Decade in Review

The 2010s were shaped by seismic change that reverberated across society, politics, pop culture, technology and climate. The decade was filled with highs, lows and everything in between. The power of data, how it’s captured and leveraged, has fueled a massive shift. The demand for customization means that businesses will have to cater to individual consumer needs versus a ‘one size fits all’ approach. This alone will set the course for the next 30 years.  

Technology was -- and remains -- the center of everything. We saw the ‘unicorns’ of Silicon Valley become household names, and companies like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Venmo and Zynga incorporate themselves into our daily routines. China leapfrogged in terms of technology, use cases and product innovation, and mobile-only consumer adoption -- from Alibaba to ByteDance. Along those same lines, online-to-offline took shape, driving customers to combine both online and brick-and-mortar experiences. We also saw the rise of the sharing economy, where taking an Uber to your Airbnb while shopping on your phone during the drive became a new normal -- and everything was mobile-driven. In fact, at the beginning of this decade approximately 2 billion people were connected to the internet. Today, that number has doubled to 4 billion, with most of it on mobile. Technology also spurred us to shift the way we communicate with each other -- emojis, memes, gifs forever changed pop culture lingo. Mobile phones equipped with increasingly powerful computers and cameras allowed us to stay connected and informed. 

Constant connectivity and access to information opened the door for modern-day activism to take root. We saw a decade that was filled with social and political movements where young adults led the conversation and Gen Z brought a uniquely powerful perspective to issues such as the climate crisis -- with this decade being the warmest ever recorded. 

For me, the 2010s were filled with moments that shaped my life and career. My desire to build products, operationalize and scale businesses across mobile ecosystems had firmly taken root, taking me from Yahoo to Zynga to Alibaba and then to Verizon Media. During this past decade and through the various roles, I took on greater responsibility as a global citizen with a focus on several markets including China, India and the U.S. Every experience brought fresh challenges and new opportunities to further customer-driven missions and create a lasting, meaningful impact. My desire to create impact and take on challenges has become a natural calling, and being mission-driven and results-oriented is core to my ethos. 

Throughout this decade, what has moved me the most is seeing how diversity and inclusion became a driving force across business, entertainment and politics. There were also moments that hit close to home. The death of Nelson Mandela in 2013 impacted millions around the world, myself included. The life lessons he taught us were beautifully captured in a book called Mandela’s Way. The book became a strong guiding force for me, personally and professionally, helping to shape my leadership principles.  

The last decade has set the tone for the next 30 years, in some cases fundamentally altering the way we view the world and our place in it. Here are some of the events and moments that defined the decade.

2010: Alibaba is in its second year of ‘Singles Day’ -- a 24-hour online retail event similar to Black Friday where consumers can nab huge discounts. By the end of this decade, Singles Day will become the world’s largest online commerce event, bringing in a record-breaking $38 million in sales in one day. Apple kicks off the tablet race with the first iPad, also coinciding with the launch of FaceTime. FaceTime will go on to change the way people communicate, allowing friends and family to connect face-to-face anywhere in the world. Start-ups such as Uber, Lyft and Airbnb give rise to the share economy, making peer-to-peer transactions a part of everyday life. Instagram launches later that year and goes on to disrupt whole industries from art to fashion to food to travel. It introduces us to influencers, thereby democratizing fame -- for better or worse. 

2011: Activism takes off in 2011 with the emergence of Occupy Wall Street in New York. The movement’s slogan, 'We are the 99%,' spurs a national discussion on economic inequality. 

Across the world, Japan is rocked by a devastating 8.9 earthquake, the first of many natural disasters sweeping the planet. China overtakes Japan to become the world’s second largest economy. Twitch launches to humble beginnings and over the course of the decade goes on to become the premier live-streaming platform for gamers, attracting more than 100 million unique monthly visitors. Game of Thrones launches on HBO, and the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton takes place, drawing millions of viewers worldwide. 

2012: Snapchat launches and creates a new social pipeline for young adults. Its popularity lies in unedited moments that vanish after a certain time, allowing for entertaining and unfiltered content. 'Gangnam Style' takes the world by storm with its surreal dance moves and catchy beat. The video breaks YouTube records with over 1 billion views by year end, forcing YouTube to change its maximum view limit. Technology plays a huge role in the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and GOP contender Mitt Romney. Both candidates rely on social platforms to rally supporters and get out the vote. Towards the end of the year, the U.S. experiences the second deadliest mass shooting, at that time, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The incident foreshadows a decade where mass shootings become frequent and continue the debate on gun control.  

2013: Across the world former South African president, Nelson Mandela dies at the age of 95. Pope Benedict resigns due to advanced age, becoming the first pope in 600 years to do so. Back in the U.S., Edward Snowden reveals the scope and depth of the NSA’s collection of private data on American citizens. #BlackLivesMatter emerges after the death of Trayvon Martin. This is a landmark year for cannabis reform, with Colorado becoming the first of many states to legalize the drug for recreational use, opening the door for big business. Bitcoin becomes part of mainstream conversation as the virtual currency peaks, reaching a high of more than $1,000 per Bitcoin.

2014: Same-sex marriage is legalized in several states and goes on to be legalized in all 50 states the following year. Transgender inclusion is introduced to American television with Amazon’s show Transparent and Netflix’s casting of transgender actor Laverne Cox on Orange Is the New Black. The podcast Serial sets off an explosion of growth for the industry and becomes a cultural phenomenon. The Ebola outbreak spreads across Africa to become a full-blown epidemic. 

2015: China ends its 36-year policy that limits couples to having only one child. In the U.S., millennials surpass boomers to become the biggest generation, according to tracking by Pew. Twitter launches Periscope, taking user-generated mobile streaming to another level. Caitlyn Jenner makes her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair. Hamilton premieres on Broadway and fuses American history with current politics set against a hip-hop musical. Misty Copeland becomes the first black principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre.

2016: The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union, setting off shock waves to the political establishment. The political and social climate also shifts in the U.S. when NFL player Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem to bring attention to police brutality and the oppression of minorities. Verizon acquires Yahoo, creating a new rival in mobile media technology that reaches over 1 billion monthly active users. 

2017: Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States. Hurricane Harvey makes landfall in Texas and Louisiana, becoming one of the costliest tropical cyclones on record. The #MeToo movement begins when Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexual abuse by multiple women. TikTok, a short-form video app, launches and takes content and its creators viral. Fortnite, an online video game, explodes in popularity and becomes an obsession for millions of fans, setting off Fortnite dance emotes that everyone from soccer moms to celebrities imitates. 

2018: The #MeToo movement grows in strength and sweeps the globe, holding individuals and corporations accountable. A mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, FL., results in the emergence of youth activist Emma Gonzalez, who speaks out on gun control. Verizon becomes the first network to launch 5G for the home. Prince Harry marries American actress Meghan Markle in a ceremony that is watched around the world. Black Panther breaks box office records, and Crazy Rich Asians becomes the most successful studio romantic comedy in a decade. Both films highlight the box office draw of a diverse cast and storyline. 

2019: A record number of women enter Congress, making up nearly a quarter of its voting membership. The U.S. women’s national soccer team wins its fourth World Cup. Young people, like Greta Thunberg, spark movements around the climate crisis, helping to redefine youth activism. Donald Trump becomes the third president in U.S. history to be impeached and also the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea. Microsoft joins Amazon and Apple to become a $1 trillion company. Content produced on TikTok launches the career of Lil Nas X, and his song 'Old Town Road' disrupts the country music genre. 

Looking Forward:  

1. 5G will lay the groundwork for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, transforming all facets of our society. 5G will further unleash the power of data as the new fuel to disrupt every industry. In the coming decade, we will see advancement in trusted content, new commerce, healthcare, education, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality; we'll move to smart cities with brains and get closer to a device-light/less world. The way we live, work and play will change in ways that are unimaginable today.  
2. Youth activism will lead across all industries, especially climate. The next decade will see young adults lead movements and conversations, from privacy and security, and how their personal data is used, to finding ways to close the digital divide.
3. Measured consumerism will take root as technology continues to advance. Balanced resource utilization of physical goods will become critical to the next generation of human existence.  
4. Consumer-to-business, C2B, will be mainstream -- meaning every business will have to find solutions that are customized for each consumer. Factors such as trust, hyper-personalization and knowing your customer will be at the core of everything we do. 

Whatever the future holds, we know our purpose is to build the networks that move the world forward, and Verizon Media is bringing that to life by connecting people to their passions. I’m confident we’ll play a big role by helping to shape the world we live in and create value for all our stakeholders -- from employees to customers, society and shareholders.