What do you miss the most about "the internet of old"?

[elbanano]

Some sites still retain that classic layout that I've mentioned before...

https://nesworld.com/index.php

on that same vein, I miss the recommended sites, it was a cool way to learn about new sites with similar content or at some good content recommended for its quality and not as an ad

 

[MegaDrive1987]

on that same vein, I miss the recommended sites, it was a cool way to learn about new sites with similar content or at some good content recommended for its quality and not as an ad

Yeah this is it, I remember (and miss) actually sufing the web, finding random gaming sites etc. Now it's just not the same at all.

 

[petran79]

I certainly do not miss Internet security back then. During dial-up windows 9x era, except viruses, there was also a chance that malware would highjack the modem dialing number and would dial some exotic islands instead of your isp. If you were not aware of this (different dial tone), phone bill could reach hundreds.
Up to WinXP, situation with security was dire.

But I miss text based irc, direct messaging like icq, webrings, tucows, pre-Google search engines (Metacrawler in my case), warez sites, streaming technologies like Real, Apple, Shockwave etc

I also dabbled in Javascript, HTML, Adobe Premiere and Macromedia Director

It still was the Wild West, before big tech started talking control

Also back then only 3-5 % of pc users had Internet access, so things were relatively peaceful and quiet.

Internet became heavily politicised post 9/11

 

[kuroninneko]

I miss not having to click on cookie policy popups and other popups. Its become frustrating to use especially on a smart phone. One thing I dont miss is trying to download a 100mb file over dialup. Its still magic to me when a large file downloads in seconds

Also this is interesting:

AOL set to pull the plug on iconic dial-up internet service

AOL will discontinue its iconic dial-up internet service in September.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Another Iori]

The Internet used to be an escape from reality, now reality is an escape from the Internet.

If you lack the imagination or skill to customize your signature, quoting this phrase might help you fill the empty space.

MSN "Man I remember when Linage 2 had MSN integrated in to the game it was cool"
old BBS boards.

In the 200X, the name MSN was on everyone's lips, as it was used as a sort of proto-dating app, however, Facebook quickly stole the chair right out from under it, so I jumped on that bandwagon, but in the end, the only one doing the fucking was Zuckerberg (who sold our personal data to the highest bidder).

I miss the general guardedness of people, having thicker skin and people just knowing how to not overshare or give away stuff that can leave a trail to be followed and doxed. I also miss the ability to not live in fear of age verification via photo and handing over my ID just to access a chat site.

The only alternative would be to create an alternative web, but one that keeps out companies like Nintendo, organized crime, minors (fuck YouTube Kids and whoever thought it was a good idea to remove the ability to add my childhood theme songs to playlists, because that feature is blocked) and it would also have to exclude the idiots who knowingly spread anti-science and trolling (just for the sake of wasting people's time and derailing every discussion into a dead end).

The purity of social networks and when search engines weren't filled with SEO garbage

Nowadays, searching on YouTube is like playing on 'Dante Must Die' mode.

A while ago, I tried to find video interviews of Quincy Jones and it was as if the site told me 'Fuck you and your specific searches. Watch what's trending right now instead.'

Then when he died last year, the algorithm bombarded me with so many videos of Q (even obscure and forgotten ones), which I had to pile up in my 'Watch Later' list and I still haven't finished watching them all.

 

[Danieru-Emanyueru]

Actually nothing I am satisfied with it.

 

[SherionVane]

flash games may be

 

[ChronoFiction]

flash games may be

That just reminded me that Flash died a few years ago (near the end of 2020 in December)

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I miss webpages having some soul in it, instead of being clean corporative and efficient designed places. They all feel like a work office right now, instead of being a representation of what they want to show,

 

[petran79]

I miss webpages having some soul in it, instead of being clean corporative and efficient designed places. They all feel like a work office right now, instead of being a representation of what they want to show,

nowadays all pages require sources, as if you are writing a thesis

discussions have been highjacked by masters of Internet knowledge manipulation and propagandists that accept only specific sources

 

[DjQuick2008]

The amount of people relying on AI for content. Some is funny and some is poorly executed and overbearing. Interacting with real people online is a dying art or will be.

Post automatically merged: Oct 5, 2025

I miss webpages having some soul in it, instead of being clean corporative and efficient designed places. They all feel like a work office right now, instead of being a representation of what they want to show,

A girl made a full website about me when we were 18 i branded her stalkey laura. Ended up apologising to me but it was unhinged to say the least. We had been together for 1 night and she decided to make a crazy piczo site full of my photographs made her look like a psycho.

Post automatically merged: Oct 5, 2025

rotten.com was a bit mad but if you could handle it lol

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

I miss the OG days of Newgrounds and other competing sites like UGO player.

Back then, the animators felt like celebreties to a lot of us, but would still be able to go about their lives unbothered (mostly) by parasocial hangers-on.

Good days. Simpler times.

 

[Cardboardtubeknight Cardboardtubeknight]

I miss when it was just a niche fun tool to use compared to what it is now.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

I miss when it was just a niche fun tool to use compared to what it is now.

This is a good shout.
Part of the reason I Hang out here and don't use most social media sites/apps is because I'm trying to recapture a mode of life where the internet is there but not omnipresent in the same way as it is now.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

The amount of people relying on AI for content. Some is funny and some is poorly executed and overbearing. Interacting with real people online is a dying art or will be.

Post automatically merged: Oct 5, 2025

A girl made a full website about me when we were 18 i branded her stalkey laura. Ended up apologising to me but it was unhinged to say the least. We had been together for 1 night and she decided to make a crazy piczo site full of my photographs made her look like a psycho.

Post automatically merged: Oct 5, 2025

rotten.com was a bit mad but if you could handle it lol

I remember the days of browsing rotten.com on the school PCs, this was before they made us all make an account to login to the school PCs so everything you did could be tied to you hahaha

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I kinda really miss wild, wild stuff like 12GraceStreet, an advice site for everyone from literal kids to college students.

It was poorly moderated (and often turned into an ongoing flame war), "grammar" and "spelling" were akin to dirty words in there, and some of the questions being asked would trigger some sort of alarm these days. It was early aughts internet as fuck.

I think the owners were smart enough to close it on their own after the head admin left (incidentally: he wrote several odd-as-hell articles in there as well), but the fact that it even existed at all was beautiful and says it all, really.

 

[Don Patch]

When it wasn't simply an ad platform...
Hell, pre-2022 when a simple search engine search didn't populate pages regurgitated LLM SEO click-bait trash.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Oh! A good one were "fandom emails" -- basically, you could pay money to a third party to have your email address being something like "@Redwall" or @Marvel"... Copyright holders weren't very amused by it.

I also liked FortuneCity's actual city-like layout for the pages they hosted -- made it all feel much more important than a random collection of websites.