I first discovered social media in around 2003 via a website called 'Face-pic'. Social media seemed a very different world back then. It was almost as if 'normal' people hadn't discovered it yet so it was full of weird and wonderful people with often bizarre pictures of themselves. I then moved onto Bebo, Myspace and, of course, the all powerful Facebook. Here are some are a few random memories have from the noughtie's era of social media.
#1 - Pokes were the ultimate flirting tactic.
If a girl sent you a poke on Facebook it basically meant she wanted to marry you and have your babies. I joke but it did used to be a really common way of interacting with the opposite sex before completely fading into obscurity. Seriously, I remember people having full blown conversations about a someone poking them on Facebook. We were extremely romantic in 2007.
#2 - Painstaking hours choosing the perfect Myspace song.
Myspace had a feature where you could set a song to start playing the moment someone went onto your page. Many people (including me, and you if you're honest with yourself) considered this an important first impression. You would have to choose a song that perfectly represented your personality and also started well because they might only spend a few seconds on your page. I showed everyone that I was highly unique by setting mine as 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.
#3 - 'Chav' culture on Bebo.
Every form of social media feels like it has a certain audience. Instagram is for young people who want to post attractive pictures of themselves, Facebook is for slightly older people who want to keep in touch with family and Twitter is for narcissists. Bebo always seemed to be predominantly for the kind of teens who would write 'cant read lol' or 'hate books' under the favourite books section and the favourite films section was just endless repetitions of 'Green Street' and 'Football Factory'. From my own home town of Welshpool there was even a page created for the 'Welshpool Massive' complete with completely unironic boasts such as 'we don't ask for respect, we demand it' and 'death to Newtown' (a nearby town to Welshpool).
#4 - Public feuds on Facebook.
Is it just me or did Facebook used to be a lot more interesting than it is now because people just didn't hide anything back then? I remember people publicly calling out other people on Facebook over things such as cheating, stealing, lying and many other issues you can no longer watch on Jeremy Kyle. This would result in incredibly long winded debates occurring via comments on the original post from all the people involved. The drama seems to have now been traded for baby photo's and mental health awareness which is much more wholesome.
#5 - The 'Top Friends' hierarchy of Myspace.
Myspace had a feature where you could list your top friends. I think it was six overall. Choosing your top friends seemed like an important decision and seeing whether you had made other peoples top friends list was an often depressing past time. It didn't stop there though, you also had to think of the order you were going to place your top friends in. This is what we worried about before global warming went more mainstream.
Anyway, what have I missed?
