, finally burst in March 2000 (Goldman Sachs, 2019). This burst allowed some of the largest companies in America today, like Amazon, Nokia, eBay, and Microsoft, to truly thrive as the competitive startup market finally slowed (Goldman Sachs, 2019). The impact of these businesses on the current communications and media landscape cannot be overstated. Microsoft and Nokia in particular paved the way for modern-day telecommunications.

The 2000 presidential race illustrated how mass communication struggled to adapt from more traditional media to the immediacy of digital, as traditional news outlets grappled with emerging digital technologies and changing audience behaviors. Television news remained a dominant force, but media outlets faced increasing competition from online sources. A study by Eveland et al. (2001) found that while television and print newspapers still held advantages for certain types of learning, such as recall of specific news stories and election-related facts, online news was beginning to show strengths in areas like structuring political knowledge - helping users develop a more integrated understanding of complex political issues.

The 2000 U.S. presidential election also exposed significant challenges in how media outlets reported breaking news in a 24-hour news cycle. As Brinkley (2001) details, major networks made multiple erroneous calls on election night, first declaring Al Gore the winner in Florida, then George W. Bush, before ultimately retracting both projections. This debacle revealed the dangers of prioritizing speed over accuracy in an increasingly competitive media environment. It also demonstrated the growing pains experienced by news organizations as they navigated new technologies and audience expectations for instant information in this new century (Brinkley, 2001).

I conducted an interview with my father regarding our household communication in 2000 via Zoom. Although great changes in communications, media, and technology were happening in America, at a household level, much remained the same. Televisions and landlines had been in households for a few decades now, and only half had home computers by 2000 (US Census Bureau, 2016). My own family followed these trends as well. In 2000, our home had 2 televisions and one landline. My dad, who recently pivoted into a career in telecommunications, had a work laptop and a work cell phone, so he was an early technology adopter.

In the year 2000, my parents were concerned little with the news of the times and more so with their own personal journey of adopting me from Russia. It took my parents from 1999 to mid-2000 in order to bring me to the United States. They relied heavily on email communication with the adoption agency and other government entities in Russia throughout the process. All communications required translation, so there would be a midpoint of emailing a translator in order to get the communications translated. This process would delay any information or news by several days each way, and this slow form of communication is why my adoption process took so long. In 2024, there are many auto-translating tools available, some of which use artificial or machine intelligence, which would have made this process much faster. Considering how critical the first 24 months of life are for speech development and communication recognition, innovations such as this can positively impact a child’s ability to integrate into a new home and culture (Nussbaum, 2015).

Once I was in America, communication was predominantly focused on learning and fun, with media and technology playing a role in the background. I would frequently play with my caregivers and extended family with toys focused on development and mobility; these toys were engaging through traditional means of movement, color, and material, but new technologies such as sounds, words/phrases, and lights were present as well. Books were not consistently read to me until I was a bit older, as I was behind in language development due to my adoption.

In our household during this period, technology played a subtle yet significant role in our daily lives, quietly shaping our routines and interactions without dominating the foreground of our experiences. Children’s live television shows such as Bear and the Big Blue House, Barney, and Dora the Explorer were frequently on throughout the day but only focused on and truly watched before naptime. My parents enjoyed watching reality television, which began to evolve with new series like Big Brother and Survivor, and they frequently brought over friends and families for watch parties. Music was also very prevalent, and instrumental music was used to make me sleep every night. My parents also enjoyed Christian contemporary music, a genre that was growing heavily at that time, and they enjoyed artists like DC Talks, Amy Grant, and Petra.

Reflecting on my early development from a communications perspective, what is most surprising to me is the lack of emphasis on technology and media at this time for my family. Due to my father’s job in telecommunications, the whole family usually acquired whatever the latest technology was at the time. It is surprising to see that in 2000, our daily lives revolved so little around using technology, as it is such a distraction in group settings in 2024. Additionally, at a macro level, America was certainly seeing a rapid evolution of technology and media, but it seems that pace had not yet reached household technology and media. Overall, I found the interview very illuminating on how our family dynamics have evolved over the last 24 years and the meaning of quality time has shifted to include media elements at the forefront.

As this retroactive reflection of the year 2000 concludes, it is critical to mention what transpired shortly after in the year 2001. Despite the turn of the century having critical strides in technology, the act of terrorism in America with the falling of the Twin Towers in the year 2001 upended many communication norms in both America and the world at an unprecedented scale. This act of terrorism redefined much of the communication norms presented in 2000, as the event revealed the need for more instantaneous, mobile communication. Developments such as social media, text messaging, cell phone usage, news coverage, and corporate communications can attribute 9/11 as a catalyst (WOUB Public Media, 2011). In 2024, these developments are currently normalized in our society, as we frequently mobilize technology throughout our day and communications. Reflecting on 2000, when technology was a minor tool in our daily lives, the shift over the last two decades is immense.

References

Brinkley, D. (2001). The Great Election 2000 Media Debacle. Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, 6(2), 82–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/108118001129172152

Cohen, M. (1994). The year 2000 and the new television. Journal of Advertising Research, 34(1), RC-5(3)-RC-5(3). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A15352411/AONE?u=anon~9eb98f62&sid=googleScholar&xid=0971c47f

Coleman, R., & Wasike, B. (2004). Visual Elements in Public Journalism Newspapers in an Election: A Content Analysis of the Photographs and Graphics in Campaign 2000. Journal of Communication, 54(3), 456–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2004.tb02639.x

Eveland, W. P., Seo, M., & Marton, K. (2002). Learning From the News in Campaign 2000: An Experimental Comparison of TV News, Newspapers, and Online News. Media Psychology, 4(4), 353–378. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327... Sachs. (2019, April 5). The Late 1990s Dot-Com Bubble Implodes in 2000. Goldmansachs.com. https://www.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/history/moments/2000-dot-com-bubble

Kim, S.-H., Scheufele, D. A., & Shanahan, J. (2005). Who Cares About the Issues? Issue Voting and the Role of News Media During the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election. Journal of Communication, 55(1), 103–121. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02661.x

Nussbaum, J. F. (2015). The handbook of lifespan communication. Peter Lang.

Rutledge, K. (2022, May 20). Y2K bug | National Geographic Society. Education.nationalgeographic.org; National Geographic. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/Y2K-bug/

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