Things from the modern web you actually like

[Guest]

There's a lot of retro web fans here, but what (if anything) do you actually like about the modern web?

The first thing that came to mind for me is online shopping. I don't enjoy shopping, and I hate leaving my home even more. So being able to get what I need without having to go out is really nice. Especially now that online shopping is so prevalent, it forced delivery companies to up their game and now I can actually get things shipped to me all the way out in the boonies. Fifteen years ago, expecting any company to deliver out here was unheard of. If it didn't fit in the mail box, we had to drive into town to pick up any packages.

[almostcorporeal]

Online shopping is a big one for me too and the first thing that came to my mind! I'm disabled so being able to do things like get my groceries delivered to me through an app or something is really beneficial for me because I can't physically get to a grocery store very often. I also don't have a car and am legally not allowed to drive [due to illness] so having things delivered is a HUGE lifesaver for me!

In a similar vein, it's also a lot easier to import things online nowadays from what I remember as a young kid with an interest in anime and cosplay. It was really difficult to get my hands on anime merch that I either just liked or needed for cosplay, I either had to dig through forums for hours for a link someone else had dug up that accepted US cards [cuz I had no idea how to dig them up myself] or I had to get lucky at the very very small anime-centered store out in the main city about an hour out from my hometown. Now you can find merch like that in stores like Hot Topic or with a very simple, quick internet search. Ordering online with proxy services has even gotten easier in my experience as well.

[Guest]

Now that I think about it, I agree with you all. Ordering food, groceries and clothes online is a big time saver - plus you can get things you wouldn't be able to get locally!

I'd also add to it that the sheer availability of information these days is great; simply the amount of webpages and entertainment options. I prefer the design and usability of old websites, but on the other hand, having resources like Wikipedia, Memory Alpha, the Web Archive, various news aggregators, and so on, just makes the internet much richer than it used to be.

Honestly, I wish we could combine the richness of information and technological advancement with the user experience and design language of old. How cool would it be if we had a video hosting site that was designed skeuomorphically like a Blockbuster store? What if instead of a soulless "metaverse" or toxic social media sites, we had our own little virtual rooms which we could decorate and walk to others' places to for social media, somewhat like Second Life but as a web-based social media service? What if we could get all the information like on Wikipedia, but in a virtual library with a cute mascot as a helper?

Well, I might be simple in this way.

[Absentmind]

I guess a big one that hasn't been mentioned yet and I think might be still relevant but a lot of Neocities and indie web websites aren't mobile friendly, a lot of people in 3rd world countries are more likely to have access through mobile phones.

[Melooon]

I always like to stress that there really is no divide between the retro web and the modern web for me! This forum is part of the modern web; both conceptually and literally. Conceptually because without the modern web there would be no web revival; sites like mine exist as a reaction to the sterile design promoted by sites like Google; but if that design didn't exist, none of my sites would either! Literally because this forum is made possible by the low cost-high speed web infrastructure that was created to support the rapid development of commercial online products!

Ooph that was a mouthful - but my point is that retro homepages are just as much a part of the modern web as Amazon is; so would it be cheeky to say my sites are my favourite part of the modern web?

On that note; I agree the global online shopping system - Particularly Amazon (all its faults aside) is a miracle of human engineering and logistics! Video streaming is also incredible (do you have any idea how much data bandwidth and processing that needs to function!) - in my short life span we have gone from 3 local TV channels and about 4 radio stations - to every movie and tv show ever created, and every song and audio clip, all available to me INSTANTLY!

3D tools like Three.js and WebGL - the interoperability of services using (mostly) reliable APIs that allows me to take a video from one site and embed it in another with almost no effort?! - THE LIST GOES ON!

I agree with /home/ though - in all of that rapid development, a certain whimsical honesty has been lost, and thats what what the web revival is really about trying to find - I think retro web fans are actually the biggest fans of the modern web because they are the people who care enough to do things unusually, because they believe that no matter how amazing the web is; it can always be better.

[Tiffany]

Online shopping is a plus. I like that it is easier to find communities for everything, fandom is more accepted. Information is more avaiable. When it comes to web design I like that more sites are in dark mode, larger font sizes, and such, which is great for my eye sight.

[Corrupted Unicorn]

I also agree online shopping is one of the best things of the modern web. I go out of my way to avoid Amazon as much as possible, and I get my stuff mostly from ebay, etsy (not perfect options either, but hey, lesser of two evils) or stores owned by the sellers. I mostly like getting stuff that's not available in my country, like books or magazines that aren't published here.

[worldwidewar]

I guess a big one that hasn't been mentioned yet and I think might be still relevant but a lot of Neocities and indie web websites aren't mobile friendly, a lot of people in 3rd world countries are more likely to have access through mobile phones.

This is something I wish would catch on in most of the web revivalist communities I see; not just for the sake of mobile friendliness, but for resolution friendliness in general. It seems sort of weird to me that webpages I see that are specialized in the old school GeoCities style sometimes aren't completely viewable at lower resolutions without the need of a horizontal scrollbar.

[Melooon]

This is something I wish would catch on in most of the web revivalist communities I see; not just for the sake of mobile friendliness

There is a good discussion about this over at this thread! Its worth adding too if you have thoughts!
https://forum.melonland.net/index.php?topic=96.0

[lime360]

did you know that web 1.0 also had food ordering?

[Swiftpaw]

Modern adblock and how accessible piracy is now tbh

[fLaMEd]

I’d argue that online shopping pre-dates the modern Web as I’ve been buying things online for a long time. I will acknowledge that the sheer number of shops and goods available online these days is amazing.

I love that on the modern Web I can manage insurance, make claims, check on claims.

I love that on the modern Web I can make/book/manage appointments.

What I love about the modern Web is that it has made many things easier to do online.

[choiyoona]

hmmm! i think the thing i like the most is accessibility features, things like darkmode are pretty common these days and i like that there are standards for these sorts of things. that said, the standards *have* been around a while, it's just that more companies are beholden to them i guess?

[Skykristal]

before I start I am actually more of a modern web enjoyer than a past internet enjoyer. I used the Internet also as a kid, many years back but use the web much much more today compared to then. Which is also why I don't miss too much from it. I primarily played games on websites (club penguin included), doing research for school and that was pretty much it.

But from what I remember, online shopping definitely wasn't a thing that was possible as much as it is now. Food delivery is almost none existing in my region and for that reason not relevant to me, but when it comes to international shops, getting items you wouldn't able to get here, it's a HUGE plus and something I really love. Spending money is bad.. I don't like it but I do like getting stuff that brings me joy. Etsy for example is a platform I use here and there.

Next, Accessibility. I can not remember visiting the internet much if at all with my cell phone back then. Only PC. today it is much much easier and more comfortable to visit the web with all sorts of devices. I am not always able to use a desktop and visiting sites that aren't mobile-friendly is quite bothering. So i am glad that today, pretty much any site is usable no matter if you have a computer or a phone.

Lastly, design. I will say however that I absolutely hate the repetitive appeal a lot of modern sites have these days. Pretty much every single site has no soul. BUT they are simple, easy to navigate and don't give me a headache which is more important to me personally. Some sites actually do have a lot of creativity in them too, also shops. Which is something I really enjoy looking at. modern + unique/creative at the same time isn't too common and great to discover. Another thing is that round corners are in trend, a personal preference of mine, I like round corners. it's pleasing to look at. And of course, dark mode. There are instances where I actually prefer light mode but dark mode is what I primarily stick to. It's nice to have. Back then websites and apps were either dark or light but had no switch. I loved when this got implemented more and more.

[ennui]

Echoing what everyone has already mentioned: online shopping. But also being able to shop overseas with the tracking information included. It's cool seeing mail from another country making its way to you.

Tracking in general too. I just like knowing when things are coming and where they're at.