#TBT: 6 Things You Totally Forgot About Myspace

It seems like a distant memory now, but it wasn’t all that long ago that Myspace was the first site you checked if you were under 25 years old.

Launched in 2003, by 2005 Myspace was the world’s most popular social network (before that phrase peppered every other sentence) and the 5th most visited domain in the world! As recently as 2008 it was dead even with Facebook in unique monthly visitors, peaking at 75.9 million in December of that year.

When I was addicted to Myspace, I didn’t realize it would be step one toward a career in the digital marketplace. (Thank you to the brilliant minds of Myspace that discriminating content has since been deleted from my old account.)

So why am I talking about this? A conversation took me down Myspace memory lane recently, which got me thinking about all the things about the network that were once staples of daily web life.

So here they are,

The Top 6 Things You Forgot About Myspace

1. Myspace Tom revolutionized selfies.

Myspace Tom was everybody’s online buddy… and an entrepreneur in the mirror pics space, revolutionizing selfies and ruining timelines for years to come.

2. It was impossible to ignore messages from people because they KNEW the last time you logged on.

Remember how some people would change their “online now” signals to other icons and it would drive you crazy because then you really didn’t know when they were online? This was a big boost for the stalker crowd.

3. You knew where you stood with your friends (sometimes unfortunately)

Like Facebook, you could have unlimited friends on Myspace, but only a select few showed up on your home feed for visitors to see, and you could select who showed up there. Ouch!

You would be lying if you said that a Myspace Top 8 argument has never almost ruined a friendship or relationship. And you’re definitely lying if you claim you didn’t waste at least a few hours being political in arranging who stood where in that top 8.

4. Myspace was the first way we were social with music.

Ever get freaked when you logged on to one of your friend’s pages and their favorite song of the week blared into your earbuds? Myspace was the first network that allowed you to use music to define your personality.

You could also listen to your favorite artists’ new music before their CD was released! Anyone else have “new music find” wars with their friends? I swear I found Chris Brown before anyone else…

5. You were an HTML coding PRO.

To be the cool kid on the block, it was absolutely necessary to have the best profile around. Flashing, colors, lights… bolds, italics… the works. I don’t know about you but all the coding I know to this day has roots in Myspace.

6. This was the highlight of your day…

It was all about the picture comments. Oh, the flattery. There were no smartphones, so as soon as you got home from school you logged into Myspace and AIM to see what you missed. My school blocked Myspace from all the library computers… lame.

But don’t get too sad because Myspace is actually still alive and kickin’ up to now. It’s become somewhat of an entertainment news website. Anyone can still create a Myspace account and personalize it. Although Tom Anderson will not be the first friend on anyone’s account anymore, users can still get in touch with friends even their Facebook friends. Not only that! Features like posting articles, photos, music, and videos can totally be done in Myspace. Users can also choose from a wide array of content that is of their interest. What is really interesting about Myspace is its format featuring different genres of music. There’s this “Artist of the Day” tab that can give the users access to the songs of new musicians or artists. This is really something for music lovers like me!

Did I miss something? Share your great (or maybe not) Myspace memories in the comments below!