MySpace sparked the beginning of Millennial’s addiction to social media
MySpace.com was the social media platform that first created the addiction to social media for many millennials. Myspace was the King of social media during the Mid 2000s. When we talk about Myspace, we refer to it as our “MySpace days” because of it’s unique online culture. It can be best described as “iconic”.
MySpace was the place to be if you wanted to discover non-mainstream music, become tech savvy with HTML codes, obsess over your crush or join in on some top friend’s drama.
MySpace to some users may have been used to boost their ego by growing their social status on and off the website. The top 10 friends list represented the user’s social and love life. You were able to tell who was in a relationship when two people had each other as their top 1 friend. For many creatives, MySpace was their holy grail. From exploring thousands of layouts and songs to expressing themselves in the “about me” section, MySpace provided the tools and opportunity for the user to express themselves. Can we talk about HTML and how we all thought we were tech savvy with our unique and customizable layouts? Being able to customize our layouts gave the amazing feeling of creative freedom. Myspace was also the music gurus place to be! Before Spotify and Youtube, MySpace was the platform where we discovered new music. Myspace became very well known for its non-mainstream music. If you listened to music on Myspace instead of the radio, you were considered “cool”. The song you chose for your page was considered very important because it was considered your “first impression”.
The scene kids of the generation dominated the MySpace platform. Scene kids were considered the “influencers” of MySpace. They were defined as the “trendsetters” of the mid to late 2000s.They became popular off of their unique style and music taste. Some trends that scene kids where known for was their choppy hair, writing “rawr” on their converse, attending rock concerts, shopping at Hot Topic, massive eye liner and only hanging out with fellow scene kids who were on their level.
During the peak of MySpace popularity, Millennials were either in middle school or high school. They were not able to drive or have a job. MySpace was there to relieve their boredom (especially during the summer), make friends, and express their true individuality or of what most people may say “it’s a phase”. There weren’t many social networking sites around to compete with; therefore, it made it easier for MySpace to become king. Nothing could compare to this iconic website until Facebook gained its popularity in the late 2000s-making MySpace irrelevant.