There’s no need for guesswork when it comes to noticing if someone grew up pre-Internet, as they usually out themselves in about five seconds flat. Of course, it’s not always on purpose. It’s just that they do or say some weird things that no one younger would ever even think about. Here are 16 things that instantly tell you someone grew up in a time before the internet. Those analog days sure were different.
They Know What a Busy Signal Sounds Like
Ask them what happens when you call someone and their line is full. If they go “beep-beep-beep” instead of saying “goes to voicemail,” that’s because they actually remember busy signals. Young people don’t know that this didn’t mean “call in five minutes.” It literally meant hang up and keep calling until the beeping stopped, with some people using tricks like timing their redial based on the person’s average call length.
They Can Rattle Off a Landline Phone Number From Memory
Most people today can’t even recall their own number without checking, but people who remember a time before the internet can remember a 7-digit string relatively easily. They didn’t just remember one number, either. They knew the pizza place, their grandma’s, and the neighbor’s because speed dial was a luxury, and you had to simply know the most important numbers.
They Call Pound Signs “Number Signs,” Not “Hashtags”
Say the word “hashtag” around them, and they’ll probably tell you that it’s actually called a number sign, as it’s the thing you pressed after entering your zip code during a customer service call. They remember a time when it wasn’t just a way to get followers. In fact, they might even call it the “pound key” because the automated voice systems always called it that.
They Used a T-9 Keyboard Without Looking
When you ask them to text on a number pad, they’ll do it easily because they have muscle memory of a time before full keyboards and autocorrect. It was simple predictive T-9 magic, like pressing “4663” and getting “good” on the first try. It was a weird talent, of course, but they still have it. They knew which words were easy and which ones confused the system. They might even have spent time adding their friends’ names so they didn’t have to retype them every time.
They Know TV Channels By Physical Number
Some people will say “Channel 5” instead of “NBC,” and that’s a leftover reflex from the days when they’d flip through cable without a guide. Networks operated on specific channels, and so you remembered them in the same way you remember your locker combo. It was a disaster when the cable company reshuffled the channels, and people would tape a printed guide to the side of the TV just to remember.
They Ask “Did You Tape It?” Instead of “Did You Record It?”
No one under 30 says “tape” anymore unless they’re talking about duct tape, so anyone who asks, “Did you tape that show?” instead of “Did you watch it?” is definitely older. They remember a time when VCRs were a part of their weekly plan, and they had to make sure everything was set up properly. This included making sure the tape wasn’t full and they had the right channel set. They also made sure no one turned off the VCR halfway through.
They Know That Hitting the TV Sometimes Fixes the Picture
Whenever the TV stops working, they’ll give it a light slap because they lived in the tube-TV age. It was a time before remotes with diagnostics and no settings to reset, just a simple banging on the side to fix it. They learned where and how hard to hit, which wasn’t enough to break it but enough to shake something loose. See if they know about “the sweet spot” on the side of an old TV.
They Refer to TV Shows By What Night They Aired
Speaking of TV, you’ll hear them say stuff like, “That was part of the Thursday lineup,” like that’s normal information to know. It’s not because they’re talking about what they personally watched that day. Rather, they’re remembering how networks used to put shows on the same night, and people planned their whole weeks around it. They might even remember which show aired after which because missing the start would force you to wait months for a rerun, and watching live was the only option.
They Say “Hang Up The Phone”
You’ll hear them talking about “hanging up” the phone, but there’s no handset or click. There’s not even anything to hang. Instead, these people still say it because they grew up ending calls by physically dropping the receiver onto the cradle rather than tapping a button that said “hang up.” They also say, “pick up the phone,” even though there’s nothing to pick up anymore. Younger people are more likely to use “end the call” or “disconnect” to describe the same action.
They Double-Space After a Period When They Type
You’ll see two spaces after every period in their emails and their notes, perhaps even in their tweets. Of course, they don’t mean to do it. It’s just how they learned, and their thumbs never unlearned the rule. It comes from doing so many school assignments this way and using clunky word processors that punished you for forgetting it. They might even swear it “looks cleaner,” too.
They Still Pause Before Clicking On Ads Like It’s A Trap
They don’t trust anything that says “Download Now,” regardless of whether it’s a legitimate button on a trusted site, and this kind of knowledge comes from experience. These people spent years dodging malware dressed as Britney Spears ringtones, and they were the ones who ended up with a .exe file named “free_music_420final.exe” when trying to download music. Once you’ve wiped a family computer twice, you don’t click anything fast ever again.
They Complain That Streaming Doesn’t Have Bonus Features
Some people open Netflix, while others open Netflix and complain that there’s no director commentary, which isn’t meant to be them trying to be funny. It’s just that they expect behind-the-scenes interviews and alternate endings, maybe even an Easter egg or two because that was what happened with DVDs. To them, streaming feels unfinished. They might even check YouTube after to see if there’s a “making of” they missed.
They Get Weirdly Specific About Song Versions
People who grew up before the internet will never just say they love a song and will instead clarify which version they like. For example, they’ll say they enjoyed “the one they played at midnight on that one station” or “the UK radio edit version.” They remember track lengths and bootleg live versions, as well as which albums had bonus tracks in Japan only and which remixes were just labeled wrong on Napster. They lived through it all.
They Say “Turn It Over” When Talking About a Record
When someone talks about music, this person will mention something about “the other side” or Side B. The what now? In their head, music still has a front and a back, even if it’s a playlist, although you won’t hear anyone under 30 say, “flip it over.” The older generations genuinely remember finding hidden tracks on the second half of an album that never made it to the radio.
They Don’t Trust the Cloud
If their laptop dies, it’s no big deal because they still have every important file saved on a USB drive that lives in their bag or desk drawer. Cloud storage is fine, but they need something they can physically hold, which is leftover behavior from when computers crashed and took everything with them. They remember the pain of losing their old term papers, so they’ll keep copies now, not once, but twice.
They Still Say “Let Me Get My Camera” At Events
You’re at a party, and this person will say, “I’ll grab my camera” whenever someone wants their picture, even though they really just mean their phone. It’s because they remember a time when cameras and phones were two different objects. They’ll also ask if it has a zoom, not digital zoom, real zoom because that matters a lot.
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