Why the Internet Isn’t Fun Anymore

Riley@lemmy.ml to Technology@lemmy.ml – 120 points –
Why the Internet Isn’t Fun Anymore
newyorker.com
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"Why the internet isn't fun anymore" - proceeds to talk about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Completely fails to mention any fediverse sites, or any of the millions of other sites out there.

If you're the author, the internet isn't fun anymore because you don't use it. You visit the corporate websites only. You either never learned how to use the internet, or you're not interested in actually trying.

Its like the person who never leaves their neighborhood and complains that life is boring.

Agreed but isn't it the experience most people on the Internet currently have?

AIM/MSN/Yahoo chatrooms. GeoCities. Neopets. Limewire, KaZaa, listening to Art Bell on the radio next to you while you search for the latest alien news and read ancient texts. Webrings. Message boards. NSA hadn't partnered with Microsoft for the first version of PRISM.

It was more decentralized, but even in the centralized parts there weren't yet entire industries dedicated to stealing every last bit of dopamine from you to sell to the highest bidder.

It was an amazing time. RIP 1985-2010

It was and it can still be, that's why we are here. It will never be the same, we lost some amazing opportunities but we still need that connection, we still want to learn and build together. I don't know what tomorrow will bring but at least as some of us want to try, this time being mindful of the corporate capture risk, we can do better and that's exciting!

Even worse when you realize it's the job of these journalists to tell people there's a whole world out there. The general public may not know about this, but if you're a journalist making these claims, they should know better