Life

9 Things We Loved In The Early 2000s, But Not So Much Now

by Lily Feinn

May 25, 2017

Courtesy of 20th Television

If you hit puberty sometime in the early '00s, those days of awkwardness, Oxy Cleansing Pads, and Victoria Secret Vanilla Lace body spray are probably seared in your memory. Yet there are still so many things that we've completely forgotten from the early 2000s that basically ruled our lives. Reddit user and classy username enthusiast PeopleRCornholes recently posted a challenge on AskReddit to see if the community could name once popular staples of the decade that are now obsolete — and Reddit members were all too happy to oblige. In just 12 hours, the question "What was popular during the "2000's" that is now pretty much forgotten?" has garnered over 1,150 nostalgia-filled replies and counting.

Those in middle or high school during this time will remember those halcyon days when Britney and Justin were an item, everyone was rocking shiny cargo pants with peasant tops, and a Blockbuster membership card actually meant something. Of course, that decade was far from perfect; as as one Redditor puts it: "It was the best of times, it was the Durst of times." (Britney dated Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit fame after Justin, just FYI).

Sure, we've made some important progress over the last 17 years, but if you still have your CD collection alphabetized by artist in a trapper keeper and sometimes wish we could go back to the days of layering tank tops, then read on. Here are a few things that were huge in the early 2000s that we've pretty much forgotten about, according to Reddit:

1Needing An .edu Email To Make A Facebook Account

When Facebook first launched in 2004, it was only available to those with a valid college e-mail addresses. It was like a secret club for cool kids, and in order to join you had to submit a request for your school's email domain to be verified and added. That all changed at the end of 2006, when the community opened its sign-in to everyone. By the end of the decade, the illusion was over, and you couldn't post a picture without your mom liking it.

2Paris Hilton

In the early 2000s, the pioneering reality TV star and socialite "It" girl set the stage for the Kardashians's over-the-top drama today. She co-wrote the book "Confessions of An Heiress" published in 2004, and then turned to music, releasing her debut single debut single "Stars Are Blind" in 2006. She was plastered all over the tabloids, in films, on TV, and on the radio — Paris Hilton was literally EVERYWHERE.

3Dance Dance Revolution

First released in 1998, DDR became an arcade favorite in the early 2000s. A surprising amount of cardio went into stepping on those colored arrows in time to the music. Back then, nothing was more impressive than being good at DDR, even if you were hopeless at school dances.

4Illegal Music Downloading Sites

You had to use one of these peer-to-peer file sharing service to make your CD mixes complete, because it wasn't like you were going to buy the entire Blu Cantrell album just for her 2001 song "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)."

5The Motorola Razr

Released in 2004, these "sleek" flip phones were the must-have fashion accessory of the decade (yep, even more popular than lip smackers key chains). Extra points if you upgraded to the matte black or hot pink version in 2005.

6Our Outdated Music Devices

Whether you miss the big scroll wheel on the original iPod, or the ease of using an MP3 or minidisc player, there is no longer any need to have a separate phone and music playing device. Record players may be trending again, but the Zune will never have a comeback.

7Neopets

Yikes! It's been quite a while since we visited the virtual world of Neopia. Those Neopets must be pretty lonely by now ...

8LiveStrong bracelets

Everyone sported at least one classic yellow Livestrong wristband in the early 2000s, but the stretchy rubber bracelets have been long forgotten thanks to the Lance Armstrong's doping scandal and resulting life long cycling ban in 2012.

9Green And Purple Ketchup

Heinz EZ Squirt's "Blastin’ Green" and "Funky Purple" graced our grocery store shelves in 2000, when the crazy colors were released as promotional ketchup for the Shrek movie. Thankfully, the nauseatingly colorful condiment was pulled from shelves in 2006.