From Basements and Manifestos to TikTok and Startups – How Has Student Culture Evolved?

Does today’s student still have the same soul as the rebels of the past?

There were nights that ended at dawn, dormitories where great ideas were born, and clubs where poets, musicians, and revolutionaries gathered around the same table.

Student culture was once a way of life.
Is it still?

Students of the 60s had sung poetry and underground cabarets, the 90s had rock festivals and legendary clubs.
And today’s students? They have TikTok, LinkedIn, and startups.

Does this mean the end of the student bohemia?
Or just its new face?

Student Life in Communist Poland: Basements, Cabarets, and the Fight for Every Word

The 60s and 70s – Polish universities were more than just places of education.
They were fortresses of freedom – provided you knew how to fight for that freedom.

Student Clubs – The Intellectual Underground

📍 Kalambur in Wrocław, Stodoła in Warsaw, Żak in Gdańsk – these weren’t just clubs.
They were hubs of cabaret performances, experimental theater, and heated debates and manifestos.

🎶 “Mury” by Kaczmarski, jazz jam sessions, cabaret performances – this was more than music. It was a message.”

“We were a generation that had to speak in metaphors. Poetry was our Twitter, only in analog form.”

– recalls a regular at the Hybrydy club in Warsaw.

Festivals – When the Stage Spoke the Truth

FAMA, YAPA, Bakcynalia – these festivals were not just music events.
They were spaces where artists could say more than what was allowed in official media.

🎤 Students sang about freedom, rebellion, and the world that wasn’t shown on television.

The 90s – Freedom, Rock, and the First Encounter with Commercialization

Suddenly, everything changed.

The system was no longer the enemy, and student culture faced a new challenge – how to find its identity when freedom was no longer a luxury?

Rock and Reggae – The Soundtrack of a New Reality

🔥 Kult, Hey, Pidżama Porno, Dżem – these weren’t just bands, they were a lifestyle.

🎶 In Jarocin, a new subculture was born – not one that fought against the system, but one that simply wanted to live on its own terms.

Clubs were still thriving, festivals were full, but the spirit of student rebellion was evolving.

Globalization, the Internet, and the First Changes

💻 The internet arrived. This was the moment when student culture began to split – those who still wanted to meet in clubs and those who started exploring the digital world.

“Students suddenly had choices. They didn’t have to go to just one club, because suddenly they had ten. They didn’t have to rebel against the system because they could simply use it.”

– says a former FAMA festival organizer.

2020+ – TikTok, Startups, and the Culture of „Everything Now”

Today’s student culture looks completely different.
🎬 TikTok instead of cabarets.
🎧 Podcasts instead of sung poetry festivals.
👨‍💻 Networking instead of philosophical debates over beer.

Are Students Still Rebelling?

Yes. But differently.

Then – manifestos on stage, now – activism on Instagram.
Then – long conversations until dawn, now – short-form content and live streams.
Then – defying the system, now – building independent career paths.

“Today’s students have access to everything, but does that mean they value it less?”

– wonders a professor of academic culture.

Is Student Culture Dying, or Simply Changing?

Former students might say: “It’s not the same atmosphere as before.”

Today’s students might respond: “You’re right, but we have different tools.”

The question is not: “Does student culture still exist?”

The question is: “What does it look like now, and where is it heading?”

What’s Next?

How has student culture changed from your perspective?

Share your story – maybe your comment will inspire the next article.