Personally I believe the world was a better place before the Internet existed. It was more personal, more local. The billionaire tech class was created by the Internet and are actively damaging the world for their own personal gain. Good mental health is almost non-existent for those who are always online - and that is a purposeful construct so that they will be online more and create even more revenue for the tech billionaires. The initial romantic notion that the internet would provide education and information and connection has been dwarfed by the damage it has caused. The most ‘internet raised generation - Gen Z’ is notoriously disconnected and isolated compared to previous generations. In short, if the Internet ceased to exist tomorrow, a decade from now the world would probably be a better place.
The billionaire tech class was created by the Internet and are actively damaging the world for their own personal gain.
I hate to tell you but there were billionaires and multi-millionaires way before the internet and they were damaging the world horrendously for greed and personal gain. They even have this system structured around allowing them to do that called capitalism.
So no the internet didn’t create that. Capitalism created that. Just as it created the climate change denial oil industry and the people who made money off of destroying the planet with that and would still be doing so without the internet. Just as it made dishonest press barons who loved Nazi Germany such as Randolph Hearst way before the internet existed and for a more modern example Rupert Murdoch. Just as before that it created incentives to hide and denial tobacco caused cancer or that asbestos caused cancer and other diseases or that lead poisoned us especially children. And on and on. Or the Triangle Shirt-waist fire and thousands of incidents just like that around the world where people are killed in poorly maintained factories kept that way out of greed. Or companies that pump poison into the water and air because it’s cheaper. I could go on forever.
I see the modern internet as sometime in the early 2010s when YouTube shifted heavily towards monetisation and changing up the UI for that, Facebook started to shift from VC money to monetizing the platform culminating in its post-IPO super monetization. Facebook buying Instagram and then eventually monetizing it heavy with advertisements
Facebook IPO, YouTube profitability push from Google, Instagram profitability push from Facebook. That all came together to birth the modern online influencer. An incredibly fast rapid shift from a short decade of body acceptance and mild movements against over consumption to now 6th graders have skincare routines and therapy shopping seems bigger than it has ever been
I thought I was the only one pondering on this. It’s been a wild ride and I’m so glad I got to take part in the 90s, when web 1.0 was wild and free. What a blast that was.
But it’s over now, we’ve ruined it, like we ruin everything, and I hope soon we’ll all be collectively ready as a species to dance on the grave of our dead internet.
For real, people have plenty of reasons to be pissy with AI, but if it has the power to destroy the current internet, there are massive silver linings.
I had such high hopes for the internet, I met and spoke with people from all over the world, real life was obsolete so I put all my time into being online because it was so much easier to talk to people and make friends online back then. I made a huge mistake.
Yeah. I can’t stay away completely, but it is unquestionable how much better I am in general when I spend more free time outside versus in front of a screen.
Edit: I don’t mean to make screens sound like the bad guy. It’s more about engaging all of your senses and interacting with 100% of your immediate environment, rather than keeping your vision and mind focused on the 24/7 fire hose of only the 0.001% most potent triple-distilled negativity sourced from the entire fucking planet.
The internet is like having omnipotence but only for the knowledge that messes with our brains. We don’t get to see all the nice shit from across the planet 50x a day.
Personally I believe the world was a better place before the Internet existed. It was more personal, more local. The billionaire tech class was created by the Internet and are actively damaging the world for their own personal gain. Good mental health is almost non-existent for those who are always online - and that is a purposeful construct so that they will be online more and create even more revenue for the tech billionaires. The initial romantic notion that the internet would provide education and information and connection has been dwarfed by the damage it has caused. The most ‘internet raised generation - Gen Z’ is notoriously disconnected and isolated compared to previous generations. In short, if the Internet ceased to exist tomorrow, a decade from now the world would probably be a better place.
No. You had tech billionaires before the internet as well.
They just were less tech and less billionaire, but they were there too.
I hate to tell you but there were billionaires and multi-millionaires way before the internet and they were damaging the world horrendously for greed and personal gain. They even have this system structured around allowing them to do that called capitalism.
So no the internet didn’t create that. Capitalism created that. Just as it created the climate change denial oil industry and the people who made money off of destroying the planet with that and would still be doing so without the internet. Just as it made dishonest press barons who loved Nazi Germany such as Randolph Hearst way before the internet existed and for a more modern example Rupert Murdoch. Just as before that it created incentives to hide and denial tobacco caused cancer or that asbestos caused cancer and other diseases or that lead poisoned us especially children. And on and on. Or the Triangle Shirt-waist fire and thousands of incidents just like that around the world where people are killed in poorly maintained factories kept that way out of greed. Or companies that pump poison into the water and air because it’s cheaper. I could go on forever.
Yeah I’d say capitalism ruined the Internet, rather than the other way around. Early Internet was janky but amazing
I see the modern internet as sometime in the early 2010s when YouTube shifted heavily towards monetisation and changing up the UI for that, Facebook started to shift from VC money to monetizing the platform culminating in its post-IPO super monetization. Facebook buying Instagram and then eventually monetizing it heavy with advertisements
Facebook IPO, YouTube profitability push from Google, Instagram profitability push from Facebook. That all came together to birth the modern online influencer. An incredibly fast rapid shift from a short decade of body acceptance and mild movements against over consumption to now 6th graders have skincare routines and therapy shopping seems bigger than it has ever been
I thought I was the only one pondering on this. It’s been a wild ride and I’m so glad I got to take part in the 90s, when web 1.0 was wild and free. What a blast that was.
But it’s over now, we’ve ruined it, like we ruin everything, and I hope soon we’ll all be collectively ready as a species to dance on the grave of our dead internet.
F
For real, people have plenty of reasons to be pissy with AI, but if it has the power to destroy the current internet, there are massive silver linings.
Sadly whatever replaces it will be even worse.
this has nothing to do with ai though
watch this if you can’t read ☞ techlore - The UK Just Broke the Anonymous Internet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiR7aQs3JTU
I had such high hopes for the internet, I met and spoke with people from all over the world, real life was obsolete so I put all my time into being online because it was so much easier to talk to people and make friends online back then. I made a huge mistake.
Yeah. I can’t stay away completely, but it is unquestionable how much better I am in general when I spend more free time outside versus in front of a screen.
Edit: I don’t mean to make screens sound like the bad guy. It’s more about engaging all of your senses and interacting with 100% of your immediate environment, rather than keeping your vision and mind focused on the 24/7 fire hose of only the 0.001% most potent triple-distilled negativity sourced from the entire fucking planet.
The internet is like having omnipotence but only for the knowledge that messes with our brains. We don’t get to see all the nice shit from across the planet 50x a day.