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

I really think my age bracket might've been the last to grow up with SOVL like Flipnote Hatena imo. I remember watching YTPs and like seeing the same 2000s memes and stuff on the DSi. That was meaningful looking back, because it was still our own world and we didn't have to see a lot of the f-ed up stuff that tiktok exposes kids to. My life would've been much different if I had gotten an ipad/tablet instead of a DS...(Although I have such a stubborn refusal to let go of the DS line, even if it makes me stick out a lot as an adult)

(I also really dislike people who call YTP br*inrot because it's not true at all. It feels like betrayal seeing ppl my age call it that, because why tf are you devaluing your own childhood like that? You could never see me badmouth YTP because there were definitely a lot that had effort put into them. And older memes still came from a better place of heart. Anyways ramble over...)
 
I really think my age bracket might've been the last to grow up with SOVL like Flipnote Hatena imo. I remember watching YTPs and like seeing the same 2000s memes and stuff on the DSi. That was meaningful looking back, because it was still our own world and we didn't have to see a lot of the f-ed up stuff that tiktok exposes kids to. My life would've been much different if I had gotten an ipad/tablet instead of a DS...(Although I have such a stubborn refusal to let go of the DS line, even if it makes me stick out a lot as an adult)

(I also really dislike people who call YTP br*inrot because it's not true at all. It feels like betrayal seeing ppl my age call it that, because why tf are you devaluing your own childhood like that? You could never see me badmouth YTP because there were definitely a lot that had effort put into them. And older memes still came from a better place of heart. Anyways ramble over...)
Harold Trotter is a masterpiece. You still see some people putting that kind of effort into a YTP but it happens waaaay less than it used to, either that, or I got way worse at finding them.
 
Sometimes I wonder if I'm just crazy... This topic reaching 300 replies makes me feel a little less insane XD
No we're all crazy.

Modern internets is like a party that got out of hand, the house is full, everyone is stepping on each other's toes trying to play dj and... mom got home early and boy is she pissed.
 
This may be the ultimate "who's who" of the classic internet era:


It name-drops so many inactive YouTube channels, long-defunct social media sites and forgotten file-sharing services that it's a guaranteed nostalgia punch, even if you are only vaguely aware of those things.
 
The main thing I miss about old internet is something I could never quite put my finger on until I heard a podcast where a guy kinda said what I was thinking: the internet is not special any more. It used to be this kind of mysterious thing that wasn't fully weighed down by big business yet, because they didn't know how to exploit it. Also because you had to know your way around a computer at least a little bit, you could make reasonable assumptions about the people you encountered online. Unfettered access to the internet, ruined the internet. At least in its mid-90s form. You can kinda get there nowadays if you really manicure your experience, but it used to just be that way. No tweaking required.
 
I think I miss the fact that going on the internet was more of a bigger event/experience than it is now. Dial up noises, hogging the phone line, the feelibg of success when a connection is established. I feel like back then we had more patience when what we wanted wasn't avaliable or didn't load instantly.
 
A bit controversial, but I miss back when you would argue with people online without having to worry about getting doxxed. Not saying people didn't dox back then, but it happens alot more now and for really stupid reasons.

Two people would have their internet slap fight and it would end there. No digging for addresses, phone numbers, and family members.
 
A bit controversial, but I miss back when you would argue with people online without having to worry about getting doxxed. Not saying people didn't dox back then, but it happens alot more now and for really stupid reasons.

Two people would have their internet slap fight and it would end there. No digging for addresses, phone numbers, and family members.
Why is this controversial to be against doxxing?
 
Why is this controversial to be against doxxing?
The controversial thing was arguing over the internet. I know some people don't like arguing or drama while some do. Doxxing is just straight up bad. But there are people who argue it's justified under certain circumstances.
 
I feel like back then we had more patience when what we wanted wasn't avaliable or didn't load instantly.
Indeed! I had spent months looking for full copies of Strife and One Must Fall 2097, and FOUR YEARS (!!!) searching for evidence that I just didn't imagine Urikupen Kyjuotai -- that would simply not happen today.

We are given all our candy before having dinner, so to speak.
 
The controversial thing was arguing over the internet. I know some people don't like arguing or drama while some do. Doxxing is just straight up bad.
Oh right.

Doxxing someone systematically makes them the loser of the argument because it's anything but a mature response.
 
Indeed! I had spent months looking for full copies of Strife and One Must Fall 2097, and FOUR YEARS (!!!) searching for evidence that I just didn't imagine Urikupen Kyjuotai -- that would simply not happen today.

We are given all our candy before having dinner, so to speak.
I feel your pain, my uncle would go on and d/l old single dev games all over the net or have some sort of obscure floppy to play together. It took a billion years to find out the game "Out of Order" had a name other than "Man goes to sleep and wakes up and his room has been moved to an alien planet." I caught a Jerma stream the other day where he played a throwaway disney colouring game on dos and I activated like a sleeper agent.
 
I was a complete and total hedonist when I was younger, so I'm going to say the thing I miss the most was the gooning culture in general - before anyone even knew what gooning was.

There was a website from 2008-2012 called "ratemyboobs. org". It was a pic-rating website on a 1-10 scale, categories for women and men, and an active forums section which was surprisingly 99% asexual and the topics we'd bring up on movies and music and gaming were fantastic.
I met someone on there in in 2009 and we actually got engaged for 2 years - huge mistake in retrospect, but I have a lifetime of crazy stories at least.
However, I reconnected with someone else from that website in 2015, and we've been together for the last 10 years. Not many people can say you know what your soulmate's boobs looked like before their face, but that was me - twice 🤷‍♂️
 
I never grew up with the “old internet” so I really just wish I could go back and see my favorite video series release in real time, like Bedfellows and Hey Ash Whatcha Playing.
 
I miss the general decentralization of the web.
The feeling that any word you could think of might be a website or how every topic had it's own dedicated site or community.
I miss people making things for the hell of it, I miss when making money wasn't the priority.
When selling a product or service wasn't the end goal; where creativity and passion was abundant.
 
What do I miss the internet of the old?

My Space
Neopets
Yahoo
Ragnarok Online
Ask Jeeves
Dragon Fable
 
When Nilla wasn't allowed anywhere near a computer.

Honestly? When stuff like this was not only perfectly normal to put on your profile, but also the norm:

IMG_20260330_145454~2.jpg


It's so stupid that I just can't help but to love it XD
 
I miss the old forum format (more akin to a newspaper) and the discussions with a civil tone of respect between each other. Today, thanks to X and other platforms, everything is an endless stream of nonsense controversy about the most insignificant things, plus a constant need to self-reference and screaming about anything, in a way it's like everything turns to a soccer match, without internalizing complex ideas, nuance or enjoy things in silence, just for the sake of it.
 
What is this implying?
Only that people were wild and that gifs like those were commonplace.

Don't read deep into a one-sentence message, man.
 
Anyone remember Shrines? Websites dedicated to old games that hosted every detail they could harvest of a single title? Bonus points if the game never got a proper release so all you had was a fan translation in mid project that still had updates.
 

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