looking back at google+ : a small trip down emo memory lane

if you were like any kid in 2014-2018, you probably wanted to make gameplay videos on youtube but didnt know what the fuck OBS or a capture card was, so youd put your phone up to the screen instead. or hey, thats what i did when i was 9. but as you made your funny lil google account to upload your riveting content, youd think, hey, whats that google+ thing all about? 

i realise that because of the site shutting down in very early 2019, some younger folks here may not know or remember what it was all about and that makes me feel extremely old considering i am 17 years of age. but regardless, ill elaborate. it was a social media site that anyone with a google account would automatically join but barely anyone actually used except for children and edgelords who werent allowed on twitter yet. you were able to join 'communities' about certain topics like school, video games, youtubers, music etc, some of these were private and some were open for anyone to browse. there was also circles, something that was a pretty core feature of g+ that sites like instagram ('close friends') and twitter would later go on to use, but it works the same way as g+ circles did.

so, why do i say that this is 'emo memory lane'? wellllll, this is more specific to my experience but yeah, there were communities dedicated to emo kids on g+, along with youtubers and bands popular amongst the emo kids of the early-mid 2010s. the only youtubers that reallyyyyy come time mind are of course dan and phil though. there was also a lottttt of anime and roleplay related communities that i would frequent (side eyes death note) and i feel like those things have always been a little more popular amongst goth, scene and emo kids, especially shows like death note and ergo proxy.

the culture was more like 2013 tumblr especially in emo spaces (or places popular with emos & 'weird kids'), but from what i remember it continued for a few years after the great incident that was dashcon, since i think a lot of us didnt even know that happened. i think i was mostly active on the site mostly 2014-2017, then i kinda dropped off and moved to other sites. there was alot of toxicity dependinbg on where you went - i will not deny that, but it was a place where i could talk about my 'weird' interests that the people i knew at school didnt like me for.

its kinda cringe remembering it, it was classic unfiltered 2010 emo kid cringe. there was a LOT of shitty people and aspects of g+ but i look back to the time i spent on there with a strange type of fondness. i just wanted to remind people of that weird little social media site thats already been pretty forgotten.