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Thesis
Scene Kids are a group united by a shared love of alternative music, eccentric fashion, and a collective sense of uniqueness when compared to mainstream media and interests. As the newest and most innovative social media site at its peak, MySpace allowed Scene Kids a level of unique expression and community building that no site had allowed before. As a community in which self-expression and visual/audio elements are so important, MySpace supported both. Despite a lack of visibility of the scene subculture upon the site's fall from popularity, the community has remained in existence through the use of other sites like Tumblr. It now has been restored to greater levels of visibility, as Gen Z teens recreate iconic scene styles, music, imagery, and language on the app that is spread through its algorithm. With the subculture surviving 20 years now, and today's emergence of platforms like SpaceHey, Scene Kids do not seem to be going anywhere. I do not believe that scene will ever die, because Scene Kids will always find platforms where they can be creative and express themselves, or they will make those platforms themselves.
My Research Method and Experience
- MySpace is pretty much entirely defunct now, and one cannot even access old user pages for study. That presented a problem for my research as I could not use original pages for reference.
- Instead, I had to rely heavily on interviews with former Scene Kids and MySpace users and articles about the scene presence on the platform.
- Fortunately, I was able to find images of Scene Kids and a few of their pages that were still around online from those original MySpace days.
- I discovered the presence of Scene Kids on TikTok through my own For You Page. It became a rabbit hole I went down, and multiple articles referenced the RAWRing 20s as well.
- SpaceHey first came to my attention through my search for old MySpace pages. I was confused by these user-made layouts that looked so much like MySpace pages but were for a site with a different name. A friend of mine who is also a fan of 2000s internet subcultures and fashion then showed me the site in more detail.
The Question of Nostalgia and Resonance: Why are Kids Today Loving Scene?
- Professor Negar posed the question of why kids today are replicating this subculture. Can one be nostalgic for something they never personally experienced?
- One article by Paper Magazine that I found cites the original inclusivity of the subculture, suggesting that Gen Z today resonates with its welcoming image.
"But as for why scene has resonated with the younger generation, it may have something to do with the trailblazing inclusivity of the original movement. As Luna [Former Scene Kid] explains, scene was way ahead of its time in the sense that the community also served as a welcoming place...] 'I feel like scene introduced this like style of androgyny in some ways. Boys had long hair and wore liner and girl pants. Boys kissing boys was cute and no one gave a fuck,' she says, as we talk about the potential throughlines that may have helped keep it relevant — even a decade down the road. '[Like, I] was able to express my femininity in like a really exaggerated and alternative fashion.'" - Sandra Song, Paper Magazine
- My own belief is that scene embodies many themes that teens will always resonate with, especially teens today that are pretty much raised online. This includes complete self-expression, embracing one's uniqueness or strangeness, playing with fashion and style, and simply having fun and being unapologetically dramatic.
- There is certainly an aspect of romanticization of the past as well.
"What it means for me to be a scene queen is that I’m not afraid to be different and I’m not afraid to put myself out there... People say a lot of hurtful things, but at the end of the day, you just gotta ignore it and being scene makes me feel happy and that’s all that matters." - Sara Skellington, present-day scene Youtuber
TH4NK U 4 R34D1NG MY BL0G <3
R4WR XD
Sources
- McCarthy, Lauren. “An Oral History of Scene Queens.” Nylon, Nylon, 16 Nov. 2020, https://www.nylon.com/entertainment/oral-history-of-scene-queens-myspace.
- Stewart, Ethan. “From Hardcore to Harajuku: The Origins of Scene Subculture.” PopMatters, 25 May 2021, https://www.popmatters.com/scene-subculture-origins-hardcore-harajuku.
- Jenke, Brittany. “Revisiting the Scene Kid Days and Why the 2000s Need a Comeback.” Don't Bore Us, 15 July 2021, https://dontboreus.thebrag.com/editorial/revisiting-the-scene-kid-days/.
- Palmer, Bobby. “The Cringe Things You'll Remember If You Were a Scene Kid in the Mid-2000s.” The Tab UK, 27 July 2017, https://thetab.com/uk/2017/07/05/cringe-things-youll-remember-scene-kid-mid-2000s-42342.
- Lee, Amy. “Myspace Collapse: How the Social Network Fell Apart.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 30 Aug. 2011, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-myspace-fell-apart_n_887853.
- Makalintal, Bettina. “Myspace's Scene Kid Culture Isn't Gone-It's Just on Tiktok Now.” VICE, https://www.vice.com/en/article/dygx9j/myspace-scene-kid-culture-isnt-gone-its-just-on-tiktok-now#:~:text=%22All%20the%20original%20scenes%20have,anymore%2C%22%20she%20told%20VICE.&text=MySpace%20died%2C%20but%20the%20scene,queens%20simply%20found%20new%20platforms.
- Kilikita, Jacqueline. "Scene Culture Is Back & Embracing A New Era Of Beauty On TikTok." Refinery29, 20 Aug. 2021, https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/scene-hair-look-tiktok
- Song, Sandra. "Welcome to the RAWRing 20s XD." Paper Magazine, 3 Jan. 2020, https://www.papermag.com/rawring-20s-internet-explorer-2643749415.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
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