So this popular pre teen era was called the Xanga Stage. Every 11, 12 and 13 year old who had a computer and a camera participated in this activity we all know as Myspace. In order to pull off the perfect look in order to be popular on Myspace, I’ll take you through the look that everyone had to have. There were probably more than enough Tree Removal Companies that were in business from all the money these teens wasted on flash cameras and Jordan’s. After all, money does grow on trees because it’s made of paper.
Here are the credentials in order to pull off a successful Myspace profile picture. The guys must wear ripped jeans, an oversized white T-shirt, a backwards hat and a chain that probably had a cross on it ironically enough to pull off the perfect gangster look. The peace sign was also mandatory in this era and you might also get likes and comments if you were on a bike or in a park. For the girls a duck lips pose was mandatory. They would wear hoop earrings, Jordan’s and for some reason they developed a Spanish accent at this stage of life? It is also very essential that these pictures be taken in the mirror with the flash on. If the picture wasn’t taken in the mirror for girls, it was also acceptable to be in the front yard of your house bent over with a peace sign with your best friend.
Let’s not forget the most important thing you had to do before posting pictures. Of course it was the countless amount of hours of editing. I’m still a bit bitter about the fact that they took picnic.com away. I relied on that for every picture I ever put on. The first step is to do a teeth whitening and make sure it is way whiter than normal white teeth. The second step is to choose a hue. My personal favourite was the one that made it look like it was fall all the time. Another classic was to have your background of the picture grey or blurred out but you are still coloured in. Once you found the perfect filter then you had to add some song lyrics. Some classics included “I used to be love drunk but now I’m hung over”. As if we definitely knew what that meant at 12 years old.
Now that you have the 12 year-old look pulled off, you needed to get comments and likes. Therefore you messaged every person who you were acquainted with whether it was from school, sports or camp. Even if you never had an in-person conversation with these peers, you would have to awkwardly message them saying ‘like4like’ or ‘pc4pc’? The funny thing is they would do it and you would have to return the favour. The comment would usually consist of a heart comment or a ‘ur so pretty’ comment. Much like today, social media had us was wrapped around their finger because we think getting the most likes and comments makes us popular.