There's part of me that thinks this is pure nostalgia bait - we grew up on the internet, we're middle-aged now, everything was better when we were young, shake fist at cloud.

OTOH, author isn't wrong. The mainstream net genuinely ain't what she used to be. The exact blame for that I don't know and it doesn't matter - we're in the shit now.

That's why niche sites like Lemmy, small web, RSS feeds etc are still so valuable. They're messy and human, like things used to be (tm). The trouble is finding them.

What I notice most is that I don't really search anymore; I use the internet like an appliance. "Want info about A, go to X. Want info about B, go to Y".

It's all horribly efficient. In fact, in a recent !privacy comment (on best search engines) I basically said "I don't really search any more. Search is shit. I use these tools instead"

https://aussie.zone/comment/24223554

So the author's point about use of AI tools is worth chewing on (what with Lemmy being famously anti-AI). I think we're now at the point where AI-assisted tools - self-hosted for me, thanks - are the best way to find those rabbit holes worth exploring. Even a small llm (Gemma-4-e4b) tied into good MCP tools can produce a really good "super Google, without the spam, find me X".

In fact, one of the main reasons I self host (yes, mine's solar powered) is that specifically.

https://aussie.zone/comment/24336560

OTOH, you could always mirror your own internet. With black jack. And hookers.

https://aussie.zone/comment/24257247

Ultimately though, I think smaller, more curated space (yes, like Lemmy and yes, please stop trying to turn it into the next Reddit) are going to be the last bastions of the old internet.