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I don't enjoy the Internet any more

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Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#71

Post by sixtyj »

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…

In 90s I had a paper notebook with all websites that existed. After internet grew in size, I had a bookmarks’ file with thousands of them.

I had also a box with audio tapes.

Audio tapes are still functional. Links in bookmarks are 95 pct dead.

Internet is vanity. It was meant to be a communication tool. Now it’s some species of messy yellow pages.

On my grave, I think it won’t be written that I was a really good member of xyz bbforum :)

I would rather be remembered as a valuable member of local discussion club…

It maybe a reason why frequent internet users who remember the past, feel tired.

Appreciation on the internet is mostly fictional (not really real) and we feel it unconsciously…

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#72

Post by shoobiedoo »

ColdStream wrote: post #16
xvxvx wrote: post #8

Last week I finally deleted my LinkedIn account, the last social account I had. This week, I'm close to deleting my YouTube account. There's less content I want to see and more slop than ever. Apple Music is on the chopping block. These days, I only use it to preview vinyl records that catch my eye. Once my iPhone dies, I'm done with smartphones. The internet had so much potential. Shame.

I will say this with ditching the smart phone. I have done it but also gone back to it. But it is merely used for specific tasks. SMS, a camera, weather report, the occasional podcast or audio book. And that's about it. Things that are difficult to do on a flip phone but alright on a 'smart' phone. I have said it many times. Look at the original iPhone presentation. It was a device that was very deliberate. It wasn't…

I paid for a yearly AppBlock subscription. I tried locking up my phone (literally, in a drawer with a lock), uninstalling almost everything, and just plain old willpower, but I'm the type that needs to see money go out in order to motivate myself sometimes. It's been a few months and working well for me. In fact I only pick up my phone to see if I have any whatsapp/line notifications.

Other than that it's just an occasional google maps usage. I never browse anymore. My home PC has reddit/youtube DNS'd to 127.0.0.1. This isn't impermeable but it creates small gaps of boredom where I'm more likely to go for a walk or pick up a kettlebell. Adding up small wins is where the ship starts to turn around

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#74

Post by NitpickLawyer »

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…

> is not the addictive algorithmic feeds.

The Internet has been addictive since forever. Algorithmic feeds take the blame recently because simple explanation makes brain feel good, but they are at most a catalyst. We used to hog the phone lines until someone yelled that they needed to talk to someone "IRL", we installed additional phone lines, we endured 64k (32 was before my time) just so we could get one more hit of "you got mail" or post on that forum, or moderate that community, or chat with that person. It's world-wide, "free" and instantaneous communication with anyone and from anywhere. Of course it's addictive!

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#75

Post by tim333 »

As a counter position I enjoy the internet these days maybe more than before. Back in 1999 there was almost no good content. These days there's huge amounts of content from experts in any field you can think of, often in direct video form from top people in the field. There's also more crap - you have to be selective.

Even AI/LLMs I'm kind of fascinated by although I dislike their writing as much as anyone. But the singularity type stuff is a unique moment in history and interesting to watch.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#76

Post by teekert »

hhjinks wrote: post #59
GPerson wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Earlier today I saw that Tik Tok has 2 billion monthly active users and the average user uses it for 100 minutes a day. The app is so addictive that I feel it’s not right to say the user using it every day for 100 minutes at a time is enjoying themselves. To me this doesn’t look like an organic expression of the youth’s desire to explore and create in ways different from precious generations. 1/4th of the humans in t…

Every generation has its own vilified time waster. Can I truthfully say that time spent on TikTok is worse than the 4+ hours a day I spent playing Skyrim in 2011?

Or reading comics/watching TV in the 80s?

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#77

Post by rbtms »

I think what made the internet in the 90s and early 2000s more enjoyable is that it was way smaller than now and (mostly) free of bots, and trying to find that in social media and mainstream sites is counterproductive, since they are just the opposite.

In comparison, I've found small net places such as Mastodon or smolnets much more enjoyable even though the population is much smaller (which is nice since they also don't generate more information than I have time for). As a rule of thumb: The less interesting a place is for companies, the more pleasant it probably is.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#78

Post by hagbard_c »

That's like saying "I don't enjoy the roads any more" and the solution is the same: go "off the beaten tracks" to find solace. The internet is the thing which binds many networks together, both the commercial drivel-pushing "AI"-generated haunts of sleezebags, propagandists, the-current-thing activists, influencer-ridden shitholes and more as well as the odd interesting thing which piques your interest. 99.999% of street addresses on the road network aren't of interest either but the 0.001% which are make it worth taking to the road to reach them.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#79

Post by forgetfreeman »

int_19h wrote: post #70
forgetfreeman wrote: post #5

I am sick to death of the seemingly obligatory oh-but-im-all-in-on-ai disclaimer embedded in what is otherwise a (totally valid) critique of AI. Have the courage of your convictions already.

It's not an either-or. Some of us are genuinely excited about what AI can do (or has already done for specific personal projects etc), while also being dismayed about what it's used to do on the internet at large.

The irony, or perhaps cognitive dissonance, inherent in this position is staggering to me.

Re: I don't enjoy the Internet any more

#80

Post by negura »

i realized for me the convenience just isn't there anymore. the ads, surveillance, toxicity, misinformation, slop. it's just not worth being online anymore. read a book, meet with people, attend talks, go to a museum...
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