The internet nowadays is boring. Everything on the internet is monetized. From your clicks to selling you subscription. Everyone is trying to make a buck. Going on the internet is stressful and full of anxiety due to social media. People talk about detoxing from the internet. Has the internet become a burden to society? Were we happier when the internet was simpler?
Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
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Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#2Yes, it's a burden. It funnels money from the general public to already elaborately wealthy people and corporations.
I can confirm that we were happier when the internet was simpler, and more fragmented.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#3Na its the greatest thing but I'll inevitably shut it all down.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#4I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better!
Obvious that was a delusion.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#5No, ads have become a burden to society. Everything you describe is a byproduct of ad-supported business models that power majority of the internet today - search, mainstream websites and social media. Remove reliance on ads and things start to get much simpler.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#6> Everything on the internet is monetized. From your clicks to selling you subscription. Everyone is trying to make a buck.
That is categorically false.
Wikipedia is the greatest collection of knowledge ever assembled. It puts the library of Alexandria to shame. And all of it was created by people who did not make a single buck from their efforts, nor were they trying to.
The same can be said for the highly skilled professionals who devote their free time to building amazing Open Source technologies, for the contributors on sites like Stack Exchange, for the creative geniuses that write certain comments on Reddit, and for millions of others who tirelessly work to make the Internet what it is.
Of course, if you try to view the Web through the narrow lens of Silicon Valley business, you are bound to be disappointed. Join a few subreddits that aren't constantly on the front page. Get an IRC and/or Matrix account, and hang out in the channels. You may find that the Internet you are feeling nostalgic for has never disappeared in the first place.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#7Yep. And as sibling comments have stated, the advertising “life blood” of the internet is very much a deeper root cause.
A perhaps overlooked aspect of this “post-pandemic” moment we’re arguably in right now is how we can RE-assess our relationship with technology.
Recent artistic AI phenomena have made me feel this quite strongly for some reason, where it feels inevitable that mainstream internet is just gonna be full of bots posting “art” made by other bots. Makes me think of unplugging back to email/phone/text/Fax and maybe a well curated forum or two if they’re still around and spending time in the real world.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#8I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better! Obvious that was a delusion.
In for a penny, in for a pound. When in Rome, do as the Roman's do! Even the part about drinking water from lead pipes. Should be no problem at all.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#9It's not the internet that's the problem, it's how people use the internet that's the problem. I know plenty of well-adjusted people who use just enough of the internet to get their through their daily lives. If everyone online is trying to make a buck, no one us forcing you to participate in their commerce. Just scroll past whatever insane things the salesmen are saying.
Re: Ask HN: Has the Internet Become a Burden?
#10I was happier when the internet was simpler because I was excited about all the cool things we could build to make almost every aspect of life better! Obvious that was a delusion.
> all the cool things we could build
What do you feel one cannot build today but could in the past?