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Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

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Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#171

Post by CTDOCodebases »

Good aggregators came along that basically perform this function.

Since the signal to noise is higher than just manually going over search engine listenings you have fallen into the pattern of just checking the same websites over and over. I’m sure the fact that this is more time efficient has reinforced this behaviour.

The disadvantage is that others are effectively acting as gatekeepers to your knowledge acquisition now. There might be things on the internet that you find incredibly interesting but will never see because the majority of other people don’t find them interesting.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#172

Post by mlok »

A few years ago a few links on HN talked about "the small web", webrings, and drove me to a trove of amazing original little websites exploring the possibilities offered by the web 1.0 mostly. Just like back in the days. And some of them were real pieces of art. I never managed to find them again. For example I remember a website that told a story in the form of a calendar you gad to scroll down, it found it so creative that I felt the same amazement as my first steps with the web in '95.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#173

Post by mlok »

mlok wrote: post #172

A few years ago a few links on HN talked about "the small web", webrings, and drove me to a trove of amazing original little websites exploring the possibilities offered by the web 1.0 mostly. Just like back in the days. And some of them were real pieces of art. I never managed to find them again. For example I remember a website that told a story in the form of a calendar you gad to scroll down, it found it so creat…

Maybe the web 1.0 was for exploring ?

Maybe the web 2.0 changed that ?

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#175

Post by mattferderer »

Check out the "bang" operators on duck duck go.

https://duckduckgo.com/bang

When I search, I no longer default to Google. It's great for some things & awful at others. I try & think what communities might be better to search. I read random blogs or forums & those (even the popular ones) often lead me to additional niche (but still large) communities.

I'm constantly finding new niche communities.

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#176

Post by pixelrevision »

MarblePillar wrote: post #168
noduerme wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm old enough that I had to hand-write all my web code when I started in the business, and I still do. Primarily because I never liked templates or wanted to learn how to tweak them - that's learning someone else's framework and being at their mercy. As it turns out, writing your own code is a lost skill and the companies and individuals who do need that service are willing to pay an arm and a leg for it. So I can c…

> As it turns out, writing your own code is a lost skill and the companies and individuals who do need that service are willing to pay an arm and a leg for it. Where do you find companies and individuals willing to pay $200/hr for basic, non-templated web code? (Or is it one of those things where they find you...)

It sounds like a really relaxing way to make a lot of money

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#177

Post by MonaroVXR »

asciimov wrote: post #24

Well for starters, we used to call it "Surfing the Internet" not "exploring the internet". The modern web was designed to rope you in and keep you there. Look up random stuff that interests you, not using a big name search engine. Then if you find a site on a webring, and look at connecting sites.

Internet Explorer?

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#178

Post by [deleted] »

heavyset_go wrote: post #97
smusamashah wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wrote an answer to this post and saw your comment afterwards. I am over 30 and the pattern I explained in my comment all points towards getting older and mature. Does it mean that young people are still exploring the internet and computer today the way I use to back when I was young?

> Does it mean that young people are still exploring the internet and computer today the way I use to back when I was young? Yes, but they're exploring TikTok, YouTube and to a lesser extent, Instagram. There are oceans of content to explore on those platforms.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Whatever happened to exploring the internet?

#179

Post by bcrosby95 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #97
smusamashah wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just wrote an answer to this post and saw your comment afterwards. I am over 30 and the pattern I explained in my comment all points towards getting older and mature. Does it mean that young people are still exploring the internet and computer today the way I use to back when I was young?

> Does it mean that young people are still exploring the internet and computer today the way I use to back when I was young? Yes, but they're exploring TikTok, YouTube and to a lesser extent, Instagram. There are oceans of content to explore on those platforms.

Seems like you could use the same argument to say that the olds are still exploring too. I certainly have a lot of friends that spend hours watching random videos on TikTok and Youtube and they're in their 40s.
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