Classic Myspace retired In June, but its spirit endures on Tumblr.
The former social networking behemoth is like an Internet cockroach, refusing to die even after several virtual whacks inflicted by everyone from tech reporters, to Twitter haters, to your mom migrating to Facebook.
For most, the persistent image of Myspace is stuck in the early 2000s, when the website was in its prime -- years away from being revamped as a “social entertainment” site, complete with an unrecognizable design and Justin Timberlake’s face splayed across the branding. Top 8 drama still ruined friendships. Bulletins, not status updates, broadcasted news to all your friends.
The site turns 10 years old this month. While you can't dredge up old Myspace, don't get too wrapped up in your own nostalgia. Tumblr is basically the reincarnation of classic Myspace -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing.
1. Usernames
When people on Myspace would have names like this: pic.twitter.com/5QnkHfbzto— Myspace Memories (@Myspace_Memory) March 27, 2013
Perhaps you've moved beyond arbitrarily uPPeR-cAseD usernames, but Tumblr isn't like Facebook. There's a good chance your Tumblr username isn't your actual name.
In fact, it might be more anonymous than your Myspace name, which frequently nodded to your real-life moniker. (Albeit, with more $ signs and artfully placed characters.)
2. Customized Layouts
Image: Glitter-Graphics
Image: Tumblr, verite-sur-moi
While you can avoid Tumblr layouts if you stick to your Dashboard, check out another user's homepage and you might experience a sensory overindulgence similar to your Myspace days.
Maybe you'll stumble upon the default theme or an eye-numbing neon color scheme. Maybe you'll find some chalky Comic Sans lettering, coupled with an overly-filtered Instagram photo tiled in the background. Follow the right blog, and you may even get a cursor that sends star trails across your screen. But only if you're lucky.
3. Celebrities
Image: Tumblr, Torie RPH
Myspace celebrity were famous simply for being on Myspace. Maybe you had a side music career or a DIY fashion line, but you were mostly known for being the loudest version of yourself -- loud enough to get attention.
Tila Tequila is perhaps the most well-known of the bunch, parlaying her infamy into a 2007 MTV reality show, A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila.
Tumblr fame operates in much the same way. Boasting an impressive number of followers can lead to recognition beyond the Tumblr community.
Tumblr-core rapper Kitty Pryde may not have a reality TV show, but Rolling Stone did name "Okay Cupid" one of the top songs of 2012.
4. Selfies
Thanks to Myspace, an entire generation learned how to shoot selfies and perfect their duck face. Dual camera phones didn't exist yet. Hence, the classic mirror shot.
TOILET MYSPACE SELFIES OH DAN YOU'D KNOW ALL ABOUT THOSE pic.twitter.com/BvRkWPWNAi— ☹ connie ☹ (@philbo_dangins) April 29, 2013
Tumblr is no stranger to the selfie. You'll inevitably see one on your Dashboard, especially cross-postings from Instagram.
Image: Tumblr, gothamsnexttoprobin
Whether you're pro- or anti-selfie, just be grateful that they're no longer dictated by your proximity to a bathroom mirror. Yay, technology!
5. Long, Emotional Rants
Image: neogaf
As a blogging platform, Tumblr naturally lends itself to a lot of feelings.
"The feels" may be Tumblr lingo, but the Myspace ecosystem encompassed the experience before there was a nifty term for it. Reading a friend's Myspace blog was a similar, intense experience, rife with cryptic passive-aggressive titles that indicated if a post was drenched in self-pity, self-loathing, or some other combination of angst.
6. Online Lovers
Image: Tumblr, holymaurymotherofgod
Myspace boyfriends and girlfriends existed only online, and were the object of equal parts mockery and concern back when the site was portrayed as a hotbed for stranger danger.
You know what they're exactly like? Tumblr boyfriends or girlfriends. (Yes, they exist.)
Image: Tumblr, dealwithitsweetie
Now, people broadcast calls for a special someone to be their better (Tumblr) half. On the bright side, there's no longer the need to awkwardly message some rando because you both put the same band in your Top 8.
7. Fan Role-Playing Communities
Character-driven role-playing thrived on Myspace, where individuals created fake profiles for book or movie characters and interacted with others as those characters.
After more social networks, like YouTube, popped up, users incorporated the new platforms into their character's Myspace presence.
Image: Tumblr, maywoodhills-rp
That lineage has continued on Tumblr, with fandom-specific or entirely original role-playing.
There's a heavier reliance of GIF responses for tasks and prompts now, though.
8. That One Loved/Loathed Archetype
Image: Tumblr, ssuicidaldreamss
Myspace was home to many a Hot Topic devotee, most of whom rocked pink-streaked hair and electric blue eyeliner, and pouted profusely for the camera. The Myspace community either identified with the subculture, or expressed varying levels of disdain for the emo and scene kids that characterized the site.
Image: Tumblr, Nuclear GIF Reactor
If Tumblr has one loved/loathed archetype, it's hipsters. But while many emo kids wore that label like a badge of pride, the first rule of hipsterdom is never say that you're a hipster.
Haters still hate.
9. GIFs
GIFs live and breathe (and reblog) ad nauseum on Tumblr, but who can forget the old school word art GIFs embedded on Classic Myspace pages?
Image: Tumblr, animatedtext
They left their home on Myspace to start new roots on Tumblr, because Facebook was unwelcome territory.
It was a successful migration.
Image: ChillyHill
10. Freedom of Expression
Image: Tumblr, trustmeiamalawstudent
There was something precious about that early, unbridled frenzy of classic Myspace, when people expressed themselves without worrying that their science teacher would judge their profile pics. Now, you expect to be Googled.
But Tumblr, with all its customization and funky usernames, retains some of that experimental energy. It's not squeaky-clean professionalism, and it might make you cringe in a few years, but that's actually a wonderful thing.