I miss the old internet-but I never experienced it.

[milo]

I wonder if a part of the yearning for the old Internet by younger folks who didn't experience it is a by-product of general burnout on the modern day Internet. I was more or less around for the old Internet (born in '87, we got Internet in the house in the mid-late 90s), so when I browse forums like Melonland it's definitely a nostalgic experience that I can relate to, but it's also an escape from the deluge of slop that comes with modern Internet access. I feel like places like Melonland and small, HTML made websites are protected spaces with no tracking or algorithms to try and tell you what you like or sell you something and it's very refreshing to be a part of.

[MrsMoe]

If it helps, I'm very much in the same boat as you! I was a child throughout the 2000's and much of my time spent on the early web was in child friendly spaces. I was only 13 when I started becoming interested in social media sites like Tumblr or Twitter, the internet was mainly a place for playing cool flash games and watching AMVs.

It really does make me wish I was an adult (or at least more mature) during the internet's golden age. I often think about how powerful I'd be if I was already good at HTML from having to make my own website, and I REALLY wish I was present for the age of forums. Just from using this site, I can tell I prefer them a lot more over social media.

[Winternet]

I wonder if a part of the yearning for the old Internet by younger folks who didn't experience it is a by-product of general burnout on the modern day Internet.

Definitely! I sparingly experienced any forums, especially because my family was poor and I didn't have a lot of access to Internet, and by time I got on the web things started to centralize more. Modern day Internet is ruled by getting engagement by any means necessary, like saying awful shit to piss people off and force them to interact. Forums are more community driven, especially when they're small. You're gonna see the same people around! Moderation is going to be easier as well. These compounding factors make it a bit more difficult to be an asshole if you want to stay in a space like this haha.