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Everything's bland and homogenised. I'm sure the interesting ideas are out there, still, but even then, the tone has changed. No one's writing about what they love for the love of it, it's a stepping stone to something, you're a brand now, you're building an audience, maybe even starting a business.
been having exactly the same thoughts recently. I haven't been able to untangle how much the earlier 'fun' Internet was a) uncommercialised, b) exclusively used by weirdos, and c) was in my teenage years. And I know there's some kind of irony that I work at Meta, who simultaneously has built something that's captivating enough for half the world to use, yet is so creatively bland/uninspiring/homogenous.
It also might be that some of the things I miss most still exist, like chatting shit with semi-strangers on message boards or in chat rooms, and I've just not put the effort in to find them again. Although I've lurked on various Reddits and Hacker News for a decade or so, but never felt the need to join in (the latter coincidentally had a post with similar sentiment to yours today).
Dunno if this is just me but there's also some kind of negative pressure to participate in recent years - can't figure out if that's anxiety about saying something stupid (it's easy to perceive everyone on the Internet as an expert at everything these days), or not enjoying the feeling of waiting/checking for replies, or worrying about putting someone else through that feeling if I take too long to reply to replies ????
Anyway, in summary, you're right. I miss it too. I think we were very lucky to have Teh community and all the associated fun stuff in the 90s/00s, so maybe it's better to have loved and lost. But I really hope there's some kind of way to rekindle it. |