From the Roman Empire to GTA and beyond, everything that made you a 2023 tech cliché

Were you a 2023 tech cliché? (Picture: Getty)

In one sense when it comes to tech, it kind of feels like we’ve essentially peaked. 

New gadgets appear every day, only incrementally better versions of the ones that came before. Social media platforms are launched with great fanfare, but we stick to the ones we know (sorry Notes).

But that doesn’t mean tech trends don’t come and go. Just as in the fashion world, some can be styled out better than others.

And when it comes to bandwagons, well, there are plenty of those too.

Here are just some of the tech clichés we became in 2023 – were you one of them?

How dedicated to fitness are you? (Picture: Getty)

Blood sugar addicts

Health tech has never been more popular, from heart rate monitors on our wrists to slavishly recording every single step in Strava.

But you can spot the uber-dedicated by a large white dot on the back of their arm – an at-home glucose monitor.

Now of course for many they’re an essential piece of equipment, particularly for diabetics, but for others, probably in the ‘my body is a temple’ category, they’re another way to show off one’s dedication to healthy living. 

One common myth – they don’t actually measure blood sugar, but glucose in the tissue beneath the skin.

That’s probably the sort of pedantic snippet a wearer will share, on a par with Londoners tirelessly reminding people ‘Erm, that’s not actually London Bridge, it’s Tower Bridge. Such a tourist mistake.’

But what did men think about all the time during the Roman Empire? (Picture: Getty)

One for the guys

Were you temporarily obsessed with the Roman Empire? Everyone on TikTok was, because apparently men think about it every day.

But did you really, or did you just spot a lot of social media posts about it, followed a few days later by various news articles? 

The trend was started by Swedish influencer Saskia Cort, who told her followers to ask their partners how many times a week they thought about the Roman Empire. 

Queue loads of men saying they thought about it literally all the time, and a backlash over sexism and gender stereotyping – possibly prompting those on the receiving end to wonder ‘what did the Romans ever do for us?’.

Are you on the Temu train? (Picture: Getty)

Amazon who?

Are you a Temu convert? The Chinese shopping giant launched here in April and since then, adverts for its dazzling and bizarre array of products have been literally everywhere.

Temu is a ‘third party online seller marketplace’ offering millions of products, from clothing and shoes to pet supplies and tech – the most odd-looking of which seem to be reserved for those aforementioned adverts. Pencil sharpener obviously meant to look like a sex toy, anyone?

And while millions have been flocking to the site thanks to its cheap deals, there are some drawbacks.

Firstly, all of its products are made and sold in China, meaning standard delivery can take up to 14 business days, while £9 ‘express’ shipping can still take up to eight days. Not ideal if you’re in a rush (or are concerned about the environment).

Secondly, while the products are undeniably cheap – up to 80% less than the price on Amazon in some cases – that can also apply to the quality, with many users complaining of products that have arrived damaged, or not at all, and broke easily.

Nevertheless, for many, Temu was simply the place to be in 2023.

Grand Theft Auto 6 made big headlines earlier this month (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty)

Pretended to be a GTA expert

‘OMG, can you believe it, the GTA 6 trailer has been leaked!’ 

Said the friend who has never mentioned gaming in their life.

Yes, for one day in early December, everyone – including Radio 4 presenters – was an expert on the highly-anticipated computer game.

It has come a long way from the first iteration. Back in the Nineties parents were outraged as their children learned to make their way in the criminal underworld by stealing cars and murdering with gay abandon – and was condemned by the House of Lords (but escaped a ban).

Since then it has enjoyed immense popularity among gamers, but on December 4, when a user on X (formerly Twitter, more of which later) leaked the trailer, much excitement ensued.

How many of those lecturing friends and family about what a HUGE deal it was will actually ever play the game (or have played earlier editions) remains to be seen.

What did your Spotify Wrapped say about you?

Wrapped everything

Christmas wrapping used to mean battling with the Sellotape and using balled up newspaper to disguise the shape of easy-to-recognise presents (no, just me?).

These days, it’s an online recap of everything you have (or haven’t) done in the year gone by.

It started with Spotify Wrapped, a simple look back at who you listened to most. Now it has spread to Strava (aka look how little exercise you did in 2023), Reddit and even Duolingo (ooh, you still can’t speak French properly and it’s been another 12 months).

But it’s one thing to look through all these yourself, quite another to go around sharing them with other people, either in self-deprecating ‘you caught me, I’m a secret Swiftie’ way (so is everyone FYI), or a major humble brag – ‘phew, just hit the 500-mile mark on Strava with days to spare, must do better in 2024’.

Then again, we all do it – and if your apps are going to make you feel bad, you’ll take any way to feel better.

Threads launched to great fanfare (Picture: Threads)

Ditched Twitter for Threads. For a day

‘Urgh, Elon has ruined Twitter, I’m done.’

*Downloads Threads. Forgets to ever open it again after a week.*

Yes, it was a busy year for social media, fuelled in part by Elon Musk’s myriad and bizarre changes to Twitter – not least its name, which became X in July.

That was not all however, and ongoing technical issues, functionality limitations, subscription requirements and a widely reported increase in hate speech led many to feel their days on the platform had come to an end.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hoped to offer them a new social media refuge in Threads, his own Twitter rival launched in early July.

People flocked to the platform in droves, the platform attracting 10 million users in just seven hours, in part thanks to the ease of signing up through Instagram. Active users quickly hit 2.3 million, a figure Twitter took years to reach.

But as many tech firms have learnt in recent years (or more accurately perhaps, witnessed but not learnt one iota from), such rapid growth is hard to sustain, and in the case of Threads, a month later engagement with the app had fallen a massive 79%.

Overall growth has continued however, if at a less vertiginous pace.

A Twitter killer it is not, but perhaps that makes being on the Threads train a little cooler – you’re there as a discerning social media user, not by necessity.

And certainly not because everyone else is.

MORE : ‘Malevolent force’ or haven for free speech? How Elon Musk turned Twitter upside down

MORE : GTA 6 fans start petition to skip 2024 so the game comes out sooner

MORE : Fellas, if you’re still thinking about the Roman Empire there’s something new to ponder

All aboard the bandwagon.