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What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Printable Version

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What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Moonface - Aug 16th, 2021

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how the internet has changed a lot throughout the time I've used it, and how there are certain things that I miss about it that have changed as time and technology has progressed.

The biggest one that comes into my mind is how despite the internet being more "social" and connected than it ever has been, it actually feels disconnected to me at the same time compared to how it was before Facebook, Twitter, et al. were the powerhouses they are now and all anyone referred to as social media was Myspace. The sense of community that the internet had seems less nowadays, because places like Twitter don't actually have a community; it's just a load of people typing into the void and waiting to see if the void answers back. I can recognise a name when I keep seeing tweets from them for a bit, but go into any comment section and no one knows each other, you can't pick out people, and if you want to make a comment on a tweet in the hopes of a response then you better do it within the first 30 minutes of that tweet going up or you may as well not bother, because the void will probably never answer you back or even see what you had to say. If you go to a smaller tweet you'll do better, but in my experience anyone I've responded to within a tweet will never cross my path again. It's like talking to people at a concert; you might get a little something, but quickly you're drowned out by the next hit thing coming on stage and the crowd shuffles around every song so you can't find people again.

Even when I've stalked places like the Crash Bandicoot subreddit to keep up with any news or leaks for games I have never once managed to memorise and pick out any key members of that community, and the same goes for any others I've watched closely for a time like Spyro or Dying Light. It's worse there because names and avatars are basically designed to not be the focus; just digest content and don't worry about any of the people who create it. And like every other social media, better get your comment in fast otherwise good luck ever being seen or replied to because everyone moved on within a day (and that's being generous).

I feel like the only places where I can pick people out easily is forums and Discord, because they both put a big emphasis on the user and actual community. They're not about just making as much content as possible for upvotes and keeping you glued to a phone reading that content for as long as possible like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.

It's basically just a personality thing. I feel like there was more personality in the old internet than the current. People stood out more, everyone was happy to make random fun sites and stuff, but now a lot of sites are focused on that ad revenue and anywhere like Tumblr that gave you an actual page nuked themselves with stupid choices so everyone just gets stuck on "everything looks the same" social media.

Anyway, old man yells at the kids on the lawn is done with his input for now, so what stuff do you miss about the internet? Or maybe you're on the opposite side and don't miss something about the older days of the internet. Tongue


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Nightingale - Aug 16th, 2021

I actually answered this question on Kyng's board, so I'll just repeat my answer here:




RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - ShiraNoMai - Aug 16th, 2021

My answer sums up to "I wish the internet wasn't for normies" in short. The accessibility of the platform has skyrocketed to the point of every day life, from babies to the elderly, and it's both a blessing and curse.

I reflect mostly upon the niche communities that would sprawl the internet of the early and mid 2000's. Always likeminded folk and all had a shared passion for whatever thing was being shared amongst them. Now, it's a standard of living, just as easy as breathing. It's actually become what I'd consider a utility, much like electricity, water and sewage: you really can't live without it. That aspect has made these niche communities such background noise that it feels archaic to even consider going back to a time like that. It's a shame.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Moonface - Aug 21st, 2021

@Nightingale: Yeah, the things people came up with for sites is nothing like you see now. I think back in the day when someone made a site, it was cool because not everyone could do it and there wasn't really a template or standard to follow. Now, anyone who makes a site will often give it the same clean look everywhere else has. It's something I miss about ZetaBoards compared to every other forum host: the themes made for it had personality and imagination, and no other host comes close to the degree of theme work that you could find on that service.

I also feel like people weren't competing back then either like now. Everyone just wanted to make cool stuff and show it off and see it, now people want clicks and put success before passion.

@ShiraNoMai: I feel the only place niche communities still pop up is on places like Reddit, but the nature of Reddit also kills them very quickly because discussions come and go very quickly and don't seem as easy to pick up and continue again like with forums or chat rooms.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Nightingale - Aug 23rd, 2021

Yeah... passion has certainly taken the back seat now, huh?

Everything is sourced, verified, lifeless... GOD FORBID YOU DREW YOUR OWN BANNER or crafted one, etc.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Nightingale - Aug 26th, 2021

Hey, Moony: check out this time capsule:

http://chasque.net/dana/

It stopped being updated BEFORE I got my first internet connection, none of the affiliated sites exist anymore; the guestbook is down, the Yahoo! Group is down, GeoCities is down... but man, what a trip.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Moonface - Aug 26th, 2021

Is that one of the first websites you went to when you got internet? Or is this just somewhere stupidly old you happened to come across recently that's surprisingly still up?


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Nightingale - Aug 26th, 2021

(Aug 26th, 2021, 02:28 AM)Moonface Wrote:
Is that one of the first websites you went to when you got internet? Or is this just somewhere stupidly old you happened to come across recently that's surprisingly still up?
One of the first I ever experienced (the very first one is still up and updated, actually). I used to know the webmistress, as she was a mod on my very first forum (also still up).


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Moonface - Aug 26th, 2021

I'm surprised the site and domain have been getting paid for since the site stopped being used in 2004. Considering that bank cards change every few years the owner is presumably actively still aware of their site to keep updating their payment methods. Gasp

I don't know if this is the very first website I went to when I first got internet, but I do know it was a place I played a lot of games on back in the day: https://www.zylom.com/us/en/online-games/all-games/
I actually thought it had disappeared because I tried searching for it a couple of years ago but under the old domain of zylomgames, but I guess they simplified it to just zylom. Looks like any of the games I played on it are gone now, but that's not surprising since they would've all run on Flash which is dead.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Nightingale - Aug 26th, 2021

Yeah, I lost contact with the owner in or around 2007 and now I'm honesty kinda scared of asking her about it, because I'm afraid she might take it down.

Also, looks like the DBZ site I mentioned above (defunct, 2007) came back to life with no updates and for three months in 2016, just to disappear again. I have no answers.

Finally, is it OK if I show you an abandonware site that's still getting paid for, but has been dead and abandoned since 2009, when the webmaster died?


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - ShiraNoMai - Aug 27th, 2021

I think one of the coolest inventions in the era of the Internet is the Web Archive, where you can access practically any website at any time frame since inception and see the cached website from what it was then. Grin


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Moonface - Aug 29th, 2021

(Aug 26th, 2021, 11:38 PM)Nightingale Wrote:
Finally, is it OK if I show you an abandonware site that's still getting paid for, but has been dead and abandoned since 2009, when the webmaster died?
It should be fine. Generally such content isn't looked for by the owner (if there are any) and the issue would lie with the site, not us. Also in this instance we're not trying to promote it for the content, we're just showing a website for discussions sake.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Nightingale - Aug 30th, 2021

(Aug 29th, 2021, 11:25 PM)Moonface Wrote:
(Aug 26th, 2021, 11:38 PM)Nightingale Wrote:
Finally, is it OK if I show you an abandonware site that's still getting paid for, but has been dead and abandoned since 2009, when the webmaster died?
It should be fine. Generally such content isn't looked for by the owner (if there are any) and the issue would lie with the site, not us. Also in this instance we're not trying to promote it for the content, we're just showing a website for discussions sake.

Cool, great. I asked because companies are really touchy about it these days.

So, anyway... this site used to be THE referent among Spanish-speaking abandonware sites and inspired many others to be made, but a faulty (or should I say, "disastrous") vBulletin install sent it straight to hell. Random users were given mod/admin privileges, *actual* mods and admins were demoted/locked out, most of the userbase was made guests and, in the midst of all of that, the webmaster was killed in a traffic accident. Seems like the setting to a movie.

All forum activity stopped in 2009; all site activity stopped in 2011. And it is unclear now who pays for hosting or why they do it, but the site is still floating around like an abandoned, water-logged wreck.

It is gut-wrenching.

http://www.ellosnuncaloharian.com/index/

I strongly recommend going through the Webarchive with this one, to the PHPBB days.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Kyng - Aug 30th, 2021

Two things, really:

1) The "Internet of Discovery". Back in the early 2000s, the internet used to have a 'wild west' feel about it: I'd use it to learn about new things, and get in contact with new people from around the world (usually people who shared interests with me). However, this has become a lot weaker as Facebook and other social media giants took over. Instead, we moved towards an "Internet of familiarity" - where most people just use the internet to continue talking to the people they already know from real life. And that's certainly useful - but I don't like the extent to which it's replaced the "Internet of discovery" (even on forums, where I'm talking to 'online' people, it's largely the same group I've known for years, consisting of people in my age range who grew up with forums in the 'golden age'!)

2) The charm of personal websites. Back before social media was a thing, many people had their own personal website. And they'd often spent a significant amount of time on the look and feel of the place. And... I'm not going pretend that these personal websites were a showcase of artistic talent, because many of them looked terrible. But, that wasn't the point: they all oozed charm and personality (even the bad ones), and they really did make the websites look like creations from the heart of an individual person. By contrast, everyone today is making the same old "minimal for mobiles" design choices - which they kind of have to (with so much traffic coming from mobiles), but it means all these websites have lost their individuality: they all look and feel like they came off an assembly line. Furthermore, with all the personality that had been poured into the web pages of old, visiting them made me feel like a special guest. On the other hand, when I visit a modern website on a PC, it just looks like a mobile app stretched out - and I feel like an afterthought Sad .

Honestly... if somebody had pitched the mobile-dominated internet to me in 2007, then I would have rolled my eyes and asked "Why would anybody want to use this?!?!". But, they do - and, in my opinion, the internet as a whole is worse off for it.


RE: What Do You Miss About The Internet? - Moonface - Sep 14th, 2021

@Nightingale: I'm surprised anyone is still paying for it if no one who runs the place has access to their staff powers any longer. Even if it was the deceased webmaster I'd have expected their bank account to no longer be open after their death to fund the site. It sucks that the place went under due to a botched install; I wonder how long it would've gone on for if that hadn't occurred. Hmm

@Kyng: I think another thing that killed discovering personal websites is how many of them are riddled with intrusive elements or just clearly padded with garbage to boost search rankings and ad revenue.
As for personality of websites, I agree. ResetEra for example (and NeoGaf before it) are both websites where they have an identity, but it isn't through the website design but just the logo. You could take their themes and put anything else onto them, even non-gaming, and it wouldn't look out of place at all. I don't know if it's an emphasis on content, but if so then I think it's going too far when the content could be on a plain archive version of the webpage and not be much different to what you already see due to the lack of visual identity around it.