What is MySpace Angles?

MySpace Angles is a style of self-portrait photography that positions the camera at an extreme high angle, usually at arm's length above the head, to hide the body and obscure facial flaws[5].

Where did MySpace Angles come from?

The habit grew out of early 2000s digital cameras and social sites like Friendster, LiveJournal and MySpace, and picked up the 'MySpace Angles' label after MySpace's 2003 launch[7].

What does MySpace Angles mean?

It means shooting a selfie at a strange angle, often with extreme close-ups and heavy brightness edits, to make an unflattering subject look more attractive online[5].

How do you use MySpace Angles?

Hold the camera at arm's length above your head, angle the lens down toward the face, crop tight and push the brightness up to smooth out skin texture[5].

Is MySpace Angles still popular?

The specific 'MySpace Angles' name is a mid-2000s classic tied to MySpace itself, though the arm's length high-angle selfie was later relabeled things like the 'Ulzzang' angle in Korean web culture[7].

Who coined the term MySpace Angles?

The exact first user is unclear, but filmmaker David Lehre popularized the phrase in his February 2006 short 'MySpace: The Movie' and said he came up with it after meeting women who 'look nothing like their photos'[7].

When was the first Urban Dictionary entry for MySpace Angles?

The first Urban Dictionary definition for 'Myspace Angles' was submitted on February 10, 2006[5].

Did academics really study MySpace Angles?

Yes. The First Monday paper 'You Looked Better on MySpace: Deception and Authenticity on Web 2.0' looked at how users police the angle for online misrepresentation, and The Guardian wrote it up in July 2009[2].

What is the Samsung 'Own the Angles' ad?

It is a 2009 six-film YouTube viral produced by The Viral Factory for the Samsung ST550, in which monsters like vampires and zombies use the camera's front-facing screen to nail a flattering self-shot[6].

What is Namsik's 'The Importance of The Angle'?

It is an August 9, 2013 Korean YouTube video by creator Namsik that flips from an unflattering low-angle selfie to an above-the-head shot, and set off a wave of copycat clips[8].

Why did MySpace Angles become a dating-site talking point?

Sites like Official Dating Resource ran posts warning men that a woman they met through MySpace, Facebook or Friendster might be using the angle to hide chins and bulges, framing it as a first-date red flag[3].

MySpace Angles

2006practiceclassic

Published September 8, 2026

MySpace Angles is the trick of shooting a self-portrait from an extreme high angle to shrink the body and hide facial flaws, a habit that got its name from the flood of arm's length profile pics on MySpace after the site's 2003 launch. The term hit wider use in February 2006 with the first Urban Dictionary entry and David Lehre's short film 'MySpace: The Movie,' and it went on to fuel a decade of dating-site warnings, academic papers, a Samsung ad campaign and a viral 2013 Korean YouTube demo.

selfie memes photo fad memes body image memes mid 2000s memes dating memes

Overview

The core move is a self-portrait shot from well above the face at arm's length, with the lens tilted sharply down. The high vantage shrinks the body out of frame, softens double chins and widens the eyes while cropping the face into the middle of the picture1. Urban Dictionary contributors also flagged the use of pushed brightness and contrast edits, treating heavy post-processing as part of the same visual bag of tricks5.

Because MySpace pushed a single lead image on every profile, the trick ran through mid-2000s pages in bulk. Men on dating threads spent years complaining about being fooled by the angle, and dating advice sites eventually named it as a warning sign for anyone considering a first meet-up3. Women pushed back that men were pulling the same stunt with gym mirrors and cropped bathroom shots, a debate that ran across the follow-up posts from the same sites4.

Origin & Background

Platform

MySpace (source practice) / Urban Dictionary and David Lehre short film (naming and viral spread)

Creator

Unknown

Date

2006

The practice of shooting a flattering self-portrait predates MySpace, growing alongside consumer digital cameras and early social sites like Friendster and LiveJournal. The label attached itself to MySpace after that site's 2003 launch, and the first Urban Dictionary entry for 'Myspace Angles' was submitted on February 10, 2006, describing it as 'a style of photography used to make unattractive people appear attractive, often by positioning the camera at strange angles and using extreme close-ups'5. That same month, filmmaker David Lehre released 'MySpace: The Movie' on his personal site, opening the short with two guys studying a blind date's suspicious profile pics for signs of 'The Angles.' Lehre later said he came up with the phrase after meeting women in person and realizing they 'look nothing like their photos' and had 'figured out their best angles'7.

How It Spread

Mainstream press picked up the joke by the end of the 2000s. In July 2008, Slate ran 'I Look Stupid,' a first-person piece about the pressure to post a flattering head shot on Gmail, iChat and Facebook, and referenced a Guardian breakdown of nine common head shot poses including 'the hand job' and 'the gormless grin'1. The Guardian returned to the topic in a July 8, 2009 blog post that pointed readers to the academic paper 'You Looked Better on MySpace: Deception and Authenticity on Web 2.0,' published in First Monday, which argued that other users heavily police arm's length selfies for signs of misrepresentation2.

The dating advice site Official Dating Resource ran two of the most-shared warnings about the trick. Its 'Beware the Dreaded MySpace Angles' post cast the angle as a form of 'black magic' used by 'photography-savvy young ladies' to hide chins and bulges from men chatting with them on MySpace, Facebook and Friendster3. The follow-up 'Revenge of the MySpace Angles' answered women who wrote in pointing out that guys lie in their profile photos too, joking that 'the girls are just more fun to laugh at'4.

Brands eventually mined the joke for ads. In August 2009 The Viral Factory made a six-film YouTube campaign for the Samsung ST550 (also branded TL225) called 'Own the Angles,' with each clip showing a vampire, zombie or other grotesque character using the camera's front-facing screen to work up a flattering self-shot6. Four years later, on August 9, 2013, Korean YouTuber Namsik uploaded 'The Importance of The Angle,' a short selfie clip that starts from an unflattering low angle before swinging up above the head, and it set off a wave of copycat videos across the South Korean web8.

How to Use This Meme

The classic recipe is straightforward. Hold the camera above your head at arm's length, aim the lens down toward the face at roughly a 45 degree pitch, tilt the chin up slightly and let the jawline read against the sky or ceiling. Shots typically get cropped tight to the face, with brightness pushed high enough to blow out skin texture5. On MySpace profiles the angle was often paired with a mirror shot or a top-down laptop-camera pose, both aimed at showing the face while keeping the body out of frame3.

Cultural Impact

The trick attracted academic attention as well as journalistic hand-wringing. The First Monday paper cited by The Guardian framed the arm's length selfie as a modern echo of Henry VIII's disappointment on meeting Anne of Cleves in person after choosing her from a portrait2. Slate placed the practice inside a wider anxiety about identity online, noting how Gmail, Apple's iChat and Facebook were all nudging users into posting a head shot before the end of the 2000s1. Samsung's 'Own the Angles' viral turned the joke into a selling point for a compact camera whose whole pitch was a second screen on the front, letting the user frame a self-shot without guesswork6.

Frequently Asked Questions

References (8)