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Mourning the old internet （；へ：）

(credits to evaxoxoe for the pic)

I’ve been glued to screens and surfing the web since I was 6 years old. My parents told me I could navigate a web browser before I could even read. Sure, it was a questionable decision by my parents to let their young child have almost unrestricted access to the internet, but it was 2009, and the dangers of the online world were not totally understood at the time. (Not that things have changed very much nowadays, with children glued to iPads in an era where we actually know how dangerous the internet can be…)

There was a time when I felt like the Internet was the best thing that could have ever happened to humanity. It felt like it connected me to the rest of the world without having to travel. It felt like a place where everyone could congregate, express themselves and find people with similar interests. I remember dreaming of the internet's future, how it would evolve and become even better.

Unfortunately, as the internet “evolved”, everything I used to love about it disappeared. It doesn't feel like this safe haven for weirdos and nerds now that everything is driven by engagement and short-form content. Algorithms only push the most braindead ragebait instead of creative and unique content, which makes this online space I used to love feel like a cesspool of hate and manufactured realities. I used to think the internet was good for humanity, but with the prioritization of engagement, I no longer feel that way. It feels like every single platform only promotes harmful content that inevitably leads to paranoia, mental illness and radicalization. If you feel a sense of impending doom, doomscrolling becomes way more attractive, and these multi-billion-dollar corporations know it.

I am not saying the internet was ever safe or that it was never toxic, but with these major changes implemented by most platforms, its downsides have only been amplified.

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I have so many nostalgic memories of the internet. I remember how much I loved to secretly use the school computers to play flash games with friends. I loved to show the latest viral Youtube video to my friends and family. I looked forward to playing multiplayer games like Club Penguin and MovieStarPlanet after school every day. It was so simple.

(actual picture of my penguin circa 2011)

Nowadays, most of the games I used to enjoy are defunct or completely empty if they’re still available to play. With the death of Flash Player + children losing interest in classic MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), a huge part of my childhood just disappeared. My memories were turned into lost media, making me wonder if it actually happened or if it was all a collective psychosis.

Back then, it felt like everyone on the Internet used it as an outlet to express themselves and showcase their personalities. I remember how customizable YouTube channels and MySpace profiles used to be. Instead of the boring, simplistic UIs we are used to nowadays, you could personalize your page to your heart’s content. You could change the background and add Blingee GIFs, banners, and more on most websites.

(who remembers Blingee?!)

I miss this maximalist aesthetic; it almost felt like a competition of who could add the most glitter and bullshit to their pages.

YouTube is a great example of what I mean. Each channel used to feel like a personal blog, and every creator felt unique. The production quality was not great, but the creators felt like friends more than out-of-touch celebrities.

I remember how exciting it was to find a new viral video. You would get so excited and share it with all your friends and family. I remember showing my friends Nyan Cat for the first time and feeling like the coolest person in the room.

Nowadays, algorithms punish creativity and uniqueness in favour of engagement, which is why most platforms no longer feel human. The minimalistic UIs feel cold and boring. It's not what it used to be. Now it's just a competition to see who can copy Mr. Beast best or who will post the most brain-rotting AI slop...

I feel like the internet doesn’t connect us anymore. Social media doesn’t feel like the place you go to make friends or interact with the people you love anymore.

You open any app to communicate with your loved ones, and as soon as it loads, you are force-fed short-form content that almost inevitably sends you into a doomscrolling loop. People resort to quitting social media as their attention spans weaken, losing what once made them feel connected.

The internet used to feel like a fun place where I belonged; now I treat it as something I have to be careful around. I don’t hate it and still spend most of my days online, but what once felt like a hub for sharing and creativity now feels cold, hostile, loud, and exhausting. It raised me in many ways, which is why it’s so heartbreaking to watch it rot. All I can do now is remember it and protect myself from what replaced it.

#old web #nostalgia #old internet #internet culture #myspace #youtube #2000s nostalgia #childhood memories #nostalgic #digital nostalgia #lost media #internet history #web 1.0 #web 2.0 #doomscrolling

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30 Days of Agere Moodboards

Day 13: favourite agere activity

although not necessarily an agere activity in and of itself, i enjoy doing... anything online. watching stuff, playing games, listening to music, all that jazz. i grew up with unrestricted internet access, which, although not good for me, gave me a lot of the interests i have today! so, have a moodboard of internet stuff i feel nostalgia toward, as someone with a strange childhood.

♩ ◦ ₪ ˚ 📱 ︵. . ✦﹒

♩ ◦ ₪ ˚ 👾 ︵. . ✦﹒

previous day: 12

original prompt list: here

♩ ◦ ₪ ˚ ⌨️ ︵. . ✦﹒