The famous selfie taken by Ellen DeGeneres at the Oscars in 2014 unknowingly signaled the end of an era. Captured by Bradley Cooper, this photo featuring Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Lupita Nyong'o, and Jennifer Lawrence became the most retweeted post on Twitter at that time. In addition to going viral, the selfie coincided with the Oscars ceremony, which had the highest viewership in 14 years with 43.74 million viewers. Looking back many years later, this moment seems like the last bright flash of a shared pop culture that no longer exists.

At that time, social media was on the rise, driving significant clicks for traditional media and online news sites for any content that could go viral. Headlines in the style of BuzzFeed and Upworthy spread rapidly across the web, and live tweeting became an activity that connected people during events like sports, news, or American Idol. Broadcast and cable networks were at the peak of competition that year, reaching over 100 million homes.

Since then, a shared cultural experience has become impossible. The fragmentation caused by algorithms, streaming services, and social media has trapped people in different content bubbles. Not everyone is watching the same thing, talking about the same thing, or participating in the same conversation. Recommended algorithms direct individuals to different places simultaneously.

Putting nostalgia and romance aside, having a common pop culture language today seems almost like wishful thinking. In a politically, socially, and algorithmically divided world, while tech companies make people question reality, the things that were once pillars of creativity are potentially being transformed into products of another company. The 2014 Oscar selfie may be our last shared moment—the final peak marking the end of a time when everyone watched and talked about the same thing at the same time.