1 00:00:10,282 --> 00:00:15,442 Speaker 1: This is an I heeart original. I don't want to 2 00:00:15,442 --> 00:00:18,522 Speaker 1: make it seem like the overwhelming whiteness of the scene 3 00:00:18,562 --> 00:00:23,002 Speaker 1: necessarily stopped me or stopped other seeing kids of color, 4 00:00:23,042 --> 00:00:26,842 Speaker 1: like seeing because of color, often banded together and boosted 5 00:00:27,562 --> 00:00:31,282 Speaker 1: each other up when you know the elite kids didn't. 6 00:00:31,442 --> 00:00:34,442 Speaker 1: There were trains that were just for seeing kids of color, which, 7 00:00:34,442 --> 00:00:36,762 Speaker 1: of course the white kids was super racist. And I'm like, 8 00:00:37,042 --> 00:00:39,562 Speaker 1: how many black people are running your train? Though we 9 00:00:39,802 --> 00:00:43,842 Speaker 1: did talk to each other and we were talking about 10 00:00:45,162 --> 00:00:47,722 Speaker 1: these issues even back then, even as kids in our 11 00:00:47,802 --> 00:00:52,362 Speaker 1: like sort of unworldly way. I'm Joan McNeil, and this 12 00:00:52,522 --> 00:00:57,722 Speaker 1: is main accounts the story of my Space episode four, 13 00:00:58,482 --> 00:01:05,162 Speaker 1: Seeing Kids by the mid Offs, my Space was a 14 00:01:05,162 --> 00:01:13,202 Speaker 1: cultural phenomenon like this Saturday night Live sketch. What's up, everybody. 15 00:01:13,242 --> 00:01:15,682 Speaker 1: I am pumped to welcome you to the learning annexes 16 00:01:15,762 --> 00:01:19,202 Speaker 1: MySpace and you seminar today we're gonna help you, guys 17 00:01:19,202 --> 00:01:21,522 Speaker 1: set up a MySpace page so that you can communicate 18 00:01:21,522 --> 00:01:24,202 Speaker 1: with more than six million young people currently in the 19 00:01:24,202 --> 00:01:28,122 Speaker 1: MySpace community. Most depictions of MySpace and the media zeroed 20 00:01:28,122 --> 00:01:31,242 Speaker 1: in on it as a scuzzy place where kids were 21 00:01:31,282 --> 00:01:34,802 Speaker 1: getting into trouble. It's one of the Internet's most popular sites, 22 00:01:34,922 --> 00:01:39,642 Speaker 1: posting messages that are tasteless, sometimes x rated, and also illegal. Tonight, 23 00:01:39,682 --> 00:01:42,362 Speaker 1: a woman beaten, robbed, and then tormented by her attackers 24 00:01:42,562 --> 00:01:45,682 Speaker 1: again days later. The victim says that she was set 25 00:01:45,762 --> 00:01:48,642 Speaker 1: up on a website the thousands of kids and adults 26 00:01:48,762 --> 00:01:52,962 Speaker 1: use every day the social networking site MySpace. In two 27 00:01:53,042 --> 00:01:57,122 Speaker 1: thousand and seven, nearly eighty percent of twelve to seventeen 28 00:01:57,162 --> 00:02:02,002 Speaker 1: year olds in America use MySpace at least weekly. Technically, 29 00:02:02,042 --> 00:02:05,202 Speaker 1: the age limit to use MySpace was fourteen, but it 30 00:02:05,282 --> 00:02:08,562 Speaker 1: was easy to get around that age of it. Adults 31 00:02:08,562 --> 00:02:10,642 Speaker 1: could sign up for an account with a fake birth 32 00:02:10,722 --> 00:02:14,202 Speaker 1: year so it showed they were fourteen years old, or 33 00:02:14,242 --> 00:02:17,882 Speaker 1: fourteen year olds could say they were eighteen. Eleven year 34 00:02:17,922 --> 00:02:22,002 Speaker 1: olds could have said they were fourteen, or, as MySpace 35 00:02:22,122 --> 00:02:25,082 Speaker 1: users often did to be cool, they might have said 36 00:02:25,122 --> 00:02:29,282 Speaker 1: they were ninety nine years old. But even if MySpace 37 00:02:29,362 --> 00:02:33,962 Speaker 1: had strictly enforest age limits, even if that were possible, 38 00:02:34,522 --> 00:02:40,242 Speaker 1: fourteen years old is still really young. MySpace amplified the 39 00:02:40,322 --> 00:02:45,002 Speaker 1: ongoing world panic around teenagers on the Internet. In two 40 00:02:45,042 --> 00:02:47,802 Speaker 1: thousand and five, there was a movie called Hard Candy, 41 00:02:48,042 --> 00:02:51,482 Speaker 1: with Elliott Page playing a fourteen year old who meets 42 00:02:51,482 --> 00:02:55,082 Speaker 1: a thirty something man over the Internet. Without giving too 43 00:02:55,162 --> 00:02:58,482 Speaker 1: much of the plot away. It might have inspired the 44 00:02:58,522 --> 00:03:02,842 Speaker 1: more recent release Promising, Young Woman, you just didn't really 45 00:03:02,842 --> 00:03:04,242 Speaker 1: look like the kind of guy he was to meet 46 00:03:04,362 --> 00:03:07,922 Speaker 1: rolls over the Internet. Well, I think it's better to 47 00:03:08,002 --> 00:03:10,962 Speaker 1: meet people online first, sometimes get to know what they're 48 00:03:10,962 --> 00:03:15,722 Speaker 1: like inside. For these young MySpace users, the youngest on 49 00:03:15,762 --> 00:03:19,802 Speaker 1: the social network, many of the trials of teenhood were 50 00:03:19,802 --> 00:03:24,082 Speaker 1: transposed from the locker rooms, lunch rooms, and high school 51 00:03:24,122 --> 00:03:28,842 Speaker 1: corridors to the MySpace realm of testimonials and top eight. 52 00:03:29,482 --> 00:03:33,842 Speaker 1: Harassment and bullying took on a new dimension, and on MySpace, 53 00:03:34,082 --> 00:03:37,122 Speaker 1: the limits to who could bully you weren't constricted to 54 00:03:37,162 --> 00:03:40,002 Speaker 1: other teens at school. Anyone in the world with an 55 00:03:40,042 --> 00:03:43,602 Speaker 1: account could give you grief. In two thousand and nine, 56 00:03:43,922 --> 00:03:48,042 Speaker 1: a high school student received harassing messages on MySpace from 57 00:03:48,042 --> 00:03:52,362 Speaker 1: her father's creditors. A collection agency working on behalf of 58 00:03:52,442 --> 00:03:56,562 Speaker 1: JP Morgan Chase allegedly threatened her in an attempt to 59 00:03:56,602 --> 00:04:00,362 Speaker 1: attimidate her father into paying back his loan. That's just 60 00:04:00,562 --> 00:04:04,682 Speaker 1: one of the warped experiences that ordinary teenagers were having 61 00:04:04,682 --> 00:04:10,802 Speaker 1: on MySpace, living their lives with online avatars. These experiences 62 00:04:10,802 --> 00:04:14,802 Speaker 1: were bizarre, and it was all becoming commonplace. All the 63 00:04:14,922 --> 00:04:19,122 Speaker 1: drawbacks to online attention that early influencers had to deal with, 64 00:04:19,882 --> 00:04:25,122 Speaker 1: the underbelly of fame seeking and celebrity obsession, the surveillance 65 00:04:25,202 --> 00:04:31,002 Speaker 1: of scrutiny that was impacting ordinary youth. But was it 66 00:04:31,082 --> 00:04:35,202 Speaker 1: really worse than any reality that teenagers throughout history have known. 67 00:04:36,362 --> 00:04:40,962 Speaker 1: There's always been this backlash to youth culture that makes 68 00:04:41,002 --> 00:04:46,482 Speaker 1: whatever the technology of the day is into the villain. 69 00:04:47,002 --> 00:04:50,602 Speaker 1: There's something about the transition from childhood to adulthood that 70 00:04:51,682 --> 00:04:55,962 Speaker 1: lends itself to the victimization of young people but also 71 00:04:56,162 --> 00:04:59,882 Speaker 1: to their liberation. And I don't think that I can 72 00:05:00,082 --> 00:05:03,122 Speaker 1: extricate the two. But I know that's complicated and messy. 73 00:05:03,242 --> 00:05:09,442 Speaker 1: But what coming of age story isn't you know? That's 74 00:05:09,562 --> 00:05:13,962 Speaker 1: nor Al Sabai, author of MySpace Scene Queens, which is 75 00:05:14,042 --> 00:05:18,202 Speaker 1: forthcoming with the Remember the Internet series from in Star Publishing. 76 00:05:19,042 --> 00:05:22,282 Speaker 1: Nor was an active MySpace user in her use. I 77 00:05:22,322 --> 00:05:27,522 Speaker 1: don't remember exactly when I signed up from my Space. 78 00:05:27,562 --> 00:05:30,962 Speaker 1: I think it was right before I started high school, 79 00:05:31,642 --> 00:05:35,082 Speaker 1: and I had some friends who were like there's this 80 00:05:35,162 --> 00:05:37,242 Speaker 1: website that we're all using to connect to people, and 81 00:05:37,282 --> 00:05:40,562 Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, cool, maybe I can meet some 82 00:05:40,682 --> 00:05:43,562 Speaker 1: of my friends or meet some people who can become 83 00:05:43,602 --> 00:05:46,522 Speaker 1: friends when I started school because I was very nervous 84 00:05:46,522 --> 00:05:51,002 Speaker 1: about going high school. The first thing I remember on 85 00:05:51,042 --> 00:05:55,202 Speaker 1: my Space is finding this one girl's profile that was 86 00:05:55,322 --> 00:05:57,642 Speaker 1: very It was a completely fleshed out profile, which not 87 00:05:57,722 --> 00:05:59,882 Speaker 1: many people had in the year of two thousand and five. 88 00:06:00,642 --> 00:06:02,882 Speaker 1: She had a lot of interesting music. She wasn't even 89 00:06:02,922 --> 00:06:06,482 Speaker 1: a scene kid herself. She was just like a pretty 90 00:06:06,682 --> 00:06:11,122 Speaker 1: nor more like cool girl. And she had a song 91 00:06:11,242 --> 00:06:15,042 Speaker 1: playing on her profile by the man band My Morning Jacket, 92 00:06:15,762 --> 00:06:19,602 Speaker 1: which I got into then at the ripe age of fourteen, 93 00:06:20,402 --> 00:06:22,322 Speaker 1: and I developed a crush on this girl, of course, 94 00:06:22,362 --> 00:06:25,962 Speaker 1: and so I didn't understand that part of myself at all, 95 00:06:26,002 --> 00:06:28,802 Speaker 1: but yeah, that was That was the beginning of my 96 00:06:28,882 --> 00:06:32,482 Speaker 1: Space for me. Nora had been out on the Internet 97 00:06:32,522 --> 00:06:35,522 Speaker 1: for a while before my Space, on sites like have 98 00:06:35,682 --> 00:06:39,682 Speaker 1: a Hotel and Harry Potter fan fiction communities. She built 99 00:06:39,682 --> 00:06:43,322 Speaker 1: an Orlando Blue fan site when she was twelve, but 100 00:06:43,722 --> 00:06:46,882 Speaker 1: the immediate way that my Space connected users to one 101 00:06:46,882 --> 00:06:52,322 Speaker 1: another seemed totally new. That girl she noticed my Space 102 00:06:52,362 --> 00:06:57,442 Speaker 1: seemed to encourage her to look I guess she was 103 00:06:57,442 --> 00:06:59,722 Speaker 1: like friends with some people who I already knew, the 104 00:06:59,802 --> 00:07:01,682 Speaker 1: kind of you know, like the kind of way you 105 00:07:01,762 --> 00:07:07,802 Speaker 1: click through on someone's Instagram from a friend's file or whatever. 106 00:07:08,282 --> 00:07:11,042 Speaker 1: Just ay, it's weird to call it natural, but a 107 00:07:11,122 --> 00:07:15,362 Speaker 1: very natural progression of just like how you find other 108 00:07:15,442 --> 00:07:19,962 Speaker 1: people's profiles on a social network in pretty like organic 109 00:07:20,002 --> 00:07:23,922 Speaker 1: social ways, Except this was I believe the first time 110 00:07:23,962 --> 00:07:27,642 Speaker 1: I ever did that, making it a really different experience 111 00:07:27,682 --> 00:07:32,602 Speaker 1: for me. Nor quickly became immersed to the site. One 112 00:07:32,642 --> 00:07:36,562 Speaker 1: thing appealing about my Space was how popularity didn't translate 113 00:07:36,602 --> 00:07:39,762 Speaker 1: the same into the Internet. It wasn't the cheerleaders who 114 00:07:39,762 --> 00:07:44,442 Speaker 1: seemed cool on MySpace, the kids with more of an edge. 115 00:07:45,082 --> 00:07:50,202 Speaker 1: It was a very interesting but confusing place to be 116 00:07:50,642 --> 00:07:56,002 Speaker 1: in the high school social strata, because previously these would 117 00:07:56,002 --> 00:08:00,042 Speaker 1: have been people considered freaks, you know, if we're going 118 00:08:00,082 --> 00:08:03,922 Speaker 1: with the sort of breakfast club archetypes, these would have 119 00:08:03,962 --> 00:08:08,202 Speaker 1: been the two characters who were wearing all black, and 120 00:08:09,282 --> 00:08:13,682 Speaker 1: the way my Space sort of amplified their reach made 121 00:08:13,682 --> 00:08:17,722 Speaker 1: them out to be much more popular than they would 122 00:08:17,722 --> 00:08:21,242 Speaker 1: have otherwise been Without it, I think queerness seemed to 123 00:08:21,322 --> 00:08:25,082 Speaker 1: nor I was more accepted on my space. She was 124 00:08:25,162 --> 00:08:28,762 Speaker 1: just figuring out that side of herself. Part of the 125 00:08:28,802 --> 00:08:32,682 Speaker 1: appeal of the site was just the general queerness of 126 00:08:32,722 --> 00:08:35,522 Speaker 1: the place where all the boys and the girls looked 127 00:08:35,562 --> 00:08:40,522 Speaker 1: the same and there was this level of very deliberate androgyny. 128 00:08:41,242 --> 00:08:44,162 Speaker 1: My space was, to use a term from the era, 129 00:08:44,922 --> 00:08:59,042 Speaker 1: a scene after the break, we're going to look deeper 130 00:08:59,082 --> 00:09:03,482 Speaker 1: at the Emo scene. That's right, the dark side of Emo. 131 00:09:04,882 --> 00:09:15,362 Speaker 1: L just kidding BRB. For listeners over the age of 132 00:09:15,362 --> 00:09:18,842 Speaker 1: forty five or under the age of thirty, let's break 133 00:09:18,882 --> 00:09:22,242 Speaker 1: down what Emo, the music phenomena of the two thousands 134 00:09:22,962 --> 00:09:28,002 Speaker 1: was all about. Explaining Emo is like, well, how long 135 00:09:28,002 --> 00:09:31,562 Speaker 1: do you have? This is a seven R level college course. 136 00:09:32,282 --> 00:09:38,402 Speaker 1: But my connection to the emo movement style it was 137 00:09:38,602 --> 00:09:44,082 Speaker 1: basically about being very emotional, hence the Emo part, and 138 00:09:44,122 --> 00:09:48,162 Speaker 1: it was basically centered around like boys that cried and 139 00:09:48,242 --> 00:09:51,002 Speaker 1: like had strong emotions, and the music was always like 140 00:09:51,082 --> 00:09:53,402 Speaker 1: these sad boys with like dark hair and bangs in 141 00:09:53,442 --> 00:09:56,522 Speaker 1: their eyes, just like crying about how how mean girls 142 00:09:56,562 --> 00:10:00,962 Speaker 1: are to them. But we were like overvalidating that like 143 00:10:01,122 --> 00:10:04,602 Speaker 1: extreme expression of emotion, and then you know, the girls 144 00:10:04,602 --> 00:10:06,722 Speaker 1: in the community also were just like there was a 145 00:10:06,722 --> 00:10:09,162 Speaker 1: lot of talk about mental illness, want to talk about depression, 146 00:10:09,682 --> 00:10:11,482 Speaker 1: and it was kind of bonding over the fact that 147 00:10:11,522 --> 00:10:13,922 Speaker 1: we feel like crap all the time, which is kind 148 00:10:13,922 --> 00:10:18,442 Speaker 1: of just being a teenager. I mean, some people myself concluded, 149 00:10:18,522 --> 00:10:20,962 Speaker 1: did find out that we did have some mental illnesses. 150 00:10:21,002 --> 00:10:23,882 Speaker 1: Go figure, But it was it was a lot about 151 00:10:23,922 --> 00:10:28,162 Speaker 1: like embracing sadness, embracing darkness, finding the aesthetic that suited 152 00:10:28,242 --> 00:10:31,522 Speaker 1: somebody who felt like they were alone, felt like they 153 00:10:31,522 --> 00:10:35,362 Speaker 1: were sad all the time. Some of these emo bands 154 00:10:35,522 --> 00:10:39,762 Speaker 1: had serious style too, like Panic at the disco, I 155 00:10:40,002 --> 00:10:45,882 Speaker 1: come in with the heavens people ever heard of closing discope, 156 00:10:46,122 --> 00:10:51,162 Speaker 1: it's must better to face they because they were sort 157 00:10:51,162 --> 00:10:54,122 Speaker 1: of the big theatrical band that was coming up when 158 00:10:54,162 --> 00:10:56,762 Speaker 1: I was in high school, and it is it's it's 159 00:10:56,922 --> 00:11:01,082 Speaker 1: very dramatic. It's very theatrical. It's very you know, candlesticks 160 00:11:01,122 --> 00:11:04,082 Speaker 1: on a dining table in a castle, but everyone's dead 161 00:11:04,082 --> 00:11:07,842 Speaker 1: at the dinner party. Like it's it's super super dramatic. 162 00:11:07,922 --> 00:11:13,562 Speaker 1: So you know, teams. That's Alexis Ned. She's an entertainment 163 00:11:13,602 --> 00:11:17,002 Speaker 1: reporter and author. My first novel don't hate the player 164 00:11:17,202 --> 00:11:20,802 Speaker 1: is out right now And I was a MySpace then, kid. 165 00:11:21,402 --> 00:11:24,442 Speaker 1: There is something funny about that era of being emo 166 00:11:24,602 --> 00:11:26,722 Speaker 1: or goth or where you could be the one at 167 00:11:26,722 --> 00:11:30,002 Speaker 1: your school, but you're still part of some community. It's 168 00:11:30,042 --> 00:11:32,722 Speaker 1: just like elsewhere. And in this case it was like 169 00:11:32,762 --> 00:11:35,722 Speaker 1: on the internet, right, yeah, yeah, I mean you you 170 00:11:35,762 --> 00:11:39,482 Speaker 1: sort of enjoy the feeling of being a little isolated 171 00:11:39,562 --> 00:11:42,802 Speaker 1: because it means that you're validated by the online community 172 00:11:42,802 --> 00:11:45,482 Speaker 1: who were all talking about how isolated they are while 173 00:11:45,522 --> 00:11:49,842 Speaker 1: forming like these giant groups together or you know, virtually. Yeah, 174 00:11:49,922 --> 00:11:52,522 Speaker 1: that was very much a part of the identity where 175 00:11:52,482 --> 00:11:56,122 Speaker 1: it was kind of like a Batman style. We all 176 00:11:56,202 --> 00:11:58,762 Speaker 1: feel like Bruce Wayne, but then we get online and 177 00:11:58,882 --> 00:12:02,682 Speaker 1: like who we are the night Alexis had already felt 178 00:12:02,722 --> 00:12:05,442 Speaker 1: like an outside or at school. I grew up in 179 00:12:05,562 --> 00:12:08,962 Speaker 1: northern New Jersey and I went to a private school, 180 00:12:09,002 --> 00:12:11,162 Speaker 1: a very small private school. And I'm also black in 181 00:12:11,202 --> 00:12:15,802 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican visibly so, and it was a prep school. Everybody, 182 00:12:15,882 --> 00:12:18,882 Speaker 1: almost everybody else in my grade was like very wealthy, 183 00:12:19,082 --> 00:12:22,042 Speaker 1: white preppie kids with you know, they were popping the 184 00:12:22,042 --> 00:12:24,402 Speaker 1: collars on their polos back then. I'm not sure if 185 00:12:24,402 --> 00:12:26,322 Speaker 1: they're doing that now. I mean, they're bringing back the 186 00:12:26,362 --> 00:12:29,042 Speaker 1: two thousands, and I'm like, gen Z, don't pop the collars. 187 00:12:29,122 --> 00:12:31,562 Speaker 1: You don't have to whatevery else you bring back. But 188 00:12:31,682 --> 00:12:34,562 Speaker 1: that was very much the vibe, and I did not 189 00:12:34,642 --> 00:12:38,082 Speaker 1: fit in there for I mean racial reasons, but also 190 00:12:38,162 --> 00:12:40,322 Speaker 1: I was, you know, a bit of a weird kid 191 00:12:40,442 --> 00:12:43,602 Speaker 1: and a and a nerd, and for me that to 192 00:12:43,762 --> 00:12:48,322 Speaker 1: identify against my peers at school was like the emo 193 00:12:48,442 --> 00:12:52,682 Speaker 1: kids who had, you know, all the palefaces and the makeup. 194 00:12:53,722 --> 00:12:57,882 Speaker 1: My Space is where Alexis refined her scene identity, adding 195 00:12:57,962 --> 00:13:01,442 Speaker 1: strangers as friends because she thought so look cool on 196 00:13:01,482 --> 00:13:05,522 Speaker 1: my Space she needed a big friend count. I just 197 00:13:05,562 --> 00:13:09,002 Speaker 1: went from like zero six stee on, like I'm in 198 00:13:09,082 --> 00:13:12,442 Speaker 1: ninth grade and I'm posting pictures from like my fencing tournament, 199 00:13:12,802 --> 00:13:15,722 Speaker 1: so like taking all of my regular friends off and 200 00:13:15,802 --> 00:13:19,162 Speaker 1: just adding like hundreds of kids with like dark emo 201 00:13:19,242 --> 00:13:24,362 Speaker 1: bangs and an eyeliner and like roarer necklaces. Just every day, 202 00:13:24,402 --> 00:13:27,162 Speaker 1: like hundreds of strangers. And I didn't really talk to 203 00:13:27,202 --> 00:13:30,402 Speaker 1: any of them. It was just more about the number. 204 00:13:30,762 --> 00:13:34,882 Speaker 1: And like the courtesy of commenting on pictures, commenting on 205 00:13:34,922 --> 00:13:39,002 Speaker 1: people's walls and from that moment on Alexis was part 206 00:13:39,082 --> 00:13:43,762 Speaker 1: of the MySpace scene, seeing kids kind of prideed themselves 207 00:13:43,922 --> 00:13:48,762 Speaker 1: on being very vain, having a certain hairstyle, having certain makeups. 208 00:13:48,802 --> 00:13:52,722 Speaker 1: Everything was about getting new pictures on my Space, photoshopping 209 00:13:52,762 --> 00:13:56,122 Speaker 1: the pictures, like I learned how to photoshop because I 210 00:13:56,162 --> 00:13:58,482 Speaker 1: was making my pictures look sceny, and I would like 211 00:13:59,082 --> 00:14:02,362 Speaker 1: trade people shops of their photos and they would like 212 00:14:02,362 --> 00:14:05,322 Speaker 1: boost me on their profiles, like it was an actual currency. 213 00:14:05,562 --> 00:14:09,042 Speaker 1: Was like pictures and the pale face stripes in the hair. 214 00:14:09,682 --> 00:14:11,962 Speaker 1: What kind of reactions were hoping for and what kind 215 00:14:11,962 --> 00:14:15,162 Speaker 1: of reactions to you typically get if you put up 216 00:14:15,162 --> 00:14:19,842 Speaker 1: a new avatar. Yeah, on pictures and stuff. There was 217 00:14:19,922 --> 00:14:24,762 Speaker 1: kind of like a code of the scene where it's 218 00:14:24,802 --> 00:14:29,122 Speaker 1: like you usually don't tear people's pictures down unless they're 219 00:14:29,162 --> 00:14:32,562 Speaker 1: like completely tragic. So really it's like you you post 220 00:14:32,562 --> 00:14:35,042 Speaker 1: a picture up, you tell people that you have a 221 00:14:35,042 --> 00:14:38,922 Speaker 1: new picture up, and then your followers will comment on 222 00:14:38,922 --> 00:14:43,122 Speaker 1: the picture something else nice like oh love your hair 223 00:14:43,322 --> 00:14:46,922 Speaker 1: so cute rawer xo xo, but you had to return 224 00:14:46,962 --> 00:14:48,642 Speaker 1: it and you would post on the forum pick for 225 00:14:48,762 --> 00:14:51,762 Speaker 1: pick F for F, which is like friend for friend, 226 00:14:52,002 --> 00:14:55,282 Speaker 1: and it always was reciprocal, so you were kind of 227 00:14:55,322 --> 00:15:00,522 Speaker 1: passing along the positive mostly completely pointless validation to each 228 00:15:00,562 --> 00:15:02,882 Speaker 1: other just to get like a little pop up I said, 229 00:15:02,922 --> 00:15:06,242 Speaker 1: you know, new new picture comment, new new friend request. 230 00:15:06,522 --> 00:15:11,202 Speaker 1: It was very, very much a constant trade off that 231 00:15:11,322 --> 00:15:14,522 Speaker 1: just kind of sustained itself as opposed to creating anything 232 00:15:14,522 --> 00:15:17,842 Speaker 1: else outside of the community. Did you have a subsort 233 00:15:17,882 --> 00:15:20,682 Speaker 1: of self being young in that community though, because even fourteen, 234 00:15:20,842 --> 00:15:23,482 Speaker 1: for these sort of twenty three year old guys, maybe 235 00:15:23,962 --> 00:15:27,242 Speaker 1: not really. I would say like thirteen was probably young, 236 00:15:27,282 --> 00:15:31,122 Speaker 1: but fourteen seemed at the time definitely the appropriate age 237 00:15:31,482 --> 00:15:35,242 Speaker 1: at which to enter a community of strangers on the Internet. 238 00:15:35,522 --> 00:15:38,442 Speaker 1: I mean pretty much anyone over eighteen was viewed as 239 00:15:38,442 --> 00:15:42,922 Speaker 1: as quite old. You might be wondering how young alexis, 240 00:15:43,442 --> 00:15:48,642 Speaker 1: Very very young alexis even found all these other scenesters. 241 00:15:49,562 --> 00:15:53,162 Speaker 1: A lot of that happened through these sorority style clubs 242 00:15:53,242 --> 00:16:00,882 Speaker 1: on my Space called scene trains. The scene train Delia 243 00:16:00,962 --> 00:16:04,202 Speaker 1: went like this, someone starts a scene train, they'd name 244 00:16:04,242 --> 00:16:08,202 Speaker 1: it something. Usually it's an acronym that also has a 245 00:16:08,242 --> 00:16:12,122 Speaker 1: combolated title, like one was like narcissistic, a holes and 246 00:16:12,242 --> 00:16:14,842 Speaker 1: sadistic something. But it's spill about NASA, so you could 247 00:16:14,842 --> 00:16:19,002 Speaker 1: put NASA on there, and they would have these blog 248 00:16:19,042 --> 00:16:21,922 Speaker 1: posts that would go out and it was usually like 249 00:16:22,162 --> 00:16:25,442 Speaker 1: very early Internet like graphics where they had you know, 250 00:16:25,522 --> 00:16:28,962 Speaker 1: like a little moving gifts and music would play, and 251 00:16:29,522 --> 00:16:33,202 Speaker 1: it was always presented in tiers, so like the train 252 00:16:33,402 --> 00:16:35,882 Speaker 1: heads would be at the top of their very big pictures, 253 00:16:35,882 --> 00:16:39,042 Speaker 1: and then like the VIPs within the train would have 254 00:16:39,082 --> 00:16:41,922 Speaker 1: like medium sized pictures, and then there was like the 255 00:16:42,002 --> 00:16:45,842 Speaker 1: regular people who were still on the train who would 256 00:16:45,882 --> 00:16:48,282 Speaker 1: get like smaller pictures. And the way to get into 257 00:16:48,322 --> 00:16:49,682 Speaker 1: a train was you had to go through what you 258 00:16:49,722 --> 00:16:51,962 Speaker 1: had to add as a friend every single person on 259 00:16:51,962 --> 00:16:54,202 Speaker 1: that train, and then once they checked that you had 260 00:16:54,242 --> 00:16:57,442 Speaker 1: added everybody, you could put your submission in and it 261 00:16:57,442 --> 00:17:01,162 Speaker 1: was basically a picture linked to your MySpace profile MySpace scene. 262 00:17:01,242 --> 00:17:07,122 Speaker 1: Kids took these applications very seriously. Some people have like 263 00:17:07,202 --> 00:17:11,162 Speaker 1: legit applications, like written applications that you had to like 264 00:17:11,442 --> 00:17:14,802 Speaker 1: email to people. I mean some people did it by committee. 265 00:17:14,842 --> 00:17:16,962 Speaker 1: Some people it was just one person deciding like hot 266 00:17:17,082 --> 00:17:18,962 Speaker 1: or not? Are you seen enough? Are you not seen 267 00:17:19,122 --> 00:17:21,442 Speaker 1: enough for our train to put your picture next to 268 00:17:21,442 --> 00:17:25,802 Speaker 1: our pictures. That was how that process went along, and 269 00:17:25,882 --> 00:17:29,322 Speaker 1: getting accepted on those lists was like the ultimate currency. 270 00:17:29,402 --> 00:17:32,122 Speaker 1: Like you would put the abbreviations of the trains you 271 00:17:32,122 --> 00:17:36,242 Speaker 1: were on in your profile name, but those trains were 272 00:17:37,602 --> 00:17:40,762 Speaker 1: curated by usually one or two people that the train heads, 273 00:17:41,002 --> 00:17:43,002 Speaker 1: and basically if you weren't hot enough, you didn't get on. 274 00:17:43,962 --> 00:17:46,642 Speaker 1: The thing that I'm still stuck on, why did people 275 00:17:46,682 --> 00:17:48,562 Speaker 1: want to join this group in the first place, Like, 276 00:17:48,602 --> 00:17:54,242 Speaker 1: what do you get once you get into the train? Prestige? 277 00:17:54,722 --> 00:17:58,042 Speaker 1: It was one hundred percent prestige. Also because with the 278 00:17:58,882 --> 00:18:00,482 Speaker 1: it was twofold. So look, if you were in a 279 00:18:00,522 --> 00:18:02,962 Speaker 1: really good train, like people would just add you by 280 00:18:03,042 --> 00:18:05,922 Speaker 1: default because like you were, you were danged, you were 281 00:18:05,802 --> 00:18:08,002 Speaker 1: the best of the best in the scene. And the 282 00:18:08,042 --> 00:18:12,322 Speaker 1: other thing was because when the train got posted, you 283 00:18:12,482 --> 00:18:15,162 Speaker 1: got added, So people that wanted to join your train 284 00:18:15,442 --> 00:18:17,482 Speaker 1: had to add you as a friend. And I got 285 00:18:17,482 --> 00:18:19,762 Speaker 1: rejected from a lot of them, and the ones that 286 00:18:19,802 --> 00:18:21,442 Speaker 1: I did get on, one of my ones that I 287 00:18:21,482 --> 00:18:24,882 Speaker 1: was like super proud of actually getting into. They basically 288 00:18:24,922 --> 00:18:27,402 Speaker 1: decided who got on the train by committee, and they 289 00:18:27,402 --> 00:18:29,802 Speaker 1: would post in their group and they would say, ahoy, 290 00:18:29,882 --> 00:18:32,682 Speaker 1: here's the people that have applied Who's Gonna Get in. 291 00:18:33,002 --> 00:18:36,442 Speaker 1: Alexis was accepted into what was considered at the time 292 00:18:36,722 --> 00:18:41,202 Speaker 1: a very cool, very prestigious scene train. One day, she 293 00:18:41,282 --> 00:18:44,362 Speaker 1: was looking at the message board where people were discussing 294 00:18:44,482 --> 00:18:48,322 Speaker 1: possible new members. There were a bunch of comments about 295 00:18:48,362 --> 00:18:52,042 Speaker 1: one of the applicants. He was fifteen and a person 296 00:18:52,042 --> 00:18:56,322 Speaker 1: of color like Alexis. The comments the other people in 297 00:18:56,362 --> 00:19:02,522 Speaker 1: the train made about him shocked her. They said that 298 00:19:02,602 --> 00:19:04,762 Speaker 1: they couldn't accept him because he looked dirty. There was 299 00:19:04,802 --> 00:19:07,322 Speaker 1: one girl, never forget the comment. She says, like he's cute, 300 00:19:07,322 --> 00:19:08,722 Speaker 1: but I just want to like take some soap and 301 00:19:08,762 --> 00:19:13,042 Speaker 1: scrub him off. I read that, and at first I 302 00:19:13,042 --> 00:19:15,402 Speaker 1: didn't get it because I was like, he looks fine, 303 00:19:15,522 --> 00:19:18,602 Speaker 1: and then like it hit me. I was probably like fifteen. 304 00:19:18,682 --> 00:19:21,722 Speaker 1: I was like, oh, oh my god, you guys are 305 00:19:21,882 --> 00:19:27,082 Speaker 1: super racist, and that just it stung. Like I didn't 306 00:19:27,122 --> 00:19:29,922 Speaker 1: feel like I had enough social capital to say anything 307 00:19:29,962 --> 00:19:33,042 Speaker 1: about it, because you know, I would get kicked off 308 00:19:33,042 --> 00:19:35,002 Speaker 1: the train. But also it wouldn't mean anything to them 309 00:19:35,042 --> 00:19:38,602 Speaker 1: that another brown person was defending a brown person. And 310 00:19:38,682 --> 00:19:40,922 Speaker 1: that was kind of the beginning of the enter the 311 00:19:40,962 --> 00:19:44,562 Speaker 1: scene with me, Like I faded out and but I 312 00:19:44,802 --> 00:19:52,002 Speaker 1: just cut ties with it. After the break, we'll find 313 00:19:52,042 --> 00:19:55,722 Speaker 1: out how Alexis grew out of scenes and left my 314 00:19:55,802 --> 00:20:07,402 Speaker 1: space for good. The racist comments Alexis observed the Scene 315 00:20:07,442 --> 00:20:13,842 Speaker 1: train messageboard. We're not an isolated incident. It was jarring 316 00:20:13,962 --> 00:20:17,442 Speaker 1: because the kids in the scene trains had accepted her in, 317 00:20:18,322 --> 00:20:22,282 Speaker 1: but had they really and just watching things that people 318 00:20:22,322 --> 00:20:25,242 Speaker 1: would say about people trying to get on that train, 319 00:20:25,762 --> 00:20:30,482 Speaker 1: it was just like it was horendously racist, like beyond 320 00:20:31,002 --> 00:20:35,362 Speaker 1: I mean, like N words, W words. I don't know 321 00:20:35,402 --> 00:20:39,842 Speaker 1: if they just didn't think that I would. I actually know, 322 00:20:40,282 --> 00:20:42,202 Speaker 1: I do know they did not care if I saw 323 00:20:42,242 --> 00:20:44,682 Speaker 1: it or not. They were not thinking about me at all, 324 00:20:44,722 --> 00:20:47,162 Speaker 1: even a little bit, or anyone else who looked like me, 325 00:20:47,482 --> 00:20:50,722 Speaker 1: because we were not their their concern. And just reading 326 00:20:50,762 --> 00:20:53,682 Speaker 1: all of that was, as I said, not my first 327 00:20:53,882 --> 00:20:57,322 Speaker 1: racist experience, but it was the first time that I 328 00:20:57,402 --> 00:21:01,042 Speaker 1: had self selected a group by myself and forged a 329 00:21:01,082 --> 00:21:07,682 Speaker 1: part of my identity and had faced immediate racist backlash 330 00:21:08,082 --> 00:21:10,762 Speaker 1: in something that I picked for myself. This was something 331 00:21:10,762 --> 00:21:13,042 Speaker 1: that I chose, and I picked for myself, and I 332 00:21:13,322 --> 00:21:16,962 Speaker 1: still stepped in the racist dodo. I thought that I 333 00:21:16,962 --> 00:21:19,522 Speaker 1: was special to people if I was good enough, that 334 00:21:19,602 --> 00:21:21,762 Speaker 1: I was seen enough, I was pretty enough, people wouldn't notice. 335 00:21:21,842 --> 00:21:25,082 Speaker 1: It never works like that, And I thought that because 336 00:21:25,122 --> 00:21:27,122 Speaker 1: we had so many other things in common, there's no 337 00:21:27,162 --> 00:21:29,682 Speaker 1: way that those people could think that's about people like me, 338 00:21:30,242 --> 00:21:33,322 Speaker 1: which is also a tremendous fallacy when it comes to 339 00:21:33,642 --> 00:21:38,442 Speaker 1: whiteness and race. Alexis turned to the scene because it 340 00:21:38,482 --> 00:21:42,322 Speaker 1: seemed like everyone was commiserating over their intense emotions and 341 00:21:42,482 --> 00:21:47,082 Speaker 1: sense of social exclusion. The racism she encountered on my 342 00:21:47,162 --> 00:21:50,442 Speaker 1: Space from the emo kids went against what she felt 343 00:21:50,482 --> 00:21:55,602 Speaker 1: they had in common. Being an outsider. Yeah, being an outsider, 344 00:21:55,642 --> 00:21:57,362 Speaker 1: because I was an outsider at school, and I thought 345 00:21:57,402 --> 00:22:00,322 Speaker 1: that those are my fellow outsiders and I was not 346 00:22:00,362 --> 00:22:05,082 Speaker 1: their fellow outsider. Alexis had about twenty one thousand friends 347 00:22:05,122 --> 00:22:08,962 Speaker 1: on my Space at that point, but this experience was shattering, 348 00:22:09,562 --> 00:22:11,802 Speaker 1: like literally deleting all of them would have taken forever. 349 00:22:12,122 --> 00:22:15,322 Speaker 1: So I just knew the profile and went to college. 350 00:22:17,002 --> 00:22:19,482 Speaker 1: As for Nora, she did meet a lot of her 351 00:22:19,562 --> 00:22:23,362 Speaker 1: MySpace scene friends in person. Her scene was on and 352 00:22:23,642 --> 00:22:31,562 Speaker 1: offline internally in scenes. It was definitely a benefit to 353 00:22:32,082 --> 00:22:36,122 Speaker 1: the men in a lot of these bands and culturally, 354 00:22:36,282 --> 00:22:38,962 Speaker 1: even outside of what would have been considered scene culture, 355 00:22:40,042 --> 00:22:45,162 Speaker 1: there was that sort of rock star hipster mentality that 356 00:22:45,282 --> 00:22:50,402 Speaker 1: was popularized by vice of that era, by the kind 357 00:22:50,442 --> 00:22:53,042 Speaker 1: of parties that were happening in New York that week, 358 00:22:53,202 --> 00:22:56,562 Speaker 1: were trying to replicate in all of our suburban towns 359 00:22:56,602 --> 00:23:01,242 Speaker 1: all over the country, the sort of very chic debauchery 360 00:23:01,282 --> 00:23:06,322 Speaker 1: that we thought would make us so cool. Nor was 361 00:23:06,402 --> 00:23:09,682 Speaker 1: figuring out her identity as a queer woman, and my 362 00:23:09,762 --> 00:23:14,282 Speaker 1: face was part of this development. There were quite a 363 00:23:14,282 --> 00:23:19,282 Speaker 1: lot of queer people, and bisexuality, both for men and women, 364 00:23:19,362 --> 00:23:22,842 Speaker 1: for boys and for girls, was very celebrated. I can't 365 00:23:23,122 --> 00:23:26,682 Speaker 1: recall the number of times I saw posts that were 366 00:23:26,762 --> 00:23:30,242 Speaker 1: just a collection of images of scene boys kissing. That 367 00:23:30,362 --> 00:23:34,202 Speaker 1: was when girls got really into pictures of effeminate young 368 00:23:34,202 --> 00:23:37,242 Speaker 1: men kissing each other. And a lot of the girls 369 00:23:37,602 --> 00:23:43,722 Speaker 1: who were my bullies were bisexual themselves, which added a 370 00:23:43,762 --> 00:23:47,402 Speaker 1: whole other dimension to it, because there was a level 371 00:23:47,442 --> 00:23:53,122 Speaker 1: of rejection and the level of desire there that at 372 00:23:53,162 --> 00:23:56,682 Speaker 1: you know, at age fifteen, I was absolutely not prepared 373 00:23:56,722 --> 00:24:01,562 Speaker 1: to deal with. And I couldn't imagine also elements of 374 00:24:01,722 --> 00:24:06,082 Speaker 1: sexual harassment passibly too, when you're dealing with a number 375 00:24:06,122 --> 00:24:09,242 Speaker 1: of bisexual women like it that would that big character. 376 00:24:09,362 --> 00:24:12,122 Speaker 1: Absolutely that you hit the nail on the head of 377 00:24:12,202 --> 00:24:18,282 Speaker 1: that one, and there was definitely, especially when drugs and 378 00:24:18,322 --> 00:24:21,722 Speaker 1: alcohol were involved, there were women taking advantage of other women, 379 00:24:21,842 --> 00:24:26,762 Speaker 1: or girls taking advantage of other girls, girls who were 380 00:24:26,842 --> 00:24:31,402 Speaker 1: procuring younger girls for these older men bands, just really 381 00:24:31,442 --> 00:24:34,482 Speaker 1: really gross stuff that was way more grown up than 382 00:24:34,962 --> 00:24:37,842 Speaker 1: I think we realized at the time. She was living 383 00:24:37,842 --> 00:24:40,802 Speaker 1: in Charlotte as a teen which has a great music 384 00:24:40,842 --> 00:24:43,282 Speaker 1: scene and a lot of bands on tour passed through, 385 00:24:44,082 --> 00:24:47,642 Speaker 1: which meant a lot of older guys and bands passing through. 386 00:24:48,642 --> 00:24:52,002 Speaker 1: We the scene kids. A lot of us ended up 387 00:24:52,042 --> 00:24:57,122 Speaker 1: going that route, went from you know, listening to and 388 00:24:57,642 --> 00:25:02,162 Speaker 1: posting about hardcore music to listening to indie music. But 389 00:25:02,802 --> 00:25:06,842 Speaker 1: it was very much the sort of hipper than bou 390 00:25:07,042 --> 00:25:12,162 Speaker 1: mentality that my favorite band is more scared than yours, like, 391 00:25:12,762 --> 00:25:15,962 Speaker 1: you know, especially if you end up communicating with the 392 00:25:16,162 --> 00:25:18,122 Speaker 1: people in the bands, which we were able to divide 393 00:25:18,242 --> 00:25:22,682 Speaker 1: my space, and as has become pretty infamous now, there 394 00:25:22,762 --> 00:25:25,242 Speaker 1: was not just communicating going on, but there was also 395 00:25:25,922 --> 00:25:30,522 Speaker 1: older men in bands praying on teen girls. That was 396 00:25:30,562 --> 00:25:35,042 Speaker 1: replicated on a national and regional scale with the music 397 00:25:35,082 --> 00:25:37,802 Speaker 1: scene in my hometown and had some pretty close calls 398 00:25:37,882 --> 00:25:42,322 Speaker 1: myself with musicians and just men in these various scenes. 399 00:25:42,842 --> 00:25:45,002 Speaker 1: Lots and lots and lots of girls that I knew 400 00:25:45,762 --> 00:25:50,002 Speaker 1: in real life and online had more than close calls, 401 00:25:50,042 --> 00:25:53,442 Speaker 1: both consensual and non consensual with some of these older men. 402 00:25:54,202 --> 00:25:57,442 Speaker 1: There was a musician in the local scene who developed 403 00:25:57,442 --> 00:26:02,322 Speaker 1: a reputation for going for some of the youngest girls, 404 00:26:02,362 --> 00:26:07,322 Speaker 1: who never suffered any consequences for it, and it was 405 00:26:07,442 --> 00:26:13,402 Speaker 1: a joke among people my space happened years before me too, 406 00:26:13,722 --> 00:26:18,602 Speaker 1: and broad media reckoning around consent, sexual harassment and issues 407 00:26:18,682 --> 00:26:23,242 Speaker 1: like grooming. But it also wasn't the dark ages. Any 408 00:26:23,442 --> 00:26:26,482 Speaker 1: reasonable person knew that it was wrong for grown men 409 00:26:26,562 --> 00:26:30,042 Speaker 1: to hit on fifteen year old girls, nor as a 410 00:26:30,082 --> 00:26:33,322 Speaker 1: young woman open to meeting people in person she knew 411 00:26:33,362 --> 00:26:39,642 Speaker 1: from my space, was at risk. This guy was an 412 00:26:39,642 --> 00:26:42,202 Speaker 1: employee at the local and American apparel and he invited 413 00:26:42,242 --> 00:26:45,002 Speaker 1: me to his house to do a photo shoot, which 414 00:26:46,522 --> 00:26:48,922 Speaker 1: even I at the time, I think I knew that 415 00:26:49,002 --> 00:26:50,482 Speaker 1: it was a red flag. I think I felt weird 416 00:26:50,522 --> 00:26:52,442 Speaker 1: about it, but I was still flattered by the attention 417 00:26:52,562 --> 00:26:55,362 Speaker 1: that I was like you know, I was really interested 418 00:26:55,402 --> 00:26:58,442 Speaker 1: in it, and then truly the moment, I don't even 419 00:26:58,442 --> 00:27:00,762 Speaker 1: think the words were completely out of my mouth before 420 00:27:00,802 --> 00:27:03,402 Speaker 1: my mom was like, there's no way this guy is 421 00:27:03,402 --> 00:27:06,122 Speaker 1: a creep And I don't even think I protested that 422 00:27:06,242 --> 00:27:11,882 Speaker 1: much because it was a creepy situation. I think in 423 00:27:11,922 --> 00:27:15,642 Speaker 1: that instance he did slide into my DMS. We didn't 424 00:27:15,682 --> 00:27:18,842 Speaker 1: have that terminology, but it was absolutely what was happening. 425 00:27:19,722 --> 00:27:26,082 Speaker 1: And I think it was very much the same way 426 00:27:26,242 --> 00:27:29,082 Speaker 1: you know, when you see someone online that you think 427 00:27:29,162 --> 00:27:31,882 Speaker 1: is cute now like I did with the very first 428 00:27:31,882 --> 00:27:35,602 Speaker 1: profile or remember seeing on the website. You know, they 429 00:27:35,602 --> 00:27:38,362 Speaker 1: pique your interests, their photos pique your interests, and then 430 00:27:39,242 --> 00:27:43,882 Speaker 1: then their purported you know, taste in music and film 431 00:27:43,922 --> 00:27:49,402 Speaker 1: and art further draws you in. And yeah, that's how 432 00:27:50,082 --> 00:27:55,522 Speaker 1: any kind of encounters, good or bad or neutral, all 433 00:27:55,522 --> 00:27:59,682 Speaker 1: occurred there. My space was a place of harassment, but 434 00:28:00,322 --> 00:28:03,282 Speaker 1: it was also a place where Nor and Alexis both 435 00:28:03,322 --> 00:28:07,562 Speaker 1: found themselves. As toxic as the scene could be, they 436 00:28:07,642 --> 00:28:11,642 Speaker 1: found fellow travelers. I don't want to make it seem 437 00:28:11,682 --> 00:28:16,242 Speaker 1: like the overwhelming whiteness of the scene necessarily stopped me 438 00:28:16,482 --> 00:28:19,762 Speaker 1: or stopped other seeing kids of color like seeing kids 439 00:28:19,762 --> 00:28:23,962 Speaker 1: of color often banded together and boosted each other up 440 00:28:24,162 --> 00:28:28,082 Speaker 1: when you know the elite kids didn't. There were trained 441 00:28:28,162 --> 00:28:30,202 Speaker 1: that were just for seeing kids of color, which of 442 00:28:30,202 --> 00:28:32,362 Speaker 1: course the white kids said was super racist. And I'm like, 443 00:28:32,642 --> 00:28:34,482 Speaker 1: how many black people are out of your train? Though, 444 00:28:34,882 --> 00:28:38,402 Speaker 1: there was like an even smaller, smaller community within it 445 00:28:38,802 --> 00:28:43,282 Speaker 1: where complete strangers who also just happened to be seeing kids, 446 00:28:43,322 --> 00:28:46,842 Speaker 1: you know, brown kids, black kids, even I guess Asian 447 00:28:46,922 --> 00:28:50,922 Speaker 1: kids too. We did talk to each other and we 448 00:28:50,922 --> 00:28:55,202 Speaker 1: were talking about these issues even back then, even as 449 00:28:55,282 --> 00:28:59,642 Speaker 1: kids in our like sort of unworldly way. This wasn't 450 00:28:59,682 --> 00:29:02,122 Speaker 1: something that just happened to me, and I've internalized it. 451 00:29:02,322 --> 00:29:05,322 Speaker 1: When I thought like, hey, that's really messed up, I 452 00:29:05,402 --> 00:29:08,202 Speaker 1: had other people to talk to about that. That was 453 00:29:08,242 --> 00:29:12,762 Speaker 1: a very formative experience for me, and I think a 454 00:29:12,762 --> 00:29:14,842 Speaker 1: lot of other scene gets of color because we realize 455 00:29:14,842 --> 00:29:16,802 Speaker 1: that we have to make a space within a space 456 00:29:16,842 --> 00:29:20,282 Speaker 1: that we thought was our space. On my space, hey 457 00:29:20,362 --> 00:29:23,242 Speaker 1: look at that, and I missed those guys. I'm sure 458 00:29:23,282 --> 00:29:52,842 Speaker 1: they're doing great. My name time Space Time. Yes, bad 459 00:29:52,882 --> 00:29:58,482 Speaker 1: stuff happens on the internet, racism, creepy old guys, but 460 00:29:59,002 --> 00:30:03,722 Speaker 1: the Internet isn't all bad, isn't Look at Nora and Alexis. 461 00:30:03,962 --> 00:30:09,122 Speaker 1: They are both authors. Those Harry Potter fan fiction communities 462 00:30:09,202 --> 00:30:13,522 Speaker 1: and emoc message boards were good for something. It was 463 00:30:13,642 --> 00:30:16,762 Speaker 1: it was training. It was absolutely training. And we type 464 00:30:16,802 --> 00:30:20,602 Speaker 1: really fast and have like slightly Wi Fi poison brains, 465 00:30:20,802 --> 00:30:24,802 Speaker 1: and it's great. Wouldn't have it any other way me too. 466 00:30:25,042 --> 00:30:27,162 Speaker 1: I am an author and a lot of those writing 467 00:30:27,202 --> 00:30:30,882 Speaker 1: skills were forged from posting nutty things on the Internet 468 00:30:30,962 --> 00:30:34,642 Speaker 1: late at night. In our next episode, we're going to 469 00:30:34,682 --> 00:30:39,962 Speaker 1: get into another area of creative expression that flourished on MySpace. Music. 470 00:30:40,762 --> 00:30:45,002 Speaker 1: The best thing that my Space, probably its lasting impact, 471 00:30:45,042 --> 00:30:48,402 Speaker 1: was probably its impact on music and distribution. Anyone could 472 00:30:48,402 --> 00:30:50,282 Speaker 1: be on my Space and find out about like a 473 00:30:50,322 --> 00:30:52,682 Speaker 1: little band from Long Valley, New Jersey. You guys super 474 00:30:52,762 --> 00:30:54,922 Speaker 1: into them. That's what my Space gave us into long 475 00:30:55,042 --> 00:30:59,842 Speaker 1: term at and like low key racial trauma. More on 476 00:30:59,922 --> 00:31:06,522 Speaker 1: this next time on Main Accounts, The Story of MySpace. 477 00:31:07,842 --> 00:31:11,082 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Main Accounts, The Story of MySpace 478 00:31:11,402 --> 00:31:16,762 Speaker 1: and iHeart Original podcast Main Accounts. The Story of MySpace 479 00:31:17,162 --> 00:31:20,482 Speaker 1: is written and hosted by me Joe Anne McNeil, editing 480 00:31:20,642 --> 00:31:24,802 Speaker 1: it's sound design by Mike Coscarelli and Mary Do. Original 481 00:31:24,882 --> 00:31:29,522 Speaker 1: music by Alice McCoy, Mixing and mastering by Josh Fisher, 482 00:31:29,962 --> 00:31:34,162 Speaker 1: Research and fact checking by Austin Thompson, Jocelyn Sears, and 483 00:31:34,282 --> 00:31:39,362 Speaker 1: Marissa Brown. Show logo by Lucy Kntinia. Special thanks to 484 00:31:39,482 --> 00:31:44,522 Speaker 1: Ryan Murdoch, Grace Views and Behead Frasier. Our associate producer 485 00:31:44,602 --> 00:31:48,322 Speaker 1: is Lauren Philip, our senior producer is Mike Coscarelli, and 486 00:31:48,402 --> 00:31:52,442 Speaker 1: our executive producer is Jason English. If you're enjoying the show, 487 00:31:52,722 --> 00:31:54,642 Speaker 1: leave us a rating and a review on your favorite 488 00:31:54,682 --> 00:31:59,802 Speaker 1: podcast platform Sadly, my MySpace page is no longer around, 489 00:32:00,042 --> 00:32:02,242 Speaker 1: but you can find me on Twitter at Joe Mick. 490 00:32:02,642 --> 00:32:06,362 Speaker 1: Let us hear your MySpace story aunts check out my 491 00:32:06,362 --> 00:32:11,402 Speaker 1: book lurking main Accounts. The Story of MySpace is a 492 00:32:11,442 --> 00:32:13,522 Speaker 1: production of iHeart Podcasts.