Remember the days before there was Facebook? We don’t either. The social network is so ingrained in our lives that it’s the first thing we check on our phone every morning. The Internet? For many, Facebook is the Internet. But there was a time when we didn’t post a gazillion photos, liked every brain fart our friends posted (even though we didn’t actually like them), revealed TMI, or had 3.5 degrees of separation from each other.
On the February 2 episode of the Comedy Central improv show, @midnight, during a segment called #HashtagWars, the guests played a round of #BeforeFacebookI to mark Facebook’s 12th birthday. Before Facebook, comedian/actress Mamrie Hart “begged her friends to come to her show via real mail” and “crushed actual candy and had a diabetic scare,” comedian Liza Treyger “would have never known that Stacey Dash’s opinions mattered,” and actor Dominic Monaghan “didn’t have to see so many ugly baby pictures and liked them.”
The hashtag inspired others to share their #BeforeFacebookI memories on Facebook as well as Twitter, although some took on a more serious tone. Here’s a look at some of our favorite trending tweets.
#BeforeFacebookI assumed everyone knew the difference between their, they're and there.
But we were wrong. Very wrong.
— musicMagpie (@musicMagpie) February 3, 2016
Before Twitter, instagram and Facebook #BeforeFacebookI pic.twitter.com/1gUixOAmpG
— Funny Tweets (@FunnyThingsUK) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI would have to phone 538 people and let them know what I had for lunch. https://t.co/npv1z80491 pic.twitter.com/APwxvIvMBv
— Kabir Iyengar (@kabiriyengar) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI had to stalk my exes with binoculars and camouflage gear. pic.twitter.com/kpGaZUrEiN
— Ally Hirschlag (@AllyHirschlag) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI had this one friend on MySpace… pic.twitter.com/dxidX7TZsk
— Yoda (@OnlyYoda) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI thought *this* was a poke @midnight #Polk pic.twitter.com/TylEDn9cP2
— lancegould (@lancegould) February 3, 2016
#BeforeFacebookI didn't "LIKE" things like funerals and divorces. @midnight
— Chris Hardwick (@hardwick) February 3, 2016