Yesterday marked the 12th anniversary of Facebook, an era that represents the most significant societal shift since industrialization in the mid-18th century.
Indeed, things are different now. Farming takes place on a screen, not in a field; contact details aren’t personal info, they’re what you exchange for the privilege of finding out which element of the periodic table you are; friendships click from your mouse, not through genuine interest in another person.
It’s not all bad, though. Leering through a bedroom window has fallen out of favour as a means to stalk your ex; remembering someone’s birthday is no longer a 365-day game of Memory; we no longer have to worry about sk8rgurl69@hotmail.com being the next candidate of To Catch a Predator.
So, what else happened before Facebook? Well, what meta (get it?) way to find out than through Facebook. Users have been sharing what it was like to navigate life pre-Facebook by using the hashtag #BeforeFacebook across the social network and on Twitter.
Here are some of the best so far:
#BeforeFacebook I liked farms. Now I hate them all.
— SCOTT WARNER (@ScottWarner18) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI adjusted my privacy settings by closing my blinds. @midnight — call me cuttlefish (@euphemism92) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI didn’t “LIKE” things like funerals and divorces. @midnight
— Chris Hardwick (@hardwick) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI could have gotten arrested for “poking” a stranger. — Sexy Ben (@browland1) February 3, 2016
So this is what we did before we had #smartphones & #beforeFacebook!
Posted by Angie Ward on Sunday, January 24, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI had to stalk my exes with binoculars and camouflage gear. pic.twitter.com/kpGaZUrEiN
— Ally Hirschlag (@AllyHirschlag) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI assumed everyone knew the difference between their, they’re and there. But we were wrong. Very wrong. — musicMagpie (@musicMagpie) February 3, 2016
.@nerdist @midnight #beforefacebook I never cured so many terminal diseases with just one mouse click. ? #miracleworker
— Madeleine Rose (@zhiana) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebook I had to shout my political views in public at random strangers @midnight — Matt (@AMontyPython) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebook I had to guess who the crazy cat ladies were. @midnight
— Anti! (@AntiDiv) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebook @midnight “I interacted with other humans even without getting paid for it” — JSNicholkien (@leftygoleft) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI had to manually call up everyone from my high school and ask if they were fat now @midnight
— Brett Osinoff (@BrettOsinoff) February 3, 2016
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