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The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

muddy.jprs.me

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Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#51

Post by hcs »

Jtarii wrote: post #23
outime wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's when you ask what exactly was better and then you can tell whether it's just typical nostalgia or if there are genuinely things to miss.

You could also just ask current young people how they feel about the internet and compare it to how young people described the internet in ~2005-2010. I guess my feeling is that no one really "likes" the internet in its currnet form. Gen X got to see the birth of the web, millenials got the birth of social media, Gen Z got tiktok and addictive recommendation algorithms, now Gen Alpha gets AI slop. Idk just seems like…

> millenials got the birth of social media

..and a lot of us weren't thrilled about it.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#52

Post by the__alchemist »

functionmouse wrote: post #2

I agree, but it's been said by all... make homebrew software for an old Nintendo console pick up cross stitching or weaving make an independent film with a friend; use stuff from your kitchen as props find a borderline functional instrument at your local thrift store write a 1 page short story in pen it's not enough anymore to merely criticize this bad time we're having

I concur! Explore the big, bold world outside the internet.

Or, on the internet, stop spending your valuable time on bottom-feeder content like medium articles, facebook, twitter/bluesky, rant blogs, news websites etc.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#53

Post by munificent »

I have a pet theory that much of what we're seeing culturally is that the 90s and early 2000s (at least in the US) was a window of time that offered a sense of safety and surplus. 9/11 was extremely culturally disruptive, but aside from that, for many in the US, it felt like there was "enough to go around". That environment breeds a lot of creativity, innovation, whimsy, and doing things for their own sake.

But that time has clearly ended. With climate change, the erosion of the social safety net, decay of faith in institutions, economic inequality, politics, etc., we are in an extremely tense time with a pervasive sense of scarcity. In some fundamental ways, it feels like there isn't enough to go around and people are scrabbling to get what they can while they can.

That psychological environment is not conducive to art and fun. It sucks.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#54

Post by cedws »

I’m in my 20s but I’ve felt the same way for years. If I were growing up now, I’m not sure I would still make it into my career.

I just updated my iPhone and now it’s demanding I scan a credit card to “prove” my age. Everything is so sanitised now supposedly for the sake of the children, but we know that’s not the real reason. Surveillance is becoming more and more overbearing that I think everyone is self censoring at some level.

Every site I linger on is riddled with bots trying to manipulate me into getting angry about something, into buying something, or just otherwise feeding the numbers engine. YouTube especially has become ultra-corporate, so many channels are just ruthlessly chasing money and stamping out the grassroots passionate creators.

I hate the internet now. It doesn’t feel like home anymore, it’s just a distraction.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#56

Post by dec0dedab0de »

Newgrounds was creative and transgressive; YouTube was goofy and unrehearsed; early Facebook was a fun way to connect with people you knew and forge bonds of common interest with people you didn’t.

I think early Facebook was the writing on the wall for the demise of fun on the internet. It was like a prison, or private school forcing everyone into a uniform layout. Especially compared to the wonderfully chaotic mess that was Myspace, livejournal, geocities, and hundreds of others.

I remember the day I gave in and started using facebook, hundreds of people I knew in real life learned my real name for the first time. I feel like a part of me died then, but that could have also just been growing up.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#57

Post by maerF0x0 »

The best part about the best is over is that it can be a turning point to drive us back to what is better than online -- offline. Go live real life, touch grass, and give real monetary value to things which give meaning back in return. For most people this involves people or animals, maybe dirt, and often involves giving more than you take.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#58

Post by yeehawtypebeat »

Jtarii wrote: post #23
outime wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's when you ask what exactly was better and then you can tell whether it's just typical nostalgia or if there are genuinely things to miss.

You could also just ask current young people how they feel about the internet and compare it to how young people described the internet in ~2005-2010. I guess my feeling is that no one really "likes" the internet in its currnet form. Gen X got to see the birth of the web, millenials got the birth of social media, Gen Z got tiktok and addictive recommendation algorithms, now Gen Alpha gets AI slop. Idk just seems like…

The monetization of every platform has killed the internet. It's hard to find genuine posts anymore. It's all engagement bait.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#59

Post by dale_glass »

boh wrote: post #30

This take is always bizarre to me. You're not talking about the internet, you're talking about the websites you choose to use. There are alternatives for every single website/service that you don't like. They're often exactly like the Internet of yore in that they're not as streamlined, niche and have less people using it (these are aspects of the "fun" internet that people forget). The internet is a bunch of network…

> This take is always bizarre to me. You're not talking about the internet, you're talking about the websites you choose to use. There are alternatives for every single website/service that you don't like.

Yeah, the problem is that a lot of those are effectively dead, subsumed by Reddit and Facebook.

I've sometimes dug up still existing sites from the 2000s I used to visit, and the results are typically depressing. Such as:

* Site still exists, but is terribly broken. Doesn't render, uses now incompatible SSL, or something. It's a forgotten server in somebody's closet, still chugging, but not being maintained, so whatever remains will probably vanish whenever the disk/PSU/etc fails.

* Last posts from 2015, mostly with "gee, it's kind of dead in here, anyone still around?" comments at the end of threads.

* Discussion is down to 5 people that post once a month, and there's also a thread with obituaries for past well known members.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#60

Post by OneDeuxTriSeiGo »

joenot443 wrote: post #21

I think we just got older. People are still having a blast online, but they’re mostly kids or teenagers. Garrys Mod got replaced by Roblox, forums got replaced by Discord, blogs got replaced by vlogs. There’s still lots of fun and community still to be found online, people wouldn’t spend so much time on it if there wasn’t.

Garry's Mod didn't get replaced. It's still alive and well. The new generation grew straight into it and now are slowly moving to s&box (i.e. gmod2). It's just as lively as ever but other games have blown up by an order of magnitude larger.

Minecraft and gmod are still definitely staples of the young internet.

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