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You could argue (it certainly has been argued) that the ability for technology to dissolve the usually more coherent identities that we take on daily by grantin

You could argue (it certainly has been argued) that the ability for technology to dissolve the usually more coherent identities that we take on daily by granting unlimited role play, trolling, and exploration is simply too much for a lot of people, and makes it hard to maintain a coherent sense of self. This is especially true of people who are “internet addicts” - not that the designation means a whole lot as I’m here at the gym talking to you on the phone. Don’t get me wrong, I mostly agree with your comment. I think even more dastardly is the tendency for the internet to market new personalities to you, based on what’s profitable

ethbr1 9mo ago
There's also the inconvenient truth that a very specific part of the world was online in the 1990s. Primarily more educated, more liberal, more wealthy. Turns out, when you hook the rest of the planet online, you get mass persuasion campaigns, fake genocide "reporting", and enough of an increase in ambient noise that coherent anonymous discourse becomes impossible. I mean, look at the comments on Fox News or political YouTube videos. That's the real average level of discussion.
- brabel 9mo ago
  The 1990s internet was definitely not more liberal! 4chan style forums were probably the rule. I can’t believe someone would say that, clearly you didn’t use the same internet that I did.
  - Eisenstein 9mo ago
    He didn't say the internet was more liberal, he said the people on it were. Before you start forming your reply, think about the actual culture back then. If you take slashdot as somewhat representative of the 90s internet culture, it was basically anti-corporate, meritocratic, non-judgmental, irreligious, educated, non-discriminatory, and once 2000 came around tended to be highly critical of the Bush agenda. 4chan at that time and places like it represented more of an edgelord culture, where showing vulnerability or sensitivity was shunned, everything revered by the larger populace was ruthlessly mocked, and distrust of society and government in general was taken as natural. Calling them conservative would have been non-sensical.
    - ethbr1 9mo ago
      Exactly. If I had to characterize the general internet (read: what would and wouldn't raise an eyebrow in an average forum) in terms of political alignment, it'd probably be: - anarchist 60s/70s - libertarian-meritocracy 80s/90s - capitalist-meritocracy-liberal 00s - polarized liberal-globalist vs conservative-reactionary 10s - polarized liberal-individualist vs conservative-statist 20s That SA / 4chan (both of which were really post-90s) existed were in no way proof of an anti-liberal bent. Their very edgelordness was an implicit reveling in absolute freedom of expression (even if their later liberal-pro-censoring and alt-right splinter movements subsequently forgot that).
  - pessimizer 9mo ago
    4chan was very much left-wing to liberal until Stormfront invaded them back. After Caturday came Soviet Sunday.
- mrcatmann 9mo ago
  It's still possible in smaller, constructive communities, not in large general-purpose social networks.
  - hyperadvanced 9mo ago
    As a hn poster, I agree with this

ethbr1 9mo ago

There's also the inconvenient truth that a very specific part of the world was online in the 1990s. Primarily more educated, more liberal, more wealthy. Turns out, when you hook the rest of the planet online, you get mass persuasion campaigns, fake genocide "reporting", and enough of an increase in ambient noise that coherent anonymous discourse becomes impossible. I mean, look at the comments on Fox News or political YouTube videos. That's the real average level of discussion.

brabel 9mo ago
The 1990s internet was definitely not more liberal! 4chan style forums were probably the rule. I can’t believe someone would say that, clearly you didn’t use the same internet that I did.
- Eisenstein 9mo ago
  He didn't say the internet was more liberal, he said the people on it were. Before you start forming your reply, think about the actual culture back then. If you take slashdot as somewhat representative of the 90s internet culture, it was basically anti-corporate, meritocratic, non-judgmental, irreligious, educated, non-discriminatory, and once 2000 came around tended to be highly critical of the Bush agenda. 4chan at that time and places like it represented more of an edgelord culture, where showing vulnerability or sensitivity was shunned, everything revered by the larger populace was ruthlessly mocked, and distrust of society and government in general was taken as natural. Calling them conservative would have been non-sensical.
  - ethbr1 9mo ago
    Exactly. If I had to characterize the general internet (read: what would and wouldn't raise an eyebrow in an average forum) in terms of political alignment, it'd probably be: - anarchist 60s/70s - libertarian-meritocracy 80s/90s - capitalist-meritocracy-liberal 00s - polarized liberal-globalist vs conservative-reactionary 10s - polarized liberal-individualist vs conservative-statist 20s That SA / 4chan (both of which were really post-90s) existed were in no way proof of an anti-liberal bent. Their very edgelordness was an implicit reveling in absolute freedom of expression (even if their later liberal-pro-censoring and alt-right splinter movements subsequently forgot that).
- pessimizer 9mo ago
  4chan was very much left-wing to liberal until Stormfront invaded them back. After Caturday came Soviet Sunday.
mrcatmann 9mo ago
It's still possible in smaller, constructive communities, not in large general-purpose social networks.
- hyperadvanced 9mo ago
  As a hn poster, I agree with this