Send a child of the 90s something like and they’ll immediately recognize it as a symbol of anger. These creative symbols were soon complemented (but not replaced) by early-day emojis that could be sent using customizable keyboard shortcuts. MSN Messenger, along with similar messaging platforms like ICQ, was also one of the earliest homes to the classic emoticons, which were often described as “ typographical art.” Users got incredibly creative with the use of commas, periods, brackets, and symbols to portray emotion, and the classic happy/sad smiley faces still live on to this day. Those, along with the ‘nudges’ that loudly shook an entire chat, further eliminated the privacy element because they could be detected by anyone within earshot. These included humorous ones like a woman laughing hysterically or provocative ones like a giant kiss planted right on the screen. When asking users of the platform what else they remember about MSN, many nostalgically recall the platform’s ‘winks,’ which were short animations that would momentarily take over the screen in both sight and sound. During the heartbreak stage, these songs would either switch to sad ones to express a desire to reconcile or happy, upbeat ones to send a message along the lines of “I’m better off without you.” Some would turn off that setting when listening to the likes of Avril Lavigne but would frantically make sure that it was operational when blasting the angry tunes of Metallica – if their crush was a metalhead, that is. The ‘Listening To’ tab was located right under the user’s nickname, which, more often than not, was simply a means of showing friends how ‘cool’ your music taste was. However, the platform was also considered a bit of a social network in itself due to users’ ability to post statuses, change their nicknames and profile pictures, and even reveal what music they were listening to in real-time. These young romances may not have lasted beyond a few short weeks, but some will never forget the rush that came with these confessions of love and will forever associate MSN with romance.
#ICQ CHAT ROOM EGYPT MOVIE#
His mission was deemed accomplished when he took her out for a movie at the Ramses Hilton. One user remembers how he took the Hotmail email address of the girl he liked and asked her out on a date. When asked what they remember most about MSN, almost all of them cite it as where their first relationships took off or where their crushes first professed their feelings. Photo: Redditīecause of this, MSN was largely a symbol of young love for children of the 90s, far more than at-the-time counterparts like MySpace or HI5. A person’s nickname could include poetic or humorous phrases or song lyrics, while a strategically selected profile picture could help a shy teenager express their thoughts indirectly but in no way discreetly.
Photo: Redditĭuring those hormone-addled years, every word or emoticon carried its weight in gold and acted as a signal or hidden message.
Originally launched in 1999, the instant messaging platform was an at-the-time groundbreaking medium that acted as a Whatsapp-Facebook-Tinder mashup for young teenagers who were, more often than not, logged on from old, clunky computers strategically located in the living room to prevent them from obtaining enough privacy to access adult content.
0 kommentar(er)
