the section where i wax nostalgic about how i spent my childhood on the internet. are these the sad ramblings of a desperate person who wishes they could go back? yes, yes they are...
america online
the dial up sound, you've got mail, a/s/l. my first foray onto the world wide web. this is where i discovered websites and chat rooms and instant messaging, and my outdoors life was no more. i think i first used aol 6.0? then it was either 7.0 or 8.0 (or maybe even later idk) where they introduced customizing the background (and maybe IM boxes too?) of your home screen, which was so thrilling to me at the time. purple background instead of the boring ol stock one? oh yissss.
my first aol screen name had 'barbie' in it because i was still playing with barbies then. and i had hundreds more screen names throughout my time on aol because i kept changing my mind and coming up with more kEwLeR names. aol homepages! i had one! i spent a lot of time making it only to have it all go to waste and be deleted because i wanted a better screen name. classic me.
aol had different age levels that only the main account could assign to each screen name and depending on which level you had you were locked out of doing certain things. if you were on the kid level then you couldn't even IM people. so before my dad came to his senses, i was originally on the 'general' level (aka free for all) and ofc i wandered into adult chat rooms and, well, you know where this is going lollll.
all in all it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.... and i'd do it all over again.
dollzmania
this was THE site to waste all day long on. i love(d) dress up doll games and this one was THE ONE. i remember the site taking forever to load because there were soo many props and, well, it was early 00s internet. some of the props probably wouldn't even load after forever of waiting. i believe the doll maker area was at the top of the page. if you found a piece of clothing that you wanted to use and it was located alllllll the way down you'd have to drag, scroll, draggggg, scrolllll until you reached the top again.
i loved those pixel dolls, i thought they were so pretty and all the clothing and hairstyles were so neat. i remember being overwhelmed and giddy by the variety of props there were. so! many! a special honorary shout out to all those talented pixel doll artists who were gifted enough to create all sorts of props from rainbow hair to fairy wings. i wonder where you all are now?
i could stare at the pc screen and make those dolls for hours. sadly if i attempt this today my eyeballs will disintegrate, which is what happened when discovered to my amazement that some doll makers still exist! my inner child screamed with joy. dollzmania, forever in my heart.
msn messenger
even though i used aim/aol more, when i think about it msn was cooler. change your display name, putting lyrics as your status, change the color/design of your buddy list and IM boxes, bigger icons (the best part)! you could also have a background in your IM box. there was the nudge, when someone took too long to reply you could nudge em. you were able to have funky symbols as your display name as well, like what people are doing now on social media, we did it first on msn (at least to my knowledge lol).
all of this was what set it apart from the other chat programs. couldn't do any (or most) of that shit on yahoo or aim or aol.wishing right now that i used it more instead of aim lol. i know im only going on and on about the interface instead of the many hours i wasted on there but i honestly just wanted to talk about how attractive msn messenger was lolll. i mean can you blame me?
thankfully due to the hard working folks over at escargot.chat i can now once again salivate over those 2 sleek blue and green little buddies. hell yeh. 
avatar palace
whenever i think about the avatar palace my heart swells. i was obsessed with this chat program and went on whenever i was able to. i remember being at school and daydreaming about it lmao. idk how to explain it, ive always enjoyed chat rooms but this one had dolls aka avatars! you could wear (idk if this is the right term) any doll and you were even able to use an actual picture as your avatar though i don't remember how to do that lol.
the palace itself had different rooms you could go into where you could just chill and shoot the shit. or maybe someone was starting a "family" of sorts that you could join and you'd have a bedroom you could decorate with props. or maybe you'd participate in a fashion pageant (i did this a lot). on different palace servers you could even have your very own house. and you didn't have to pay for shit! and no ads! i know there are some apps similar to the palace idea where you probably have to sit thru ads or literally pay for an item of clothing. that's gonna be a no from me.
unfortunately i can't remember when or why i stopped visiting. the palace is still around but, of course, is no longer as popular as it once was. sigh.
gURL.com
okay so i didn't actually spend a bunch of time on this site, but i wish i did even if i was a bit on the younger side. gurl was such a great resource for girls to learn about, well, anything and now it no longer exists except on the internet archive. i don't think there was anything else like it at the time, it being so body- and sex- positive, especially during the 2000s. not only that, there were discussions around eating disorders, sexual assault, family issues, and mental health, and the list goes on.
but if you wanted something that wasn't as heavy? they had games, quizzes, and especially comics where users would submit their own comic about the trials of growing up, friendships, etc (perusing the archive i see one about turning 15, one where a girl has feelings for her friend that is also a girl, and another about piercings).
god this site is such a dream, i can't believe kid me ignored all this stuff. although i guess i can't say im too surprised - when i was younger i stumbled upon a section about penises (drawings and all!) and it scared the shit outta me lmao. i was not ready for any of that at all!
are there any sites like that anymore for teen girls? if not that makes me big sad. the creators of gurl did publish a book consisting of the material found on the site so even if gurl.com doesn't exist anymore, you or your teenage girl relative can always get your hands on its book. you just have to get it secondhand. because it's out of print. because of course it is.
gURL.com in 2004 (click for higher resolution)
i came across this tweet awhile ago that made me think "yes! my thoughts exactly!"
i may not have been scared of my body or life in general back then but i sure as hell am now...
oh and did you know that gurl.com redirects to seventeen.com now? the irony...
thoughts from one of the creators about this:
sadly another one bites the dust. this one hurt the most even if i hadn't used aim in a long time. c u l8r, old friend.
(click for higher resolution)
"signing off for the last time" - i choked back a sob ngl