In September 2021, a photo of a young woman went viral on X, back when it was called Twitter. In the picture, the woman is seated before a CRT television, turning to face the camera with a Nintendo 64 controller in her hand, an acid-washed denim jacket hanging on the chair. The walls of her room are covered in outdated floral wallpaper and posters of 1990s icons and classics, from Guns N’ Roses to Pulp Fiction. A few VHS tapes are placed on a shelf, along with a Super Nintendo console.

The caption for the photo read simply: “I want to live in this era.” Out poured a torrent of nostalgic comments. One user took the opportunity to rage against the present, posting “Bands knew how to play music, dating wasnt a swiping system that devalued the other person. . . .  No one got canceled, twitter didn’t exist & google wasnt monitoring your every move.” Another simply said, “It was the best.” And another: “It was vastly superior to today. I genuinely feel sorry for those that grew up in the 2000’s.” (My favorite comment skewered the nostalgia completely: “every public restaurant smelled like stale cigarette smoke.”)

While these comments were heavy on nostalgia they were light on context. Just which era were they nostalgic for? There wasn’t much specificity, at first.