I miss the old internet.

by Ben Reilly Sun Apr 25, 2021 12:55 am

By which I mean, the internet as it was from around 1998 to 2003, just after the awkward first steps but before the idiot teenage years I think the internet is now in the midst of.

Back when going online meant sitting in front of a desktop computer, most likely running Windows 98, launching Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator if you were cool, and visiting a site that wasn't Facebook. How many people actually bought a more comfortable chair solely for the purpose of surfing the Web in greater comfort? (I did. More than once.)

These were days where people went into chatrooms with perfect strangers. I loved it. I would go into a chatroom and say something just to stir people up, like:

"Evolutionists would have you all believe that Jesus Christ was a monkey!"

This was a mostly anonymous Internet where anybody could pretend to be anything. Facebook decided this was bad and made us use (for the most part) our real names, but that just started us competing for likes and comments. I suppose NewsFix is a throwback to the old Internet, what with its anonymity and lack of reliance on popularity.

The lure, the draw, of the old internet was really just two thngs -- the access to a milion libraries' worth of information, enabling you to much more quickly answer those idle questions that occur to all of us every day -- and the ability to look into other people's minds and lives as they posted about themselves, where they're from and what they've seen.

It didn't feel like it was dividing us! Quite the contrary, it felt like it was drawing us together. It was introducing us to one another, and for the most part, we were charmed, in that moment.

Maybe we're just getting to the point where that initial charm has worn off, but I think that can only be a small part of why today's internet sucks.

Today's internet sucks because a handful of content creators command 99 percent of the internet's attention. How often, these days, do you go online not to check your Facebook or Twitter feed, or to watch YouTube videos, or to buy something? When's the last time you went online to simply read and click from one hyperlink to the next -- which was the reason, in the first place, that people called it "surfing the Web?"

The web used to seem infinite. I truly believe it once was. Now, it's like TV -- a few people deciding what most people look at.

Fuck that shit.

by eddie Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:06 am

Social media should be called

“Like me!”

by Syl Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:16 am

I joined the internet in 2007....I thought Friends reunited ....possibly a forerunner to Facebook and Twitter, was brilliant.
I got in touch with schoolfriends from decades ago, a new world opened up.....then I got bored, and have never since been tempted since to get involved with all the social media crap, that to me, on the outside, seems incredibly boring, shallow, and self obsessed.

I prefer forums that encourage proper debate....I also love the never ending library of information available, Youtube.....and obviously online shopping.

by Cass Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:18 am

You miss AOL and the long time, so long you could go out and milk a herd of cows BY HAND before it connected and loaded Netscape??? ARE YOU INSANE???

I surf the net every day as part of my job and sometimes personally. When I get into a topic, it’s no longer surfing, it’s called going down a rabbit hole, where you lose hours of your time before you know it. Due to a recent road trip I now know more about Mike Nesmith’s first wife than I ever thought I would want to. You had to be there. Still. It passed the time.

I don’t think Facebook is evil or crap. It has both its good parts and bad, just like the old AOL chat rooms before it (circa 1998). The internet itself has evolved over the years, as everything else technology related has. It was never meant to stay the same forever. Even back then, the content could be dodgy.

So I’m not quite sure what’s upsetting you about it.

by Ben Reilly Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:41 am

I am being a bit nostalgic and looking through rose-colored glasses, Cass. But I really do miss the days when no site was so big that most people went to it to the exclusion of all the funky little weird sites that existed back then.

I don't like today's internet because of the way it makes people behave and because it seems so limited. It doesn't have to be that way, and it's not really that way, but it seems that way and a lot of people don't realize there's more to it than social media.

Not to mention the people who think watching a few YouTube videos makes them an expert in any given topic.

But my main gripe with the internet of today is that it no longer has that sense of wonder about it. It's no longer idealistic. It's gotten downright cynical, and divisive to boot.

by Ben Reilly Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:50 am

And Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, for all their promise of letting us show off who we really are, actually seem to be acting to mold people into sameyness.

They aren't really vehicles of self-expression anymore, are they? They actually create their own standards of acceptability that encourage people to mold themselves into a more marketable, palatble facade of personality. It's perverse and sickening if you actually let it sink in.

by eddie Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:53 am

Ben Reilly wrote:And Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, for all their promise of letting us show off who we really are, actually seem to be acting to mold people into sameyness.

They aren't really vehicles of self-expression anymore, are they? They actually create their own standards of acceptability that encourage people to mold themselves into a more marketable, palatble facade of personality. It's perverse and sickening if you actually let it sink in.

Nail on the head.

Self-expression on Facebook? Ha! Doesn’t exist.

by Cass Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:56 am

Ben Reilly wrote:I am being a bit nostalgic and looking through rose-colored glasses, Cass. But I really do miss the days when no site was so big that most people went to it to the exclusion of all the funky little weird sites that existed back then.

I don't like today's internet because of the way it makes people behave and because it seems so limited. It doesn't have to be that way, and it's not really that way, but it seems that way and a lot of people don't realize there's more to it than social media.

Not to mention the people who think watching a few YouTube videos makes them an expert in any given topic.

But my main gripe with the internet of today is that it no longer has that sense of wonder about it. It's no longer idealistic. It's gotten downright cynical, and divisive to boot.

by Cass Sun Apr 25, 2021 2:15 am

Ben Reilly wrote:And Facebook and Twitter and Youtube, for all their promise of letting us show off who we really are, actually seem to be acting to mold people into sameyness.

They aren't really vehicles of self-expression anymore, are they? They actually create their own standards of acceptability that encourage people to mold themselves into a more marketable, palatble facade of personality. It's perverse and sickening if you actually let it sink in.

Ok not sure why it posted before I finished and is now a blank...

But people have always behaved badly on the internet. I speak as a former member of Christian chat. Really. And a lot of chat forum and groups over the years. It was ugly, awful and so much bad information even back then but without fact checkers. I suppose in my profession, I’ve used it more than most on a daily basis, so I don’t get nostalgic for it. Do I think people need to disconnect more? Most certainly. It’s why I still continue to read hard copies of books except in cases of traveling when it’s not so smart to lug 10 hardbacks around. I do agree about having newspapers and magazines online though as it does help, albeit in a small way, with the environment. But then I’ve never let the internet run my life. As evidenced right here and I drop in and out when I feel like it.

Has social media made people conform? Hell yes. But advertising was always about influencing consumers. Madison Avenue has been replaced by social media to a certain extent.

My social media presence has always been who I am in real life. I’ve never pretended to be somebody I’m not. You both know that. Except for my name as even way back then I knew because of Mr. C’s job not to be tell all and careful. I’m not in it for likes or popularity. I post pictures of my food, or my kids or my cats and use it as a way of keeping in touch with family and friends worldwide. If people don’t like it, fine scroll on. It won’t hurt me because I never gave it that power over me. I also didn’t use it primarily as a debating tool. I can get that in my real life if I want.

I think you, and we, are more aware of its intrusiveness and bad side over the last 2 years because of world wide events and then this pandemic. While it brought to light a lot of bad stuff, it also brought more accountability. And during this last year it also showed it’s good side too, allowing people who were sheltering because of a world wide pandemic to stay connected with the outside world.

All good things in moderation, including moderation is sort of my life’s motto although there are times when it’s appropriate to go overboard.

by Maddog Sun Apr 25, 2021 2:24 am

Maybe the internet is too loud and someone needs to turn it down. Cool

by Cass Sun Apr 25, 2021 3:25 am

Maddog wrote:Maybe the internet is too loud and someone needs to turn it down.

True but it also needs to be used responsibly as with any information resource. You’ll always have bad actors. In the good old days, it was traveling preachers or doctors (hucksters really), then the telephone then shared lines (my grandparents had one in Iowa. You learned a whole lotta stuff about the neighbors if you could hold your breath for a long time lol), gossiping over the back fence. The internet is sometimes just a huge version of the Whispers game. Any type of system, whether it be technology or welfare/benefits or politics etc...is open to abuse.

In the olden days, people didn’t like what was in the radio or tv they turned channels or turned off. People need to do that with the internet too.

by Tommy Monk Sun Apr 25, 2021 3:36 pm

I don't use Facebook or Twitter, very very rarely look on YouTube for anything and think I have only ever bought 3 things online (2 of which were replacement remote controls for a TV).

by HoratioTarr Sun Apr 25, 2021 4:34 pm

I don't miss those fecking ponderous modems. I mean, where else can a devoted crochet queen find inspiration like this?

I miss the old internet. 178608046_10158596045112753_5100001258923793793_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ozSvJoLwlIQAX_c86uH&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1

I miss the old internet. 178608046_10158596045112753_5100001258923793793_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ozSvJoLwlIQAX_c86uH&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-1

I miss the old internet. 178742370_10158596042787753_3309247972333862635_n.jpg?_nc_cat=101&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=l8OPZlowoVYAX_Sw0iv&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr8-2

by Cass Sun Apr 25, 2021 5:40 pm

HoratioTarr wrote:I don't miss those fecking ponderous modems. I mean, where else can a devoted crochet queen find inspiration like this?

Well I guess I won’t sleep tonight after seeing this I miss the old internet. 1f631

by Ben Reilly Sun May 09, 2021 12:12 am

I guess in a nutshell, I've got two major problems with the internet of today -- how it fosters tribalism, and how a small handful of sites dominate web traffic, when the internet is so limitless.

Oh, and a third problem, but it's the same as a real-life, offline problem -- that the Internet has become yet another way to encourage and enforce conformity, rather than liberating people to be their honest selves.

by eddie Sun May 09, 2021 12:19 am

Ben Reilly wrote:I guess in a nutshell, I've got two major problems with the internet of today -- how it fosters tribalism, and how a small handful of sites dominate web traffic, when the internet is so limitless.

Oh, and a third problem, but it's the same as a real-life, offline problem -- that the Internet has become yet another way to encourage and enforce conformity, rather than liberating people to be their honest selves.

I know that Facebook simply encourages people to garner “likes”. So many posts are shallow and pointless.
There’s no real discussions, just endless photos of filtered selfies, people’s dinners and “What Disney Princess are you? Take the quiz!”
It’s just social bubblegum.

by Syl Sun May 09, 2021 12:38 am

eddie wrote:
Ben Reilly wrote:I guess in a nutshell, I've got two major problems with the internet of today -- how it fosters tribalism, and how a small handful of sites dominate web traffic, when the internet is so limitless.

Oh, and a third problem, but it's the same as a real-life, offline problem -- that the Internet has become yet another way to encourage and enforce conformity, rather than liberating people to be their honest selves.

I know that Facebook simply encourages people to garner “likes”. So many posts are shallow and pointless.
There’s no real discussions, just endless photos of filtered selfies, people’s dinners and “What Disney Princess are you? Take the quiz!”
It’s just social bubblegum.

I have gone off the like/dislike feature on here.

You said a while ago it makes us lazy, and it does.
I use it sometimes instead of writing a response, I also use it instead of the alien

What's the point of having both?

by Original Quill Sun May 09, 2021 3:48 am

Ben Reilly wrote:I guess in a nutshell, I've got two major problems with the internet of today -- how it fosters tribalism, and how a small handful of sites dominate web traffic, when the internet is so limitless.

Tribalism? Human nature.

Dominate web traffic? Capitalism.

Ben Reilly wrote:Oh, and a third problem, but it's the same as a real-life, offline problem -- that the Internet has become yet another way to encourage and enforce conformity, rather than liberating people to be their honest selves.

Conformity? Read Alexis de Tocqueville, "Tyranny of the Majority", Chapter 15, in Democracy in America (1834).

by Maddog Sun May 09, 2021 3:47 pm

Syl wrote:
eddie wrote:

I know that Facebook simply encourages people to garner “likes”. So many posts are shallow and pointless.
There’s no real discussions, just endless photos of filtered selfies, people’s dinners and “What Disney Princess are you? Take the quiz!”
It’s just social bubblegum.

I have gone off the like/dislike feature on here.

You said a while ago it makes us lazy, and it does.
I use it sometimes instead of writing a response, I also use it instead of the
What's the point of having both?

I had to give you like. I'm not even sure I really liked it.

by Syl Sun May 09, 2021 5:10 pm

Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:

I have gone off the like/dislike feature on here.

You said a while ago it makes us lazy, and it does.
I use it sometimes instead of writing a response, I also use it instead of the
What's the point of having both?

I had to give you like. I'm not even sure I really liked it.

I would have preferred a alien

....I never get any nowadays. Crying or Very sad

by Cass Sun May 09, 2021 8:05 pm

Syl wrote:
Maddog wrote:

I had to give you like. I'm not even sure I really liked it.

I would have preferred a ....I never get any nowadays.

Have a

Syl and a Happy USA Mother’s Day to you and all on here x

by Cass Sun May 09, 2021 8:20 pm

Ben Reilly wrote:I guess in a nutshell, I've got two major problems with the internet of today -- how it fosters tribalism, and how a small handful of sites dominate web traffic, when the internet is so limitless.

Oh, and a third problem, but it's the same as a real-life, offline problem -- that the Internet has become yet another way to encourage and enforce conformity, rather than liberating people to be their honest selves.

But surely what web traffic a person sees is down to the user. Or are you talking big corporations like Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook etc...Not quite sure to what you are referencing tribalism. Could you expand a bit please?

Regarding your third problem, again it’s down to the user. And it goes back to what I mentioned above. It’s the new digital platform that took the place of Madison Avenue. Advertising has been around as long as printing has been available. For that is what some of the early printing presses were invented for (mostly religious tracts). If people want to be swayed by advertising whether it’s through print or digital means, that’s on them and the consumer society we built. Societies have always had some form of conformity. That’s how they have managed to be cohesive and evolve.

Sure there are people who want to present some kind of “best” life to the world at large through social media. That’s always happened.They fear being honest or admitting mistakes or that they’re not perfect. Keeping Up With The Joneses is not a new concept. Perhaps since it’s more pervasive, we notice it more now.

I’m my true self on the internet, always have been, always will be. Do I allow myself to be influenced in some way? Sure. Like what books to read after seeing the reviews or recommendations, or trying a new recipe or listening to some music that someone suggested. Oh and kitchen gadgets. I’m a bugger for those but I was before the internet became a thing.

by Syl Mon May 10, 2021 6:37 pm

Cass wrote:
Syl wrote:

I would have preferred a ....I never get any nowadays.

Have a Syl and a Happy USA Mother’s Day to you and all on here x

Oh I missed this post...sorry Cass' x

I hope you had a lovely Mothers day yesterday.

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