4 ms·
Sometimes I wonder if the cozy feeling of the "old" internet so many people are nostalgic for was really just a byproduct of a few enthusiasts gaining an outsiz
by zwieback 3y ago
Sometimes I wonder if the cozy feeling of the "old" internet so many people are nostalgic for was really just a byproduct of a few enthusiasts gaining an outsize following because the net was financed by universities, governments and the military. Once the unwashed masses and commercial interests joined the party things "went downhill".
You can still blog if you want, you just won't get the automatic exposure.
- prepend 3y agoThis is where I settled. The net was kind of hard to use so there was a certain kind of user. Writing blog posts is kind of hard so there weren’t a ton. Then it got easy and everyone is on. So thus the yelling and marginalia.
- stvltvs 3y agoThe nostalgia I feel is for the experimental DIY vibe and doing stuff for free just because it's fun or you want to contribute to a community. Hustle culture and corporate walled gardens have sucked the fun out of the old web.
- tracerbulletx 3y agoYou can find that same spirit in the discords playing with LLMS right now even though it's walled. It would be better if it wasn't but the spirit is the same.
- soupfordummies 3y agoGot any server recs?
- tracerbulletx 3y agoOld internet: a local bookstore/coffee shop near the university housing. New Internet: Grocery store in a big city check out aisle tabloid section(and also the bookstore is still there too)
- isitmadeofglass 3y ago[dead]
- JohnFen 3y agoWhat I miss about the old internet was the lack of commercialization. Commercialization has a habit of making things worse.
- zwieback 3y agoSure but my main point is that the old internet is still there but it's less glamorous. In fact, the old elites benefit from a trickle up effect where the infrastructure is now orders of magnitude better due to the commercial world building out the networks.
- JohnFen 3y ago> Sure but my main point is that the old internet is still there but it's less glamorous Some of it is, yes, but a whole lot is gone now. Maybe, perhaps equally likely, it's just very hard to find. The signal-to-noise ratio on the internet is extremely poor.