Remembering MySpace in 2021

I signed up for a SpaceHey account today for the sole reason that it looks like old school MySpace. The student who wrote it is too young to have belonged to the site back then, but was inspired by stories his parents and others told about it. My current MySpace account was created to explore the MySpace reboot as a music platform. It's looks nothing like its popular social media version, and maybe that's why it makes me sad. 

I only vaguely remember killing my original MySpace profile in 2005 or 2006 because there was a new search feature that let users find people "near you." This meant I got several friend requests a day from any girl within 50 miles who was old enough to be online without supervision but too young to drive. I was in my mid-twenties, and that sort of attention really didn't appeal to me.

This was about the time that MySpace had become so customizable that many profiles were unviewable. My high school friends were mostly married with careers and not on MySpace ... which left my feed full of younger friends who posted blurry webcam photos and pixelated photos of parties from slightly wet, slightly damaged digital cameras. (Remember the Kodak EasyShare?)

Because I killed my profile and didn't regret it, you would think I wouldn't feel any nostalgia for MySpace, but I do. I was slightly too old or maybe just too serious for social media back then. So I missed out on what so many remember so fondly. I don't remember MySpace being "necessary" for social connections. Nor do I recall it being politically divisive even though there were bitter fights about Iraq and WMD at the time.

I think that's what I miss: social media being simple, optional, and fun. Hopefully SpaceHey will stay that way for a while. Come find me if you like.

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