Does anyone else miss the old internet?

oldguyjoe said:
I miss the internet that had less slop,
google search where top 10 results were actually relevant,
social media network where first interaction with someone didn't lead to immediate wall going up in anticipation of a scam,
I miss the small communities before the great centralization, where everyone knew each other and was always ready to chat without an agenda.

I also miss the old BHW, where good sales threads stayed on top, not being gamified or spammed to death.
Click to expand...
I made a request some time ago, but it never went anywhere.
For sales threads, all reviews that the thread starter reposts in their threads should include the dates in them.
I still believe that if that were to be implemented, it would reduce a lot of the spam threads that the thread starters repeatedly bump with reviews from like 2018 that have their dates concealed.
This would help all the customers to be able to make better and more informed decisions.

Since we're talking about the old days...
I miss the old AOL chatrooms, the 2d online games where many of the playerbase felt like close friends and some like family, and the BHW stars.
 
Advertise on BHW
There are aspects I miss, for sure. The quirkiness of GeoCities and the dancing hamsters. Simple websites, no flash, basic HTML, 14 year old writing websites for Coca-Cola (true story). Search results that were relevant, content written by people with actual expertise and wiling to help. I miss some of the old BBS games too, if you want to go even further back.

I do like the speed of the modern interwebs. I like the ability it has now to more easily share news and ideas in newer and faster formats (videos, socials, etc.), but that comes with risks and a larger attack surface too. Definitely tradeoffs. I still play MMORPGs like World of Warcraft (on private servers though), and that painful on the older dial-up modems.
 
Of course, maybe we are just old now. But Internet before was user-driven alternative of big media, now it's run my big media.
 
DigitalProfessor said:
Sometimes I feel like the internet was more fun a few years ago. Forums felt more active, people shared real experiences, and there was less AI-generated content everywhere.

Do you think the internet has improved, or do you miss how it used to be?
Click to expand...
i miss the old internet as we had purely much human interaction than AI, but still internet we are using now is updated and advanced tech for now.
 
Sure do! It seemed alot more magical back then. These days you can't avoid all of the AI slop.. it's starting to get to me.
 
Taken into account that the first internet we had at home was a dial up, used Netscape for browsing, and started my first email address at around 1996.

Yes I miss the old internet, and not even that super old internet - I miss everything prior to social media.

Where you had a message board, and an ICQ and actually had time to talk to people, as opposed to react and scan all sorts of notifications all the time or having to see and interact with things and content that you don't really want to.

Most of the emails you receive are automated, most of the notifications and content you see are automated, and lot of what you encounter is full or borderline fake.
 
I think we gained convenience but we lost a bit of the human side. Everything feels a little too optimized now.
 
Back when there were forums you could find anything. Real life experiences, long posts and super long conversations about any topic.

Now, it's all gone. You go on reddit and it's all junk, can't even have a conversation that's a few replies deep. Facebook groups are locked, so you can't search for content, but even if you could it doesn't matter because it's the graveyard where posts are made to die and disappear.

Yeah, I miss the old internet, and will miss it forever.
 
You're right, but the world is moving forward, and everything is becoming increasingly unclear . Because these days, nothing feels truly real anymore: everything is ai
 
Nowdays i dont see people sharing their real experience, they generate AI answers. This makes me lose interest but bhw has reactivated that in a very good note and they are working on it. Talking about AI suspected.
 
The internet is going down the tubes. I used to think technological advancements would make the world more colorful. But all it has really done is made it more grey, more bleak, more artificial.
 
Yes I already miss it, but I miss the days without internet even more!
 
Once things have passed, they cannot return; we must move forward, for everything is merely a memory.
 
It’s gotten better in some ways and worse in others. It’s definitely less human now, especially with AI and bots everywhere. I think a lot of what changed is that everything started being optimized for engagement, scale, and profit(It’s kind of ironic saying this on a forum where everyone is trying to make money). And that goes way beyond the internet, games are a perfect example. They keep getting bigger and more expensive, while somehow feeling less alive. If you played WoW back in the day, you know what I mean.
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top