The Long 2014

Submission 8,065

About

The Long 2014, sometimes called the Eternal 2014 or Forever 2014, is a slang term referencing the idea that Western culture has been stuck in a socio-political and cultural stagnation since the year 2014. Discussions about the lasting impact of 2014 often revolve around SJWs, GamerGate, Pajama Boy and similar "culture war" talking points. Some internet users note the lasting impact of 2014 in how the year marks the start of 5GW or fifth-generation warfare like social engineering and misinformation.

Origin

Some discussions about the lasting impact of 2014 can be traced as far back as 2014 itself with a December 25th, 2014, post showing X^[1] / Twitter user @sargoth joking about being "poised to lead us all into an eternal 2014." On October 31st, 2017, X^[2] user @shackle_ton quoted a since-deleted tweet about gamers harassing people saying, "Stuck in an eternal 2014."

On June 29th, 2019, X^[3] user @bgreysk posted, "I think with this robert the bruce nonsense we're finally reaching the end of the long 2014."

The term is also a reference to the historiographical concept of "the long 19th century," which describes the years between 1789 (the French Revolution) and 1914 (the start of World War I) as one historical period with specific features.

Spread

Mentions of the Long 2014 continued into the 2020s, with X^[4] user @EXJoyces replying to a post on February 4th, 2020, about people still discussing "SJWs" (seen below, left). On September 8th, X^[5] user @Y2K_mindset made a post that read, "Getting my PhD in 2014 studies," adding^[6] that 2014 was "was likely the beginning of a new age in warfare."

X^[7] user @evilvillain1231 asserted that "We are still living in the Long 2014" due to the culture war discourse kicked off by GamerGate continuing into the 2020s on September 30th, 2022, while X^[8] user @LegoRacers2 pointed to a remake of Tommy Wiseau's The Room on May 9th, 2023, as a sign that we are stuck in "The Long 2014."

On November 15th, 2023, X^[9] user @LegoRacers2 posted a joke about the Long 2014, gathering over 4,000 likes in three months (seen below, left). On February 28th, 2024, X^[10] user @duns_sc0tus reposted a webcomic, writing, "Look at my reactionaries dawg, the long 2014 is never ending." The post gathered over 2,000 likes in a day (seen below, right).