You had a break. You saw people or talked to them on the phone, but you could go home and shut the door and just breathe. You didn’t carry them with you all the time. You had to use your brain and put in some effort. Help and information were not at your fingertips. Nothing was. Doing without something wasn’t a tragedy. Having to work for something wasn’t a travesty. You weren’t constantly exposed to some idea of perfection that made everything about you and your life feel dissatisfying. I don’t think all the good sides of this pervasive technology have outweighed the harm it’s done.

Real. We were always out, always active. Riding bikes, skating, playing in the pool, or just roaming the neighborhood. We'd go to each other's houses to hang out, or maybe go to the mall or a movie. There were local parks and carnivals to go to, and maybe once or twice a year, we'd go to Six Flags.

We spent a lot more time being with friends. We were fortunate to have a city Youth Center with plenty of things to do for teens: music room for dancing, gym for basketball, bowling lanes, pool tables, places to sit and chat. On summer nights, you could find almost everybody there. You could meet and go somewhere for a burger or to make out in the peach orchards.

We had better eyesight.

It was awesome.

Meeting people was in real, not virtual. So the bonds between the people were more stronger. Things started getting bad with too much use of phone, and social media made it worse.

We had a lot more free time.

Peaceful

Healthy, natural, real and tangible in every sense. It was free and fun and exploratory. Tied to zero electronic devices.

A lot of fresh air and sunshine, outdoor activities and using our brains and imaginations. Walking to the bus stop and other places without fear. Playing games in the yard after dark. And more.... Plus a few chores, it wasn't without responsibility.

We hung out and chatted in person. Walked the streets and got into mischief together. I went to lots of social groups too, St Johns ambulance to learn first aid as well as a Girls Brigade.

Life was dark.

There were no notifications to guide us. No likes. No followers. No one knew what we were doing unless we actually told them

If you wished to speak to a friend, you rang their house and prayed their parents did not answer.

If you wanted to know where your friends were, you simply wandered the neighborhood like an undead searching for a bonfire.

Pictures were rare. Every photograph consumed a precious resource known as film, and if you blinked, your humanity was lost forever.

Entertainment was limited to television, video games, music, and occasionally staring into the abyss.

We had no Google Maps. We simply became lost and accepted our fate.

And when the sun went down, there was no group chat.

There was only darkness.

And the knowledge that tomorrow, we would rise again.

Bearer of the Curse, seek friendship... lest you go hollow.

Fun.

I did a lot more reading of books.

Great. We played either baseball or hockey until dark at least 6 days a week.

Do some good hell raising the other 👍

You hung out with friends face to face. Played frisbee or catch of some sort. We'd ride bikes (later motorcycles) through the fields.

Bangin' the babes!

We rode on fire breathing dragons and scared the dinosaurs away.

Fun...
Still is..

All I know is I am SO freaking grateful to have grown up before it. And studies are showing the myriad of benefits. We were on our own and it wasn't that our parents didn't care. It's that they did.
If I had a young kid today there's zero chance they'd have their face in a screen. They'd hate me now but love me later.

i was a teen during the age of AOL

Lots of reading, TV, sports, artwork, writing, and sex for me.

I hung out with friends every day. We did things outside like play catch or take the bus somewhere in town. If you didn't want to be bored, you had to make your own fun.

Normal

Internet excisted when I was a teen, but we were too poor to afford it.

I spent my days reading, writing, drawing, listening to music, going for walks, and sometimes hanging out with friends.

I miss those days, but have finally decided to do something about it to reverse the brain rot and big belly that's replaced my creativity and energy.

We were horrible little shits still.

I’m grateful that it didn’t exist at the time, otherwise my embarrassing teenage antics would be immortalized online.

I remember years before social media. People were more connected to their local community

I would call my friends one at a time on Saturday mornings using my parent's push-button landline phone in their living room and then we'd all meet an hour later down at the beach where we'd hang out, get caught up on the latest news, play frisbee in the water, dance on the beach to tunes blasting from a portable radio the same guy would always bring and then we'd usually pair-off and make-out with our teenaged heartthrob of choice among the sand dunes until it was time for everyone to go home for supper!

You got viciously pummelled by adults, randomly, but you had more of a social life with your friends.
Like my Dad knocked me out against a stone wall with a picture framed on it, I came to with him on picking the glass outa my scalp and then did the family dishes. No emergency room where I would rat.
Everyone had at least one boyfriend by seventh grade.

Too busy to be looking at a cellphone. Various extracurricular activities after school, usually into the evening.

Lonely.

Plus there were no cameras to record our failures

Less homogenous.

It was wild. Damn sure was less proof of the crazy stuff we were doing. That's for sure!

It was like...life. what is happening now is just only simulation.

That was not all that long ago!

My teens were before even this 'ere Internet thing. Pretty good actually. I was developing my interests, had a circle of friends.

Keeping in touch with people was not all that difficult, and better, when in company everyone was together, not trying to indicate their little message-gadgets were more important then their companions.

I played outside and watched tv. I made friends with the neighbors and we hung out.

Burned CD’s. Overall we’d just talk.

The skating rink was a huge thing so I skated.

I would get into mischievous things like finding out how to get to the roof of my house and chilling on it.

I had a tire swing I spent an hour on everyday, swinging around and contemplating on life. I’d play with bugs. Only the cute ones.


Sleep overs and watching scary movies while eating bagel bites.

The only doll I ever liked was the Brittany spears Barbie doll cause she sang. I played with toys for hours.


I wasn’t even a teen, I was like 8 lol

Busy with things and make believe

AMAZING. It felt free. People stopped by and hung out without calling first. It just flowed.

Fun

Boring at the time