Along with the points others have made about a more representative user base making the internet lamer, there was also a change in behavior by users within the

Along with the points others have made about a more representative user base making the internet lamer, there was also a change in behavior by users within the last 10 years which I myself have undergone. Instead of going on web safaris like I used to, I eventually found a trusted shortlist of sites and aggregators which scratched my itch, and I return to those fewer sites rather than going hunting for new information like I used to. My slice of the web has shrunk, which either means the boringness of the web is my own confirmation bias, or a lot of other people are behaving the same and the web is being winnowed into a few portals rather than a constellation of sites. I tend to think I'm not alone in this. Also just as a vignette, a classmate of mine in high school in the late 90s had a personal web site (which was very well done at the time) with a GIF of an aerial shot of our high school with a targeting crosshairs superimposed on it, and flickering red. Naturally he did not fit in, but that sort of early web freedom would get you a visit by a police officer nowadays. There are many, many more restrictions on content than there used to be.