> These were interesting, educated, intelligent, thoughtful and passionate people > there is really an underlying snobbery about it These contrast very intere

> These were interesting, educated, intelligent, thoughtful and passionate people > there is really an underlying snobbery about it These contrast very interestingly, but I think it's missing an important point. The early internet was characterized by complete freedom of association. You could talk about whatever, with whomever. If enough people shared an interest, a community could form. The problem with the modern internet isn't that the filthy plebs are using it - it's that all of the content suggestion algorithms, clickbait articles, and advertising are designed for maximum engagement. It's no longer what groups of "interesting, educated, intelligent, thoughtful and passionate people" collectively put forward, without an ulterior financial incentive, that determines what content people see. I think that's the ultimate issue - it's not that low quality content proliferates, it's that there are few if any ways of finding high-quality content among all the crap. It's one of the main reasons I read Hacker News - it's an excellent content filter.