7 things Millennials obsessed over in the 2000s that now feel completely embarrassing

Millennials get roasted a lot.

We “killed” everything from napkins to the housing market. But honestly, we were just trying to survive the 2000s.

That era was a weird mix of dial-up internet, celebrity chaos, and the kind of fashion trends that made you question your eyesight.

And if you were a teen or young adult back then, you know the truth.

We obsessed over stuff that felt massive at the time. Like, life-altering.

Now? It’s the kind of thing that pops into your head at 2 AM and makes you physically cringe.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Not to romanticize it.

To laugh at it.

Because nothing says “personal growth” like being embarrassed by your former self.

1) Making your MySpace page your entire personality

There was a time when your MySpace profile was basically your brand.

You didn’t just have a page. You had a vibe.

You had a custom background that hurt your eyes, glitter GIFs that belonged in a fever dream, and an auto-playing song that made visitors jump out of their skin.

Most of us were also low-key coding without realizing it, copying HTML from shady websites just to make our text scroll across the screen like we were building the next Facebook.

And then there was the Top 8. That thing was pure social warfare.

Moving someone from #1 to #3 was basically a breakup. Leaving someone out altogether? That was a declaration of war. I genuinely remember people confronting each other over this like it was a felony.

Looking back, it’s ridiculous how much energy we poured into it.

But it also makes sense.

MySpace was one of the first places where we could construct an identity and get feedback instantly. It was like a social experiment where your self-worth could be measured in profile views.

Now, most of us can’t even be bothered to change our Instagram bio.

And honestly, thank God.

2) Believing low-rise jeans were a good idea

Low-rise jeans were not fashion.

They were suffering.

Who decided that the ideal place for denim to sit was dangerously close to your hips, while constantly threatening to expose your entire lower back to society?

You couldn’t bend over. You couldn’t sit comfortably. You definitely couldn’t eat a full meal without regretting every decision you’d made.

And yet we wore them everywhere.

School. Malls. Parties. Family gatherings. Like it was totally normal to be one wrong movement away from accidental humiliation.

The obsession was fueled by pop culture. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Paris Hilton made it look iconic. And in the 2000s, if a celebrity did it, the rest of us followed.

Now we’ve grown up. We’ve discovered high-rise jeans. We’ve discovered waistbands that support us instead of punishing us.

That’s not just fashion growth.

That’s emotional maturity.

3) Drinking anything “diet” without questioning what was in it

The 2000s were peak diet culture.

Fat was the enemy. Calories were the enemy. Carbs were treated like they belonged on a watchlist.

We clung to anything labeled “diet” like it was a health hack.

Diet Coke. Sugar-free candy. 100-calorie snack packs. Fat-free cookies that somehow tasted like cardboard and regret.

The wild part is we didn’t even care what was inside those products.

If it was low-calorie, we trusted it.

Looking back, it’s obvious how flawed that thinking was. When you remove fat, companies usually replace it with sugar, salt, or a mix of ingredients you can’t pronounce. We were basically training ourselves to ignore our bodies and follow labels.

Now, millennials are the generation reading ingredient lists, talking about gut health, and choosing protein and fiber over fake “diet” promises.

We’ve learned to ask better questions. Will this support my energy? Will this keep me full? Will this mess with my mood?

Back then, the only question was: “How many calories?”

And that mindset messed with a lot of us.

4) Thinking Red Bull and cigarettes counted as breakfast

If you were a millennial in the 2000s, there’s a good chance your breakfast was either nothing or chaos.

Red Bull. Cigarettes. A sugary coffee drink. Maybe a Pop-Tart if you were feeling fancy.

And somehow we thought that was normal.

I remember people showing up to class with an energy drink the size of their head and acting like it was a personality trait.

The vibe was always, “I’m too busy to eat.” But what that really meant was, “I’m running on stress and pretending I’m fine.”

This obsession was part of the early hustle culture wave. We were taught that being tired meant you were important. That skipping meals was a sign of ambition. That rest was for the weak.

Now we know better. Your body keeps receipts.

That constant anxiety? Sometimes it’s not your personality. It’s your nervous system screaming for help.

That brain fog? That energy crash? That random heartburn at 24?

A lot of it came from treating nutrition like an afterthought.

These days, millennials are the ones meal prepping, buying electrolytes, and learning how to make breakfast actually work for them.

Not because it’s trendy.

Because we’re tired of feeling like garbage.

5) Writing dramatic emo captions like we were all in a music video

This one hurts. Because I was absolutely guilty of it.

In the 2000s, we didn’t just post photos.

We performed emotional monologues.

You’d upload a blurry photo taken on a flip phone, and the caption would be something like: “They only miss you when you’re gone.” Or: “I’m fine.”

Which, obviously, meant you were not fine.

We were obsessed with being deep. Being mysterious. Being misunderstood. We acted like tortured artists when our biggest struggle was a bad haircut or someone ignoring us on MSN Messenger.

But again, it makes sense.

We were young, emotional, and trying to put our feelings somewhere. Social media became a diary, except the whole world could read it.

Now, most of us post a picture of food and write “10/10” and call it a day.

And honestly? That’s healthier.

Less performance. More peace.

6) Taking relationship advice from rom-coms and reality TV

The 2000s gave us some terrible ideas about love.

We learned that if someone treated you badly, it meant they liked you. We learned that jealousy was passion. We learned that chaos was chemistry.

Rom-coms told us persistence was romantic, even when it was clearly emotional boundary-crossing. Reality TV made dysfunction look entertaining, and a lot of us absorbed it as normal.

Shows like The Bachelor and Jersey Shore trained us to associate drama with meaning. If you weren’t crying, yelling, or obsessing, were you even in love?

We chased intensity instead of stability. We chased butterflies instead of trust. We confused anxiety with attraction.

Now we’ve matured. We want relationships that are calm, not chaotic. We want partners who communicate. People who don’t vanish for days and then come back with “hey stranger.”

We’ve learned that love isn’t supposed to feel like emotional whiplash.

It’s supposed to feel safe.

And that lesson alone could’ve saved us years of stress.

7) Finally, thinking being “too busy” was something to brag about

This obsession might be the most embarrassing because it stuck with us for a long time.

In the 2000s, being busy was a flex.

If you were exhausted, you were important. If you were overwhelmed, you were successful. If you were running on caffeine and four hours of sleep, you were basically winning at life.

We turned burnout into an identity.

And it didn’t come out of nowhere. We grew up watching people grind. We were told productivity was the goal. We were taught that rest was laziness. We packed our schedules, said yes to everything, and acted like stress was proof of ambition.

But then we got older.

And we realized being busy isn’t impressive if your life feels miserable.

It’s not success if you’re too drained to enjoy it.

That’s why so many millennials now prioritize health, boundaries, and slow living. We’re not lazy.

We’re recovering.

We’re learning that a good life isn’t just about doing more.

It’s about feeling better while you do it.

Outro

The 2000s were chaotic.

We didn’t have the emotional tools we have now. We didn’t understand nutrition the way we do today. We didn’t have the language for boundaries, burnout, or mental health.

We were just trying to figure it out.

If you cringe at your old MySpace profile, your low-rise jeans, or your dramatic captions, that’s actually a good sign.

It means you’ve grown.

Being embarrassed by your past is proof you’re not stuck in it.

You don’t need to erase who you were back then. You just need to laugh, learn, and keep moving forward.

And if nothing else, be grateful for this one thing:

At least your MySpace page isn’t still online.