Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I don't enjoy the Internet any more

btao.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 108 posts

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#41

Post by ColdStream »

sibeliuss wrote: post #34

This is how I feel completely, having also grown up online all the way from BBSs onwards. I literally don't even have websites to visit any more. I get on my computer, scan hacker news for a bit, check twitter for a few minutes, scan some world news site, and thats it. I still spend a lot of time programming (and thus a lot of time on the computer) but other than that, absolutely nothing appeals. Its a wasteland in m…

I have said it for a while, Hacker news is the last place that still feels like the old internet, but even then I'm not a huge fan of it. Some days I open it up to see just 30 stories about LLM's, something I have little to no interest in.

While sites like Neocities are trying to keep the old web ideals alive, even there it can be difficult to find much of value.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#42

Post by ColdStream »

CGamesPlay wrote: post #33
akersten wrote: post #4

I'm simultaneously hearing that the internet is more addicting than cigarettes to the point where multiple states are finding success levying gigantic fines on companies for having too good of a product, and also that the internet is boring and drab. Are we on two different internets? Is the author simply immune from the hypnosis of social media? Anyway, the real internet is and always has been/will be smaller forums…

> Are we on two different internets? Is the author simply immune from the hypnosis of social media? Yes; and either yes or the author is separating walled social network gardens from "the internet". The "real internet", as you say, is not the addictive algorithmic feeds. I believe that the "real internet" you're talking about is larger than it's ever been, but the signal-to-noise ratio of the whole internet has been…

While there are still the small sites, they really are lost in the noise. The bigger players would probably prefer it that way, it prevent competition from getting a foot hold.

It is like trying to take on Coke/Pepsi with a new cola drink, good luck! They will do anything that can get away with so long as it keeps them on top.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#43

Post by raincole »

akersten wrote: post #4

I'm simultaneously hearing that the internet is more addicting than cigarettes to the point where multiple states are finding success levying gigantic fines on companies for having too good of a product, and also that the internet is boring and drab. Are we on two different internets? Is the author simply immune from the hypnosis of social media? Anyway, the real internet is and always has been/will be smaller forums…

> I'm simultaneously hearing that the internet is more addicting than cigarettes to the point where multiple states are finding success levying gigantic fines on companies for having too good of a product, and also that the internet is boring and drab

They are not mutually exclusive. Actually, the opposite is true: most addicts don't enjoy what they are addicted to anymore. They just have to consume it.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#44

Post by somenameforme »

CGamesPlay wrote: post #33
akersten wrote: post #4

I'm simultaneously hearing that the internet is more addicting than cigarettes to the point where multiple states are finding success levying gigantic fines on companies for having too good of a product, and also that the internet is boring and drab. Are we on two different internets? Is the author simply immune from the hypnosis of social media? Anyway, the real internet is and always has been/will be smaller forums…

> Are we on two different internets? Is the author simply immune from the hypnosis of social media? Yes; and either yes or the author is separating walled social network gardens from "the internet". The "real internet", as you say, is not the addictive algorithmic feeds. I believe that the "real internet" you're talking about is larger than it's ever been, but the signal-to-noise ratio of the whole internet has been…

I don't think it's necessarily just the algorithmic feeds that are addictive. Even in a social media that was completely straight forward 'friend to friend' networking, you'd still have FOMO, the curiousity about what that latest ding/notification says, and much more. And I think these things are inherently addictive.

BBS' are probably a good example of this for those who around during that era. They were basic dial-up services with some basic social features, and they were extremely addictive even though it was limited to nothing but a handful of people in your geographic region, and long before 'the algorithm' was even a thought.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#45

Post by rswail »

I've been on the "internet" since before there was one, back in 1984-6 when bang paths were email addresses and DNS hadn't been invented yet. I was on one of the earliest BBSs (pre-FIDO) in Melbourne run by Peter Jetson and "Bear's Bull" running on a CDC-6000 at RMIT.

It's been an "eternal September" since Prodigy & Compuserve and then AOL joined the net, Usenet started degrading, people had more then 4-line sigs without a "-- " at the start of the sig, people top-quoted messages etc.

So the internet has been dying all that time. Lived through the dotcom boom/crash, growth/death of Yahoo Groups/Geocities/stumbleupon/slashdot/fark/etc.

I'm not sure whether AI/LLMs are really killing it more than the advent of social media and the endless slop that is time descending blogs.

I'm not sure whether the internet is just becoming yet another broadcast media, where small voices are drowned out by media conglomerates and the endless suck of advertising, or whether it really is "dying".

Either way, it will evolve, but whether it will evolve "well" is a very open question.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#46

Post by ColdStream »

NewJazz wrote: post #26
ColdStream wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brevity is an art form, one that most do not have. Just because something is short doesn't mean it is bad so long as it is sculpted just right. 99.9999% of stuff nowadays is not sculpted it is just simplified for quick reactions.

This is too simplistic. There are simply many many issues and topics that can't be adequately explained in a few minutes. E.g. complicated weather interactions like El nino / la nina, or economic concepts like externalities. And furthermore, even if you can compress your information into a short period, the audience might not beable to successfully absorb the information at that rate. There have been studies done on…

Sorry, my original comment may have some off as defending short form content in the context of social media, that wasn't the point I was trying to make.

What I mean is, there are times where folks tend to over expand their premise to the point of tedium. Something that could have been an essay become a book. That can drive people away from good stuff through sheer scale that wasn't necessary.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#48

Post by ColdStream »

King-Aaron wrote: post #30
ColdStream wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brevity is an art form, one that most do not have. Just because something is short doesn't mean it is bad so long as it is sculpted just right. 99.9999% of stuff nowadays is not sculpted it is just simplified for quick reactions.

While to some degree you are right, I disagree with your assertion that "Just because something is short doesn't mean it is bad so long as it is sculpted just right." When we are talking about distributing information, I agree more with the author that short hand content breeds tribalism and makes people lazy.

I agree, I was talking more broadly. Unfortunately, on social media there is rarely time for people to sculpt well thought out takes. Those that shoot first generally win.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#49

Post by bblb »

agnishom wrote: post #39
bblb wrote: post #6

Stop absorbing everything. Limit yourself.

Do you mean that they should [stop (absorbing everything)] and therefore absorb only _some_ things, or that they should [(stop absorbing) everything] and therefore absorb nothing?

Absorb and consume only some of the things.

Although now that I think of it, stopping absorbing everything, or, _absorbing nothing_, might be a good mindfulness practice.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#50

Post by piloto_ciego »

smokel wrote: post #36
akersten wrote: post #4

I'm simultaneously hearing that the internet is more addicting than cigarettes to the point where multiple states are finding success levying gigantic fines on companies for having too good of a product, and also that the internet is boring and drab. Are we on two different internets? Is the author simply immune from the hypnosis of social media? Anyway, the real internet is and always has been/will be smaller forums…

A ⊆ X ∧ p ∈ X ⇏ p ∈ A

If you’re not a math major I can translate:

“if A is a subset of X and p is in X, that does not imply that p is in A”

Post reply on HN