191
Welcome to the web we lost (goodinternetmagazine.com)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by Pro@programming.dev to c/technology@lemmy.world

In December 1993, the New York Times published an article about the “limitless opportunity” of the early internet. It painted a picture of a digital utopia: clicking a mouse to access NASA weather footage, Clinton’s speeches, MTV’s digital music samplers, or the status of a coffee pot at Cambridge University.

It was a simple vision—idealistic, even—and from our vantage point three decades later, almost hopelessly naive.

We can still do all these things, of course, but the “limitless opportunity" of today's internet has devolved into conflict, hate, bots, AI-generated spam and relentless advertising. Face-swap apps allow anyone to create nonconsensual sexual imagery, disinformation propagated online hampered the COVID-19 public health response, and Google’s AI search summaries now recommend we eat glue and rocks.

The promise of the early web—a space for connection, creativity, and community—has been overshadowed by corporate interests, algorithmic manipulation, and the commodification of our attention.

But the heart of the internet—the people who built communities, shared knowledge, and created art—has never disappeared. If we’re to reclaim the web, to rediscover the good internet, we need to celebrate, learn from, and amplify these pockets of joy.

top 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] seven_phone@lemmy.world 59 points 4 days ago

There are people who work late into the night creating something for the benefit of humanity or just for their own pleasure in creation. There are other people that take those things and bleed them dry to make profit to the point of ruination. There are yet others who use them to spew out hatreds that eat away everything good inside themselves and those that will seek out depravity. What we are getting in this is not the loss of any promise of the internet or the coming of AI but an uncomfortably clear reflection of what, in the mass we actually are.

[-] SincerityIsCool@lemmy.ca 33 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Humans do indeed contain multitudes, but I think this gives too much credit to the influence of corporate (and their political interference) interests. Enshittification is an active choice made in board rooms. Disinformation is an agenda. They're not inevitable grassroots outgrowths.

Lemmy, curated to avoid AI, curtail corporate news, and where the admins and community are fighting bots and trolls is an example of the reclamation attempt.

And you know what? It's kinda nice here.

[-] HazyHerbivore@lemm.ee 3 points 4 days ago

Enshittification is an inevitable consequence of the economic system we're living in

[-] CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Is it though? Its always far easier to be loud and obnoxious than do something constructive, even with the internet and LLMs, in fact those things are amplifiers which if anything make the attention imbalance even more drastic and unrepresentative of actual human behaviour. In the time it takes me to write this comment some troll can write a dozen hateful ones, or a bot can write a thousand. Doesn't mean humans are shitty in a 1000/1 ratio, just means shitty people can now be a thousand times louder.

[-] Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

AI has been the most promising thing out to come out of the internet. It's a new frontier. Like any new frontier there is a lot of propaganda to convince us all to take our eyes off it. The exact same happened with the Internet in the early days.

[-] PostnataleAbtreibung@lemmy.world 22 points 4 days ago
[-] felbane@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago

So... no coffee then?

Aside: I'm still annoyed with Mark Nottingham for trying to assassinate 418.

[-] AnarchistArtificer@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

I am glad that he tried to assassinate 418, because the massive outcry that led to 418 being saved is something wholesome that I love.

Link with context for anyone unfamiliar with the context: https://save418.com/

[-] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 11 points 4 days ago

My first real 'community' online was mp3.com. When I joined I was like the 132nd person on that site. It was such an incredible thing back then. People could post their own music, get feedback, promote, find a label, and get paid for streams/downloads.

I actually earned money from my music while chatting with future mega stars like Darude and Dido.

I got some real world tracks out there, had my stuff played from Australia to Canada, and there was a time I could walk into a club and hear my music being played.

Surreal thinking about it now.

I've never had that kind of connection or sense of belonging online since.

[-] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

30 years ago creating content was hard but also destroying it was difficult. Now it's very easy to post shit online but internet is also full of bots, scrapers, malware, scam and spam. I don't think you can separate those two. We can keep the internet private and free but full of shit or make it safe and "fun" but difficult to access.

[-] AugustWest@lemm.ee 8 points 4 days ago

For the first time strangers were meeting other than face to face, and without any of the social context clues that would have previously guided us in person.

The suggest this was the 90's? More like the 80's. BBS were doing this for quite a while.

[-] masterofn001@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 days ago

My blazing fast 26k baud modem had my friends and I connecting ....(mom, I'm on the computer!)....connecting... (BeepBongBoobBeeereREEEEEEEEEEEE Pingping ding eoooohhhhh bding) connecting to the greatest BBS with color ascii to play the newest text based space trade war adventure games !!!

As a 10 year old, though, it was never about meeting people. It was just cool and fun.

[-] whalebiologist@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

I think the thing you are missing is probably the community sense you had though. In your youth you went online to talk about x-files instead of going to the mall; people on IRC probably recognized your username, probably knew your opinions on scully and moulder. You can derive some self-worth from feeling like people know you, or feeling like people are interested in what you have to say. Now you have to scream at the top of your lungs while masturbating on camera to have a chance of being heard. Discord exists for now, you can find some small fandom to engage with there. You can accept the fact that your ego is not adapted to measuring yourself against all of humanity at once and find a smaller pond to swim around in; or start screaming and masturbating.

[-] meejle@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I've been thinking a lot about webrings lately. Now that Google is basically cutting off traffic from the indie web.

I feel like everyone's kinda having the same idea at the same time, which gives me some hope, but... it's difficult enough to find a ring to join, that I think most people will give up?

I don't know what I think the solution is. Centralising it and having a big, user-friendly "webring platform" is just inviting more enshittification. But the handful of webring directories I've found are really lacking.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Or, does anyone want to team up and make, like, a Gaymers Webring? (That's pretty much what I'm looking for.)

ETA: I've built one. DM me if you're interested!

[-] cupcakezealot 2 points 4 days ago

domain cliques, webrings, forums, and guestbooks were wonderful and they should come back

[-] thedruid@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Limitless opportunity comes with limitless opportunities for corruption

Seems obvious but people don't ever learn that till we see it happen over and over. . I have.

this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
191 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

71269 readers
2561 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS