You open Facebook, and there it is — a “memory” from 2010 that have not aged well at all.

Sixteen years ago, you thought that status or photo was cool. Today, they feel like an entirely different person wrote them. You scroll and shake your head, trying to remember why you thought it was cool.

This article takes a trip back to some of the awkward things that made the old Facebook such an embarrassment.

TYpIng LikE DiS

Somehow we thought alternating capital and small letters made our status updates look stylish. 

Looking back now, it looked like a toddler wrestled your keyboard. Every status update took twice the time to read, like deciphering a ransom note. Entire newsfeeds were filled with “cReW gOiNg oUt 2Nite!!”

Joining Random Groups

Whole communities formed around very specific quirks. Groups like “I press the button on the remote harder when the battery is flat” or “I eat my KFC chips before my burger” had 2,000 members. Did these groups mean anything? No. Did we proudly click join? Absolutely.

Third-Person Statuses

Remember when statuses came with your name in front? “Chad is hungry.” “Chad is thinking about life.” We leaned into that feature far too hard. It sounded less like social networking and more like bad narration.

Thunda.com Photo Tags

Friday night in Long Street. Monday morning on Facebook. A random photographer snapped you mid-dance or holding a fishbowl cocktail the size of your head and uploaded 200 photos of the night. Your friends wasted no time tagging you. Nobody untagged themselves. It was a badge of honour to have proof you were there.

Adding Bumper Stickers to Your Profile

Profiles weren’t complete without them. That sticker summed up your personality in a single image. Choosing one felt important. Everyone spent time deciding which sticker would stick.

Tagging Everyone In A Photo of You

You uploaded one random photo and tagged half your friend list, including people you hadn’t seen since Grade 6. They had nothing to do with the photo, but hey, attention was attention.

“I’m Deleting Friends” Announcements

A classic cry for attention. Someone would announce a big clean-up of their Facebook friends. The irony was that they kept the people they wanted to remove anyway.

“Welcome to Facebook” Posts

Signing up for Facebook was a rite of passage, and when the friend who swore they’d never join finally created their account, it was tradition to post “Welcome to Facebook” on their Wall. Or, as some of you posted: “Welcome to Gevriet Boek.”

Adding Friends As Family Members

This was peak online friendship. Your best friend was your “sister.” Your classmate became your “cousin.” It reached the point where your profile looked like you had thirty siblings and eight uncles.

Quoting Song Lyrics

If you never posted something edgy from Lady Gaga or Adele, were you even online? Every heartbreak, every crush, every random mood was expressed with borrowed lines. Your friends had no idea what you were trying to say, but you felt like a poet.

Poke Wars

Pokes were the ultimate distraction on the old Facebook. Poke someone. They poke back. Keep poking. Maybe it meant a greeting. Some people spammed them to be flirty. Others used them for attention. Nobody ever explained what a poke actually did, yet we spent hours sending and receiving them.

Tagging Friends in Motivational Quotes

Remember being tagged in those images with corny quotes? A stock background, big cursive letters, and a life lesson. “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars” — tagged 48 people who wanted nothing to do with it.

Public Wall Chats

Before Messenger, if you wanted to tell your friend something, you write it on their Wall for the entire world to read. Full conversations. Gossip, inside jokes, plans for Friday night. Nothing was sacred. Your entire social life played out in front of family, teachers, and random acquaintances.

Posting Notes on the Old Facebook

Notes gave us a chance to publish mini-essays. Some shared poems, others wrote lists or full life updates. It was cute until you realised nobody ever finished reading them.

About The Author