I can do that too.

24 Feb 2022

One of the cool kids

  When I was in middle school, the website MySpace was launched. For those who aren’t familiar with MySpace it was essentially “social media” before the term existed. Upon its popularity, MySpace was considered the future of web based media. You could create an account and share thoughts and ideas like a forum. People could view your profile and interact with your content. This behavior was similar to Xanga which was popular with my peers. But eventually MySpace would soon take over. The big advantage MySpace had over Xanga was that you could personalize how your profile page looked. You could have various background images and colors, a song that would automatically play when people got onto your page, create photo albums, and even customize how your “friends list” looked! Trust me when I say relationships lived and died by the order of the “top 8” of your “BFF’s” friend’s list.

Copy and paste

  I ended up getting my first personal computer in 8th grade, and I was instantly thrown into the MySpace craze. I decided to try and fit in by trying to stand out. What I mean is I wanted to make my MySpace profile look as cool as possible. I needed to find that cool background, find an awesome video, and find a dope song that would assist in me in my teenage need to Peacock. I was curating my profile like my life depended on it. But how does one with a negative amount of experience in front-end development experience create the ultimate webpage to impress the ladies?

Summarized steps of an 8th grader customizing his myspace

  1. You go on to [Ask Jeeves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask.com), because Google isn't a thing yet.
  2. Search "How do I add an image to the background of my MySpace?"
  3. Copy and paste the snippet of code in the place where the forum tells you to
  4. Search "How do I put a video into my MySpace?"
  5. Repeat step 3
  6. Search is "Am I cool now?"
  7. Be disappointed in results
  8. Search "How do I put a song on my MySpace?"
  9. Repeat step 3


  Be warned though coolness results may vary. Also, you read that correctly, “my MySpace” was actually phrase back then. Unfortunately when MySpace was rebuilt to be a music sharing platform for small artists, many of the old wild layouts users had were lost with them. So I don’t have a picture of my profile. But here’s an image I pulled from a quick google search. As you can see it truly was the wild west of UI back then.

Anything goes on your profile

Framework with no frames

  Customizing your page was essentially a simple copy and paste job, MySpace had organized all the front-end objects on the front in such a way where putting someone else’s code in the right spot gave you consistent results. After all, the front elements were the same for all profiles. While it wasn’t the most glamorous of approaches, it allowed users to express themselves. Users could express themselves in ways that weren’t readily available to them without knowledge of HTML and styling. This is what I would consider the beginning of a framework. You essentially have someone go through all of this work to understand the ins and outs of HTML and HTML stying. They then create this snippet of code and give a quick description of where it goes and which part to change. It was basically a disorganized, open-sourced framework, which allowed for people with little to no experience in web design to customize their MySpace.

Frameworks help work get done

  Frameworks such as Semantic UI or Twitter Bootstrap have taken the concept of copying and pasting code snippets for a single website and expanded on that to do so on many websites. Although web development is still a highly valued skill, the barrier for entry is no longer what it was. You don’t need years of experience to gain experience in understanding the minutia of how HTML works or in-line styling. Don’t get me wrong, it helps to have those, but you don’t need to create complex CSS files to do simple things such as create a centered blue button. The use of frameworks have also allowed for more experienced developers to complete a job in a shorter amount of time. Especially comparing the time when using raw HTML and CSS. One interesting result of frameworks has led to the creation of framework services. An example of this is Shopify. Shopify customers are given a framework to create their website. But on top of that there are tools to track orders, show statistics, and even a help line for any questions you may have about a website’s features.

Thanks for the memories

  Frameworks are the product of taking someone’s work and dedication to their craft and allowing others to perform the same methods with significantly less experience. For example a mac repair specialist Louis Rossman has an open-source website providing a framework for diagnosing computers. In his videos, he’s talked about how documenting his repairs and the thought process behind them has helped people repaired their own computers. Even better he’s inspired people to make macbook repair a hobby as well as a profession. Frameworks in MacBook repair and front-end development have something in common. They allow potential enthusiasts and professionals to get past the tedious and unnecessarily difficult “pain points” of a trade. Back in 8th grade I didn’t realize that someone had taken the time and dedication to create that snippet of code. It was just something I was doing to fit in. I didn’t realize that someone had gone through the process of making mistakes, and really understanding the details of front-end design. But now as someone who has had his fair share of front-end development experience I appreciate their dedication. I also appreciate how frameworks such as Semantic UI and Twitter Bootstrap allow me to make my webpages easy to look at. Whether it’s for a MySpace Page or my next project, I’m glad there were people out there finding ways to assist others putting a ridiculous rap song on their MySpace page. Just like I’m glad there’s people out there today helping people put a button in the middle of their navigation bar.