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I always get sad when I think of the techno-optimism of the 90s and the early net. I think it actually was still present well into the 00s, which were a golden
by andrepd 6y ago
I always get sad when I think of the techno-optimism of the 90s and the early net. I think it actually was still present well into the 00s, which were a golden age in their own way (blogs, forums, communities). Then mainstream facebook hit like a ton of bricks..
- TheOtherHobbes 6y agoFacebook is AOL 2.0. AOL was equivalently vapid - and often just as toxic - in the 90s.
- ianwalter 6y agoYes, I remember joining KKK chatrooms on AOL as a kid and spamming them with "White Chowder! White Chowder!". Good times.
- beardedwizard 6y agoThis. People are wearing rose colored glasses, but the scale has changed and the barriers to entry removed.
- lilbaine 6y agoHopefully FB goes the same way AOL instant messenger did.
- syshum 6y ago2005 is where I place the beginning of the end
- nitrogen 6y agoI should have seen it coming in 97 when I introduced an acquaintance to IRC or similar, expecting the same enlightenment I saw, and the first thing he did was start spamming channels with swears as a laugh.
- jacobush 6y agoHad exactly the same experience.
- serf 6y agomany of us place it a bit earlier. [0] [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September
- syshum 6y agoWhile I agree that was the end for Usenet. And it for told what would become of the wider internet. 2005 saw the creation of the modern social network and the start of the centralized services we have today. A move from 100's of niche forums and blogs to a few social networks. Which is where I place the beginning of the end of the wider internet
- randomsearch 6y agoHave people become less smart? I think more likely you’ve just been exposed to the reality than most people are not as smart as yourself. I certainly think more people are aware of things they wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of. It’s become more difficult for governments to hide facts from their citizens, and that’s been good. It’s been a mixed bag and I think we should be careful of judging the Internet by the behaviour of companies like Facebook. We’re also learning. Ten years ago I can’t imagine anyone quitting social media due to concerns about privacy, manipulation, the undermining of democracy or the amoral behaviour of Facebook’s employees, but that happens a lot now. As PG said, it takes time for us to “develop antibodies” to these things.
- andrepd 6y agoNo, I don't think I'm smarter. I think it's a mix of both things. There was a barrier to entry before, which was still significant pre-smartphone. This naturally selected the people that participated. In the early net, pretty much researchers, professor, university students. Naturally this had a selection effect. Like all utopias, it eventually ran into real people. But secondly there's also the issue of social media mass manipulation, which MAKES (or strongly pushes) people to act like they do. This is completely separate to how "smart" the community is.
- xwdv 6y agoI wish all the internet was more like hackernews.
- spoopyskelly 6y agoGoing from the posts in this thread it seems like HN thinks "the internet" is all social media and ads. What you're wishing for is another type of misinformed opinion, one that you agree with.
- xwdv 6y agoIf you’re forced to agree with something, might as well be hackernews IMO.
- bertil 6y agoJust above your comment was a caricatural: “Is the internet I built bad? No, it must be other people who are stupid.” that made your comment take a colour very different from what you intended…