I’m not old enough to really be a “net veteran” but I’m also not exactly at home in the modern internet. It’s like I’m drifting.

I remember just enough of the web from 2007ish and earlier to know it used to be a different place. But most people my age are fully locked in to TikTok, Discord, whatever the hell Threads is trying to be, and they don’t question it.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting here lurking on obscure forums, saving screenshots of cool old UI design, reading manifestos about federated social networks, and trying to figure out how to install an RSS reader that doesn’t suck.

Feels like a weird place to be. Like watching the last ruins of a civilization you barely got to live in. But I guess there’s some comfort in that too?

Just wondering if anyone else out there feels this way. Or is it just me floating in a dead sea of ads and hashtags.

i hate this "“" shit.

@RandomAmerican It's more a question of character than age, in my opinion. Lots of people left old forums for Facebook, back when it was the next big thing. Some preferred to stay behind.

It's probably the same with your generation, the difference is, kids today never got to experience an alternative, but still there must be a small percentage that don't feel at home on mainstream sites.

It is difficult to question the world you were born into when you are not aware of how things were before.
As someone already mentioned before on these forums, convinience is key. If you are born with water on a tap you never will know what it is to get water from a well 6 kilometers away and ration it for the day, for a familly of six. This just means that we do not need to fetch water anymore. For some reason we humans agreed that, fetching water like that was really cumbersome, but now we have people screaming: "OMG people do not move! They are getting fat as shit! We need to build public wells and make people walk again for water". HAHAHAHA It is rather hilarious, not in a sarcastic way but rather the irony of it.

The internet will never me the same as 20 years ago and it should not stay the same, but it should also not turn into a cesspool of human garbage and waste.

The fact that you, OP, choose this forum to write shows you are in your desired location/direction. Places like these are like Cafés in neighbourhoods: Each has a different community, we can hop between them and meet different people and if do not like one we do not show up!

Big love.

>Places like these are like Cafés in neighbourhoods: Each has a different community, we can hop between them and meet different people and if do not like one we do not show up!

I like this analogy.

lets not act like were enjoying cafe hopping.. the internet was intentionally fractured and demolished because people were getting too informed on their controllers

>I’m not old enough to really be a “net veteran” but I’m

make sure your keyboard layout is correct please because what the fuck is this

>It is difficult to question the world you were born into when you are not aware of how things were before.

this is why history good ig

>>I’m not old enough to really be a “net veteran” but I’m
>

>make sure your keyboard layout is correct please because what the fuck is this

its because of the encoding

>its because of the encoding

So it's the servers fault? How is this happening?

>>51239
An insightful post, Foxdie. One that is greatly appreciated.

I agree with you deeply, RandomAmerican. Although I remember well the old days, It feels like I'm stuck there. Most people my age are completely figured out, with kids and a family, or a complete mess. When your youth leaves you, it can really mess someone up.

Know you not walk alone in this path. I feel at home with the old devices, out of attachment for the world before or just too stubborn to evolve into TikTok and the like. I get it. It's not so bad being this way. I'm content.

Gomen Gomen for not being too insightful. I felt like I should at least let OP know he's not alone.