#706 | Old Internet vs New Internet

So much of the web now is sanitized, copy-cat, and a bit scared. I think we are nostalgic for the early internet in part because anyone could curate it, and it was full of wonderful human flaws as a result.

I was walking the dog this morning and I was reflecting on how the things we build on the digital world seem to mirror what we build on the physical one. Big social media platforms are the metropolis: dense, busy, chaotic. They’re the place that never sleeps and there’s always something new going on. Something new to see, something new to do. You’l... See more

So much of the web now is sanitized, copy-cat, and a bit scared. I think we are nostalgic for the early internet in part because anyone could curate it, and it was full of wonderful human flaws as a result.

Perhaps it’s just nostalgia, but despite having “little to hide,” I recall a better way to use the internet. My interest in the internet as a kid was entirely exploratory, rather than performative. Bored out of my suburban small-town mind, I wanted to play Starcraft and learn random things and chat on IRC with new people around the world who shared... See more