Does anyone else miss the "old" internet?

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

TL;DR: Just some rando going through a quarter/third life crisis or something, lamenting the fading history of the interwebs.

 

Full, long version: I guess I'm getting to that point in my millennial life where I'm slowly turning into the boomer I'd vow to never become, because as I've futilely being trying to sleep for the past hour or two (isn't insomnia fun?), I've found myself reminiscing in-depth about the "good ol' days" of the internet.

 

There's some specific things I think back fondly on from my childhood, like Neopets and RuneScape. But other than that, I miss how the general "atmosphere" of the internet used to be different. Anonymity was the norm, and while you can of course choose to not sign up for any social media handles nowadays, there's often increasing pressure to - from work if not from friends/family. And even if you keep a lot of personal details to yourself, you always know you're eventually going to sign up for some dodgy website or something that ends up selling your details at some point, and if nothing else, your spam inbox will be inundated for a while.

 

Back in the prehistoric years of the internet, when information on games still wasn't super easy to find and you still had to occasionally resort to physical Prima guides or the like, I often noticed there were a lot more forum threads discussing things about games: What information was correct, if anyone had tried the Konami code in X section yet, if anyone else has discovered this weird glitch or Easter egg, etc. It was fun, and genuinely felt like a sense of community even if you didn't know who the fuck you were really talking to on the other side of the world. I also remember there being a few "book club" style discussions on games, which I still see crop up once in a while, but they're certainly a lot less common now. I didn't always participate myself, but they were often enjoyable to read. I can't find anything specific from the 90s/00s, but this Golden Axe Warrior playthrough discussion from 2 years ago is similar to how I remember many of them being.

 

And speaking of which, forums and blogs are something I deeply miss, even though they're still very much around, they've been dwindling in numbers as time marches on. A lot of websites have up and closed their own forums and moved to Discord instead, where it's a nightmare to find information or have in-depth conversations given that it's primarily designed as a messaging service. As you can probably tell from this post already, I'm the kind of person that much prefers to think about what they're going to say beforehand, and write lengthy walls of text instead of short one or two sentences in quick succession. Regardless of my own personal preferences, there's a lot of valuable information that's just been lost to time from forums closing up shop and not being archived anywhere. If you've ever found yourself stuck in an old video game or needing help with something semi-obscure and gone to Google it, you may have found yourself on a GamefFAQs page from 2006 or something. Stuff like that could also be gone forever at some point (though I certainly hope GameFAQs is something that never goes away, far too many valuable guides and other info on there)

 

Going back to blogs, there used to be a lot more fan sites for games and other hobbies back in the day. I remember when I used to look at Serebii's associated sites on the sidebar, and there used to be shit tons of Pokemon fan sites. Nowadays, there's many I can remember but can't find any trace of having ever existed, no matter how much I search. The charm of those fan sites and blogs with their own (sometimes eye achingly atrocious, admittedly) layouts, fan art, user created maps for games, etc. are something that's largely been lost, aside from the few oldies that still remain online. Like forums moving to Discord, fansites/blogs have largely moved onto the Fandom Wikia, which isn't too bad (well aside from all the ads, but adblock exists), they're often still chock full of information, but obviously tend to lack more fan created content, theories, etc. Speaking of which, I kinda miss how many old Wikis used to look, before they pretty much all migrated to Fandom, but that's a minor gripe.

 

Since I tend to still play a lot of old games, I often still find myself using sites like Final Fantasy Kingdom and RPGClassics for their info, maps and walkthroughs. I dread the day when those sites may be gone for good.

 

I didn't participate in them a ton, but old IRC chatrooms are something I also somewhat miss, though I will admit Discord is vastly superior in just about every way.

 

I also remember when YouTube's search engine wasn't so horrendous, and you didn't have to watch a million ads before a video (thank God once again for adblock). I guess that, as the internet grew more ubiquitous, it unfortunately became yet another means for companies and corporations to monetise, and as such, the internet is more curated to what profits the most. But that's a rant for another time.

 

Can anyone else relate? Even if you don't necessarily "miss" it, do you have any fond memories? Conversely, is there anything you prefer about the current age of the internet (I'm sure we can all agree dial up internet is not missed)?

[JPtheNeurotic]

oh boy.

So I was thinking about if I missed the old days and the answer is...kinda. For me, its the dwindling of forums that hurts the most. I hate reddit outside of just googling answers and I love discord, but it is not the same as an actual forum. Ive bounced around from one place to other over the years with my options dwindling by the day.

I guess my biggest wonder is if things have gotten more toxic or not? Things used to be more wild west but its not like the amount of toxcity has really gone down I think? IDK.

There def is a major homegenization of the web space comapred to how it used ot be and theres pros and cons to that.

[dmland12]

I do miss some of the early internet.  There's got to be more small websites now than ever, but they're also a lot harder to find.  Social media dominates things now and discovering new things kind of sucks compared to before.  It's just whatever bubbles up according to some algorithm or another.  So, yeah I do miss browsing through Geocities and finding mostly trash, but occasionally not, lol.  Browsing through Yahoo directory when it was the main way to find anything.  Stuff like that.

 

Discord though, I think is kind of a throwback.  It functions a lot like IRC if IRC had gotten really popular.

[You]

For me it's not just the "old" internet I miss, it's the old way of life and human discourse I also miss. Where people were clearer nicer in general, and you'd be able to randomly talk to people on the street, they weren't buried in their phones, or behind their masks.

 

Before this turns into the usual the 80s/90s was better. I do miss the world before mobile phones were invented.

 

Growing up in the 80s and 90s, whether it be school, or TV. There was quite a lot of upbeat enthusiasm about the future.

We have access to everything, at all times and instantly. To the extent where we've become so reliant on them that we learn less and have got lazy.

 

Gaming has arguably gotten better, certainly with graphics and gameplay and the like. I just wish all the microtransactions, loot boxes and of course trophies hadn't been added along the way,.

Low effort, 10 minute efforts that are shocking, viral, click bait, that's what makes all the money these days, which is understandable I guess why a lot of people just clock out on putting in more effort.

 

I listen to music from the 80s and 90s almost everyday and I still play a ton of retro games, especially arcade games. I started playing Sonic Frontiers a few days ago, it's awesome, and well. It's nice we can experience the 90s, even in the 2020s. I miss the past and it's not the same, but still, at least we can still experience the good old days even in 2020, so not all is lost. One strong positive about the "new" Internet

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by enaysoft

[dkrlekaqo]

27 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

나에게 그것은 내가 그리워하는 "오래된" 인터넷뿐만 아니라 내가 그리워하는 오래된 삶의 방식과 인간의 담론이기도 합니다. 일반적으로 사람들이 더 명확하고 더 친절하고 거리에서 사람들과 무작위로 대화할 수 있는 곳에서는 휴대전화나 가면 뒤에 묻히지 않았습니다.

 

이것이 일상으로 바뀌기 전에 80/90년대가 더 좋았습니다. 휴대폰이 발명되기 전의 세상이 그립습니다.

 

80~90년대에 자라서 학교든 TV든. 미래에 대한 낙관적 인 열정이 상당히 많았습니다.

우리는 모든 것에 언제든지 즉시 액세스할 수 있습니다. 우리가 그들에게 너무 의존해서 배우는 것이 적고 게을러지는 정도.

 

게임은 확실히 그래픽과 게임 플레이 등으로 인해 더 좋아졌습니다. 모든 소액 결제, 전리품 상자 및 물론 트로피가 도중에 추가되지 않았으면 합니다.

저노력, 10분 노가다 충격, 바이럴, 클릭 미끼, 그게 요즘 돈 버는 이유가 이해가 됩니다. 왜 많은 사람들이 더 많은 노력을 기울이는 데만 시간을 쏟는지 알 것 같습니다.

 

나는 거의 매일 80년대와 90년대의 음악을 듣습니다. 그리고 저는 여전히 수많은 복고풍 게임, 특히 아케이드 게임을 합니다. 며칠 전에 Sonic Frontiers를 플레이하기 시작했는데 정말 훌륭합니다. 2020년대에도 90년대를 경험할 수 있어서 좋다. 과거가 그립고 예전 같지는 않지만 적어도 2020년에도 여전히 좋은 시절을 경험할 수 있으므로 모든 것이 손실되는 것은 아닙니다. "새로운" 인터넷에 대한 한 가지 강력한 긍정적인 점

 

 

 

 

I agree.

 

The world is developing rapidly, but in human relationships, it seems to be getting colder.

 

The world has become easier to live in, but it doesn't seem to have gotten any better.

[You]

 

34 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

나에게 그것은 내가 그리워하는 "오래된" 인터넷뿐만 아니라 내가 그리워하는 오래된 삶의 방식과 인간의 담론이기도 합니다. 일반적으로 사람들이 더 명확하고 더 친절하고 거리에서 사람들과 무작위로 대화할 수 있는 곳에서는 휴대전화나 가면 뒤에 묻히지 않았습니다.

 

이것이 일상으로 바뀌기 전에 80/90년대가 더 좋았습니다. 휴대폰이 발명되기 전의 세상이 그립습니다.

 

80~90년대에 자라서 학교든 TV든. 미래에 대한 낙관적 인 열정이 상당히 많았습니다.

우리는 모든 것에 언제든지 즉시 액세스할 수 있습니다. 우리가 그들에게 너무 의존해서 배우는 것이 적고 게을러지는 정도.

 

게임은 확실히 그래픽과 게임 플레이 등으로 인해 더 좋아졌습니다. 모든 소액 결제, 전리품 상자 및 물론 트로피가 도중에 추가되지 않았으면 합니다.

저노력, 10분 노가다 충격, 바이럴, 클릭 미끼, 그게 요즘 돈 버는 이유가 이해가 됩니다. 왜 많은 사람들이 더 많은 노력을 기울이는 데만 시간을 쏟는지 알 것 같습니다.

 

나는 거의 매일 80년대와 90년대의 음악을 듣습니다. 그리고 저는 여전히 수많은 복고풍 게임, 특히 아케이드 게임을 합니다. 며칠 전에 Sonic Frontiers를 플레이하기 시작했는데 정말 훌륭합니다. 2020년대에도 90년대를 경험할 수 있어서 좋다. 과거가 그립고 예전 같지는 않지만 적어도 2020년에도 여전히 좋은 시절을 경험할 수 있으므로 모든 것이 손실되는 것은 아닙니다. "새로운" 인터넷에 대한 한 가지 강력한 긍정적인 점

 

 

 

 

HOLY SHIT! I only learned Korean for about 3 months in 2012 or so, but man, it's a lot better than I remember it being LOL.

 

3 minutes ago, KARD----RIAN said:

The world has become easier to live in

 

Financially and in the west, over the past few decades I'd argue it's way harder to live compared to our parents.

Edited October 26, 2022 by enaysoft

[Z1MZUM]

I do miss the old forum styles. I can't stand how snow flaky every service is now, when did we all get so emotional? Maybe we handed out too many participation trophies to the millennials?. It's almost as if social media has it's own Skill Based Match Making where as any comment that isn't a pat on the back get's deleted. I miss the anarchy, I miss YouTube in it's former life.

[Kristen Danielle]

59 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

Financially and in the west, over the past few decades I'd argue it's way harder to live compared to our parents.

 

Wait. What?

 

[You]

17 minutes ago, Kristen Danielle said:

 

Wait. What?

 

 

Were your parents born in the early 1900s? I was of course referring to the parents of 1950-1980 and not that long ago.

 

Still, I have no idea about the context of picture, is this your family?

 

Say what you like about what it was like to live in older times, but likely that's perhaps a home that one can own, a larger home (than now) with your own land outside to plant things at your leisure, and being able to afford to bring up 3 children.

 

Yup that's definitely quite a few things most of us can never hope to be able to afford living in the 2020s.

Sure I can't play Dynasty Warriors over 80 years ago, but I guess, swings and roundabouts.

Edited October 26, 2022 by enaysoft

[dkrlekaqo]

1 hour ago, enaysoft said:

 

 

이런 젠장! 2012년에 한국어를 배운지 3개월 정도밖에 안됐는데 LOL로 기억하는 것보다 훨씬 낫습니다.

 

 

재정적으로나 서양에서는 지난 수십 년 동안 우리 부모님에 비해 살기가 훨씬 더 어렵다고 주장하고 싶습니다.

 

I wrote it with a translator, but it seems that the meaning was not conveyed properly.

 

Each of us is living a difficult life for each other, but I want to say one thing: the world seems to be getting too cold.

 

I hope each day passes safely.

 

World peace!

[Kristen Danielle]

3 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

 

Were your parents born in the early 1900s? I was of course referring to the parents of 1950-1980 and not that long ago.

 

Still, I have no idea about the context of picture, is this your family?

 

Say what you like about what it was like to live in older times, but likely that's perhaps a home that one can own, a larger home (than now) with your own land outside to plant thing, and being able to afford to bring up 3 children.

 

Yup that's definitely something most of us can never hope to be able to afford living in the 2020s.

This is 1938 in the middle of the Great Depression and they're the wife and children of the coal miners who all died young because of the soot they were forced to breathe in shafts that weren't well ventilated. Here's the outside of the "home" and all the vast "farmland" outside. I'm sorry if I'm coming across as rude. I don't intend to at all. I am just genuinely shocked at the very idea of life being hard these days.

 

[Z1MZUM]

46 minutes ago, Kristen Danielle said:

 

Wait. What?

 

 

Back then children ate poo

[You]

Haha, no it's totally fine, likewise I hope I don't come across as rude in my posts either.

 

However you did literally quote my post:-

 

1 hour ago, enaysoft said:

Financially and in the west, over the past few decades I'd argue it's way harder to live compared to our parents.

 

Where I said over the past few decades 20-30 years and not past few centuries.

 

I mean for sure it's obviously better than the great depression and any period before that, and you could what about ism and talk about poverty stricken countries right now in 2022.

 

This topic though is about old internet, and recently older times mostly within our life time, and not thaaat long ago.

 

My parents on my dad's regular job allowed him to buy his own home, have several cars, 2 children, job security.

 

Whereas myself who is way more qualified, bringing up one child is pretty tough, I'd love to have 3 if I could afford it. I can't though, wages are lower, property is very expensive and job security is not good, and with inflation going on as it is. I do think financially things are tougher than it was for my parents, I guess though, I can't help which era I was born into. For sure better than the great depression though.

[DrBloodmoney]

Let me tell you sonny, let me tell you straight
You kids today ain't never had it tough
Always had everything handed to you on a silver plate
You lazy brats think nothing's good enough

 

Well, nobody ever drove me to school when it was ninety degrees below
We had to walk buck naked through forty miles of snow
Worked in the coal mines twenty two hours a day for just half a cent
Had to sell me internal organs just to pay the rent

 

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

 

Let me tell you something, you whiny little snot
There's something wrong with all you kids today
You just don't appreciate all the things you've got
We were hungry, broken and miserable and we liked it fine that way

 

There were seventy three of us living in a cardboard box
All I got for Christmas was a lousy bag of rocks
Every night for dinner, we had a big 'ol chunk of dirt
If we were really good, we didn't get dessert

 

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

 

Didn't have no telephone, didn't have no FAX machine
All we had was a couple cans and a crummy piece of string
Didn't have no swimming pool when I was just a lad
Our neighbor's septic tank was the closest thing we had
Didn't have no dental floss, had to use old rusty nails
Didn't have Nintendo, we just poured salt on snails
Didn't have no water bed, had to sleep on broken glass
Didn't have no lawnmower, we used our teeth to cut the grass

 

What's the matter now, sonny, you say you don't believe this junk?
You think my story's wearin' kinda thin?
I tell you one thing, I never was such a disrespectful punk
Back in my time, we had a thing called discipline

 

Dad would whoop us every night till a quarter after twelve
Then he'd get too tired and he'd make us whoop ourselves
Then he'd chop me into pieces and play Frisbee with my brain
And let me tell ya, Junior, you never heard me complain

 

When I was your age. When I was your age
When I was your age. When I was your age

 

-Weird Al Yankovic

Edited October 26, 2022 by DrBloodmoney

[AJ_Radio]

I think we've debated a number of times @Raidou Kuzunoha XIV on this forum, but I didn't recognize you since you have a different avatar. That being said, this is one discussion that I have to completely agree with you on.

 

I absolutely hate and fucking despise the modern corporate internet. There is thankfully some safe bastions out there that still maintain a niche community of people. Some of those communities were better than PSNProfiles, others were a lot worse. But they're one of the few remnants of the old internet, the era that spanned from the early - mid 1990s to the mid - late 2000s.

 

Looking back, the first generation iPhone that released in 2007 and the emergence of Facebook were the death of the old internet. I don't look at MySpace as such because most of the people I came across on there were genuine and they wanted to carry a good conversation. MySpace was the first social media platform that the Millennial generation was exposed to, so you can see how that has impacted the life of the average Millennial. They cling to Twitter and social media as their life blood, and there's no getting around that. If there is a Millennial out there who never used social media, that's pretty damn respectable.

 

YouTube is turning into crap. Funny enough, YouTube search results started turning into crap right when Google search results turned into crap, because Google does own YouTube after all. Lately I've been getting into some conservative channels, and seeing a good majority of them silenced and then banned pisses me off. Bitchute and Odysee are available but who is to say they won't turn into dystopias also?

 

RuneScape was fun also, but like a lot of other things, it got ruined. I remember players like Zezima and The Old Nite (circa 2004 - 2006), when Andrew Gower would actually log in and playtest an update, when players mostly ran around to have fun and socialize. Now everything is efficiency regarding fastest XP method to 99 Runecrafting, tons of stats, a bunch of minigames that are more competitive than about having fun.

 

I remember Miniclip.com. I remember Flash games that featured George W Bush and John Kerry as talking heads. I remember Newgrounds and quirky websites like Stickdeath.com. I remember when you could get away with calling people certain terminology on the internet without getting too many strikes against you. I remember when "teabagging" in games like Counterstrike and Halo weren't deemed outright offensive. I remember when nerds, geeks and weirdos could type slurs and derogatory terms without getting into confrontations. I remember when messaging someone from Australia or England in Runescape or World of Warcraft was fucking fun.

 

I was a social reject and an outsider, and I loved the old internet. Now it is mostly gone, replaced by stupid normies who are entertained by Zoomer garbage on TikTok, 15 second clips on YouTube proving that society has ADD (attention deficit disorder).

 

Let me get canceled on Twitter. Website is a piss stain anyway. Nah, I'll just huddle in my little corner.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Stevieboy
unnecessary comment

[The_Kopite]

3 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I remember when you could get away with calling people certain terminology on the internet without getting too many strikes against you.

Why is this a positive thing about the 'old internet'? I remember Miniclip.com, Red vs Blue etc. etc. but c'mon, calling people 'certain terminology' that clearly was wrong isn't a positive thing to reminisce about the old internet.

 

3 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I remember when nerds, geeks and weirdos could type slurs and derogatory terms without getting into confrontations.

Again, I make the same point.

 

The 'old internet' had some great things about it, but times move on and people (hopefully) grow and things get better in the world in general. That's how things should be. Striving for a better world and to be better to each other, and when someone isn't - they get called out on it.

 

BTW, no I don't use or care for Tiktok. I'm also not saying the 'new internet' is perfect, far from it. The internet will never be perfect full stop. It's made by humans and humans are imperfect.

Edited October 26, 2022 by The_Kopite
Updated information

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

22 hours ago, JPtheNeurotic said:

oh boy.

So I was thinking about if I missed the old days and the answer is...kinda. For me, its the dwindling of forums that hurts the most. I hate reddit outside of just googling answers and I love discord, but it is not the same as an actual forum. Ive bounced around from one place to other over the years with my options dwindling by the day.

I guess my biggest wonder is if things have gotten more toxic or not? Things used to be more wild west but its not like the amount of toxcity has really gone down I think? IDK.

There def is a major homegenization of the web space comapred to how it used ot be and theres pros and cons to that.

 

Reddit is another one of those sites with an awful search function, and I don't particularly like how it operates (posts not getting bumped when someone new posts and it just eventually gets buried, the upvote/downvote system, etc.), but it does have some useful info and posts now and then. Discord is great for what it is, I use it daily, but it can't replace forums.

 

It is hard to tell if things have gotten more toxic or not (or remained the same). I do see a lot more pushback against toxicity nowadays at least. I'd say online toxicity/hate has also unfortunately gotten more worrisome in some ways, with people getting doxed and swatted.

 

18 hours ago, enaysoft said:

Yup that's definitely quite a few things most of us can never hope to be able to afford living in the 2020s.

Sure I can't play Dynasty Warriors over 80 years ago, but I guess, swings and roundabouts.

 

With a global recession looming, I only see things getting worse unfortunately. I don't think I'll ever be able to afford to buy my own house, and have many friends and acquittances that are in the same situation. Heck, I've known a couple people that have been refused mortgages despite them being around the same monthly cost as what they're currently renting, lol. It wasn't outside the norm to be able to afford your own house some 30+ years ago. And then there's people worse off than me that can barely afford heating or electricity currently.

 

17 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

I think we've debated a number of times @Raidou Kuzunoha XIV on this forum, but I didn't recognize you since you have a different avatar. That being said, this is one discussion that I have to completely agree with you on.

 

Had a feeling you might while I was writing this post, lol. I'll be blunt with you and say I agree with roughly 15% of what I see you post, disagree with another 45%, and the remaining 40% I'm not sure what you're talking about tbh.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Raidou Kuzunoha XIV
Decided previous percentages for how often I agree with AJ_Radio were too generous (sorry not sorry)

[AJ_Radio]

6 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Why is this a positive thing about the 'old internet'? I remember Miniclip.com, Red vs Blue etc. etc. but c'mon, calling people 'certain terminology' that clearly was wrong isn't a positive thing to reminisce about the old internet.

Red vs Blue is still going on, albeit with more aggressiveness and ferocity. Mostly that’s on us being exposed to more social media than before. 
 

The ‘old’ internet had a different attitude. Something that is rarely found these days. 
 

6 hours ago, The_Kopite said:

Again, I make the same point.

 

The 'old internet' had some great things about it, but times move on and people (hopefully) grow and things get better in the world in general. That's how things should be. Striving for a better world and to be better to each other, and when someone isn't - they get called out on it.

 

BTW, no I don't use or care for Tiktok. I'm also not saying the 'new internet' is perfect, far from it. The internet will never be perfect full stop. It's made by humans and humans are imperfect.

So you’re okay with YouTube becoming more of a corporate hellhole, and the fact that most people just use the same 10 - 12 websites day in, day out?

 

Your argument is the equivalent of people who defend modern music. There is good stuff if you go out and look for it, but the stuff that the mainstream is exposed to is absolute garbage. The same applies to the internet. 
 

Facebook is a dystopian hellhole, same with Twitter. TikTok is sludge that is degrading. 
 

“Teabagging” is now outright offensive and bannable, when previously, it was largely accepted by the internet gaming community, particularly the Halo franchise and a few others. 

[GUDGER666]

I miss YouTube without ads. You could actually put a playlist of music on and get no ads. I remember me and my mate would put a playlist on and just get stoned playing Yeti Sports. And then he would show me some stuff on that Ogrish website and freak me out. 

 

Also remember when Facebook use to be awesome, playing stuff like Farmville and Mafia Wars. 

 

I use to be on Facebook and YouTube all the time, i hardly ever use them now. Ads are just beyond ridiculous on YouTube and I'm not paying £12 to remove ads. 

Edited October 26, 2022 by GUDGER666

[AJ_Radio]

1 hour ago, GUDGER666 said:

I miss YouTube without ads. You could actually put a playlist of music on and get no ads. I remember me and my mate would put a playlist on and just get stoned playing Yeti Sports. And then he would show me some stuff on that Ogrish website and freak me out. 

They used to remove the audio, so music videos would still be there, but you didn’t hear the music. There was no real point in having them then. 

 

Now YouTube purposely flags any video with copyrighted music if so much as the algorithm detects a split second. Doesn’t matter if it’s a four hour livestream or a one minute video. 
 

YouTube with ads is atrocious, and YouTube Premium is a complete joke. Still have to pay full money for movies and TV shows which I can get for much cheaper or for free elsewhere. 

[Jelly Soup]

I mostly miss the day when the internet was full of dumb nerd rage and not uptight pricks who like to turn every little thing in literal federal cases. It started with outrage culture and has spiraled into whatever you want to call the current nightmare.

[StraightVege]

Eh, not really. I am slightly concerned about the possibility of Discord making traditional forums go the way of the dodo, and I do miss when you could view a news article or recipe without some obnoxious video ad literally following you down the page as you scroll. For the life of me, I don't know how anyone can even tolerate browsing the modern Internet without uBlock Origin.

 

Otherwise, I mostly remember my slow as molasses connection, barely functional Compaq computer, horrendous Angelfire and GeoShities sites, and forums populated by at least 80% edgy dipshits (a behavior which I also participated in, I'll shamefully admit). I suppose I'm just not that susceptible to nostalgia in general, and the people who drone on and on about the "good ol' days" (not directed at you; I enjoyed reading your post) make me want to jam an ice pick in my ears.

[Raidou Kuzunoha XIV]

2 hours ago, StraightVege said:

Eh, not really. I am slightly concerned about the possibility of Discord making traditional forums go the way of the dodo, and I do miss when you could view a news article or recipe without some obnoxious video ad literally following you down the page as you scroll. For the life of me, I don't know how anyone can even tolerate browsing the modern Internet without uBlock Origin.

 

Otherwise, I mostly remember my slow as molasses connection, barely functional Compaq computer, horrendous Angelfire and GeoShities sites, and forums populated by at least 80% edgy dipshits (a behavior which I also participated in, I'll shamefully admit). I suppose I'm just not that susceptible to nostalgia in general, and the people who drone on and on about the "good ol' days" (not directed at you; I enjoyed reading your post) make me want to jam an ice pick in my ears.

 

That reminds me of something else about the modern internet: Paywalled articles. I get it, websites gotta make money, but I'd much rather just disable adblock (unless the ads were too obnoxious) then have to pay some subscription fee when I'm probably never going to use that site again anyway once I discover the majority of their content is paywalled.

 

I'm definitely a sucker when it comes to nostalgia sometimes, though even for me, there's only so many times I can replay childhood favourites like Pokemon Red and Blue before I'm bored to tears with them. I still favour new experiences and games over reminiscing on the past, I often find going back and playing those old classics never elicit the same feelings as they used to anyway, probably because I already know the ropes now, or simply because I'm not a kid any more, and I've unfortunately lost that "starry eyed wonderment" I'd have with new games back in those days.

[You]

3 minutes ago, Raidou Kuzunoha XIV said:

 

That reminds me of something else about the modern internet: Paywalled articles. I get it, websites gotta make money, but I'd much rather just disable adblock (unless the ads were too obnoxious) then have to pay some subscription fee when I'm probably never going to use that site again anyway once I discover the majority of their content is paywalled.

 

I'm not bothered to do even that, like I have an infinite amount of games to play, youtube to watch, books to read, real life things to do.

 

The moment a Paywalled article appears and blocks me from reading, I just instantly close the tab and don't bother. Like sure if you wanna pay wall your stuff fine, but I just won't read it, I'd rather read it somewhere else or just happily not bother.

 

 

[AJ_Radio]

25 minutes ago, Raidou Kuzunoha XIV said:

I'm definitely a sucker when it comes to nostalgia sometimes, though even for me, there's only so many times I can replay childhood favourites like Pokemon Red and Blue before I'm bored to tears with them. I still favour new experiences and games over reminiscing on the past, I often find going back and playing those old classics never elicit the same feelings as they used to anyway, probably because I already know the ropes now, or simply because I'm not a kid any more, and I've unfortunately lost that "starry eyed wonderment" I'd have with new games back in those days.

Welcome to the real world. 
 

I already know the movie Home Alone 1 by heart. It still means a lot to me because it was the first film that I remember watching. Everything from the dialogue to when the burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) are about to do something, I know ahead of time. 
 

What I do is I wait several years, I don’t constantly go back to the old stuff every year. 
 

There‘s enough media out there to last past a lifetime. Even if you just sit and consume entertainment content 24/7 you’re never going to see all of it. Books alone are a whole nother beast altogether, and I find myself gravitating to them more and more.

Edited October 27, 2022 by AJ_Radio