Already fascinated with <\/a>, some members of Gen Z have wondered what those early, simpler social networks were like. Now, they can get an idea thanks to a new app <\/a>, which recreates some aspects of Myspace more than a decade after its fall from the most-visited site in the US.<\/p>\n The app officially launched earlier this month and briefly made the <\/a> in Apple\u2019s App Store. Dreamed up by Gen Z founder Tiffany Zhong, noplace bills itself as both a throwback and an alternative to mainstream social media algorithms and the creator culture that comes with them. \u201cI missed how social media used to be back in the day \u2026 where it was actually social, people would post random updates about their life,\u201d Zhong tells Engadget. \u201cYou kind of had a sense of where people were in terms of time and space.\u201d<\/p>\n Though Zhong says she never got to experience Myspace firsthand \u2014 she was in elementary school during its early 2000s peak \u2014 noplace manages to nail many of the platform\u2019s signature elements. Each user starts with a short profile where they can add personal details like their relationship status and age, as well a free-form \u201cabout me\u201d section. Users can also share their interests and detail what they\u2019re currently watching, playing, reading and listening to. And, yes, they can embed song clips. There\u2019s even a \u201ctop 10\u201d for highlighting your best friends (unclear if Gen Z is aware of how much <\/a> that particular Myspace feature inflicted on my generation).<\/p>\n Myspace, of course, was at its height years before smartphone apps with a unified \u201cdesign language\u201d became the dominant medium for browsing social media. But the highly customizable noplace profiles still manage to capture the vibe of the bespoke HTML and clashing color schemes that distinguished so many Myspace pages and websites on the early 2000s internet.<\/p>\n There are other familiar features. All new users are automatically friends with Zhong, which she confirms is a nod to Tom Anderson, otherwise known as \u201cMyspace Tom.\u201d And the app encourages users to add their interests, called \u201cstars,\u201d and search for like-minded friends.<\/p>\n Despite the many similarities \u2014 the app was originally named \u201cnospace\u201d \u2014 Zhong says noplace is about more than just recreating the look and feel of Myspace. The app has a complicated gamification scheme, where users are rewarded with in-app badges for reaching different \u201clevels\u201d as they use the app more. This system isn\u2019t really explained in the app \u2014 Zhong says it\u2019s intentionally \u201cvague\u201d \u2014 but levels loosely correspond to different actions like writing on friends\u2019 walls and interacting with other users\u2019 posts. There\u2019s also a massive Twitter-like central feed where users can blast out quick updates to everyone else on the app.<\/p>\n It can feel a bit chaotic, but early adopters are already using it in some unexpected ways, according to Zhong. \u201cAround 20% in the past week of posts have been questions,\u201d she says, comparing it to the trend of Gen Z using TikTok and YouTube as <\/a>. \u201cThe vision for what we’re building is actually becoming a social search engine. Everyone thinks it’s like a social network, but because people are asking questions already \u2026 we’re building features where you can ask questions and you can get crowdsourced responses.\u201d<\/p>\n That may sound ambitious for a (so far) briefly-viral social app, but noplace has its share of influential backers. Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian is among the company\u2019s investors. And Zhong herself once <\/a> in her prior role as a teenage analyst at a prominent VC firm.<\/p>\n For now, though, noplace feels more to me like a Myspace-inspired novelty, though I\u2019m admittedly not the target demographic. But, as someone who was a teenager on actual Myspace, I often think that I\u2019m grateful my teen years came long before Instagram or TikTok. Not because Myspace was simpler than today\u2019s social media, but because logging off was so much easier.<\/p>\n Zhong sees the distinction a little differently, not as a matter of dial-up connections enforcing a separation between on and offline, but a matter of prioritizing self expression cover clout. \u201cYou’re just chasing follower count versus being your true self,\u201d Zhong says. \u201cIt makes sense how social networks have evolved that way, but it’s media platforms. It’s not a social network anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n