It was easy, convenient, and it worked. And sometimes, it gave you an excuse to leave your number for your crush to notice or to scour through the comments looking for his or hers. Genius.

Most girls had this down pat. Apart from sporting the latest trends, you had to know how to pose for cute photos that would shortly be up on MySpace or Facebook. And no photo would be complete without the duck face, something that would definitely prompt Miranda Priestly’s “pursing of the lips”.

Because back then, cute texts meant extra letters and a clever combination of symbols to come up with different smiley faces. Of course, no text message would be complete without a LOL or an XOXO at the end.

Sporting a popcorn shirt (or a crinkle shirt) meant you were stylish. Girls looked for opportunities to wear these everywhere: in school, to a party, or even when arriving at sleepovers. It was definitely considered an “it girl” item.

That’s all they were – updates. “…is going to the mall”, “…is about to enjoy a stack of homemade pancakes. YUM.” This type of status update is a “pre-shade period” essential. Before people learned how to bring all their drama online, all you’d read then was a mix of random yet simple, straightforward updates. Good times.

Nicole Richie pulled a Jackie O. 2.0 with her signature oversized sunglasses, and girls were quick to catch on. Only, of course, tweens and teens everywhere didn’t care where they wore it – all that mattered was that they had it and they could pose with it.

The emo and the tortured artist know this all too well. We can’t say we’re proud of marking all over our Converse sneakers but hey, it did happen at some point. And when it did, there had to be photos – photos that needed to be equally “artsy” or “dramatic”.

We were just so invested, weren’t we? It wasn’t enough that we had mobile phones for calling and texting our friends. We just had to have the phone charms, the “coolest” ringtones, and phone cases that were really out there.

Dabbing concealer on the lips then topping it with gloss (or leaving it matte and uhm… dry? About to crack?), or applying layer after layer of black mascara… there was nothing subtle about makeup in the 2000s. It was either pale lips and dark eyes, or pink shimmer on the lips and eyelids. Don’t get us started on the body glitter and the thin eyebrows, either.

Yes, nothing was done in moderation. It was go big or go home, and you can pretty much guess what all of us chose. You’ve got your flared jeans, studded leather cuffs, thin chokers, side bangs, and colored hair in one crazy ensemble… and it worked. At least we thought it did.

Because a) it was cool to own a flip phone and b) nothing emphasized said ownership of flip phone more than the occasional (or frequent) dramatic opening and closing to text or make/end a phone call. Plus points for the girls if you owned the pink MotoRazr!

Like there’s really any, right? Those hot leather seats sure played a role in who you thought you were in school (and you thought others were). Thankfully, we’ve all snapped out of that stage (at least most of us did) and we could care less about who’s cool or not.

Before Tyga came in the scene with his version, there was the version all of us danced to. Yep, we memorized the steps and we had no shame in showing that off to the rest of the world: family gatherings, birthday parties, school programs… Cringe.

…and having to press the next button multiple times before finally being able to brag about that amazing song you just downloaded. Having an iPod was definitely cool but how we used it as an accessory was somewhat questionable. But it worked and it was convenient so hey, no regrets.

It was a jump scare type of video that not everyone knew about, so you looked for as many victims as possible. Each time you were successful, you’d laugh like crazy and feel like you just pulled the greatest prank ever.

The plain colored ones worked just fine, but you just had to have the cute, transparent ones that came in different colors. It just made all your school supplies cuter and it got you attention. Plus, you could spruce it up even more by getting creative with the label.

More than the adorable smiley faces you could come up with by combining different symbols, you also felt like adding extra letters and always using the makeshift heart symbol that also made its way to Facebook and MySpace updates. <3

You know, words like “boobs” and “hoe”. For someone reason, that was always a hoot in class even when many others already did it first. I guess it was another one of those “look what cool stuff I can do” type of things that didn’t get old fast.

Suddenly, we could all code. The best MySpace profiles had carefully curated Top 8’s, catchy updates, and everything you could think of. The more colorful and eyecatching your profile was, the cooler you were.

Apart from writing entries about friends or your crush, or creating a post dedicated to quotes, the overall look of your Xanga page had to be amazing, too. After all, your audience wasn’t just limited to school peers. You could come up on the Google search results for “best Xanga quotes” and not know it.

…is now quite potentially one of the most embarrassing things you’ve ever created. Kudos to you if you’ve managed to delete the account eventually but if you’ve kept it up to your employment days, well… that’s something else.

And staying anonymous. Dropping it in his or her locker was the thing, and it had to have really cute artwork, too. The songs ranged from “Ocean Avenue” by Yellowcard to “Why Can’t I” by Liz Phair. Peyton Sawyer, thank you for introducing us to just how wonderful music can be for sending signals.

It was Spice Girls meets Lizzie McGuire and you had the outfits to match each pair with. From chunky sandals to platform sneakers, you thought you were rocking the coolest footwear at school or in the mall and the other girls knew it, too.

Before the Chainsmokers, there was Dashboard Confessional, Avril Lavigne, Liz Phair… artists that had the best lyrics you could use as an away message – a message you sincerely hoped your crush would see.

Trucker caps, glossy lips, 0ff-shoulder tops… anything that would make the likes of Kendra Wilkinson and Tila Tequila proud. Having these on and posting a duck face mirror selfie would have your peers watching your every move. Ah, to be a social media star.

Whether for making a statement, raising awareness, or just plain accessorizing, you were in if you had these on your arm. Arm party was way, way different in the early 2000s. It didn’t matter what you were wearing, you just had to have these.

Kanye did it first, and the rest of us were eager to follow. Never mind that they came in colors that didn’t always match our outfits. Never mind that we chose to wear them indoors. The important thing was, we were fashion forward with these. LOL.

Scene kids knew how to make a statement. It wasn’t something that needed to be understood. It was really just about standing out, making a statement, and riding the angsty wave throughout your teen years.

It was cute and fashionable then. It went with skinny jeans, flippy mini skirts, baby tees, name it. Never mind that we chose neon colors to rock. What mattered was we had the best eyewear to show off.

You had to have a digital camera at every party. Uploading the photos to MySpace and Facebook gained you a lot of attention, too. Today’s mirror selfies will definitely put ours to shame. Oh, well.