Why was 90's pop culture so edgy?

[LordMikel]

They confused edgy with cool then.

Still do today.

[From The Shadows]

You know I thought about this a lot and I felt at least Marvel wasn't all that edgy (or dark) and that was more the 80s. 90's X-Men def had more of a family feel, so did the 80's but I think Jean and Scott were more like your mom and dad and Professor Xavier was more your grandpa during the blue and gold era post Jim Lee of course which was all of ten issues. 80;s Claremont cornered the market on dark and depressing and so did Spider-Man, Daredevil and Cloak and Dagger, etc. Then there is of course mid/late 80s Batman. I think the hype was all in the guns and the hair.

[MyriVerse]

Oh man the 1990s and the internet. Dial-up and no censorship whatsoever. Newsgroups. DWANGO. I never, ever want to go back to most of that. But Ebay was nice when it first started, I wish it was a bit more like that again.

I miss Newsgroups. Frankly, it still exists in other forms, but not so quaint.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

IMO the 90's had 3 separate aesthetic segments. The late 80's early 90's, the mid 90's, and the late 90's early 00's.

The early 90's was all bright and "radical", the mid 90's was peak darker and edgier for the decade with the hight of grudge, alt metal/rock, and gangsta rap/hardcore hip-hop. The late 90's ushered in the beginning stages of the Y2K aesthetics and the counter-counter culture of pop music after the deaths of Cobain, Pac, Biggie etc.

The 90's was probably the most diverse decade compared to the 80's, which was pretty much mono style 80's all the way through (for the most part) lol. Just my opinion.

[DrNewGod]

I miss Newsgroups. Frankly, it still exists in other forms, but not so quaint.

By "quaint," might you mean "respectful and civilized?"