Depression and the current Internet

I don't know how old my account is, but I'm sure I made it quite awhile ago not that it matters.

What does matter is the internet has become a headache compared to how I remember it in the early 2000s and even before. I've been looking for a place uninfected by the 'normies' of today. This is one of the few sites that has managed to persevere and preserve its aesthetic all the way back to when I first found it. It's a fond memory and I hope it manages to stay one of the final bastions of the internet despite still being fairly well known.

I know this will sound cheesy, but are the genuine 'geeks' or 'nerds' still around? As far as I can tell the internet was consumed as regular normal people started to join for things outside of checking their email. I feel like a minority voice in an echo chamber. I see the same memes and patterns every day and hardly laugh anymore. The hobbies I used to pursue like programming are now dominated by dudebros, while the art communities only care about money and patreon. I can barely speak out or talk about anything because everything I do or say is probably recorded. I miss the days of being able to log on and assume a persona for a day, then discard everything associated with it the next. The internet feels like an extension of my real life now and that's awful.

How are the rest of you? am I alone here?

I can't say I'd disagree on missing the internet days of yore but, we're sadly past the point of no return there. The only thing to do is not let memes or other things get ruined by chumps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eldred

I can't say I'd disagree on missing the internet days of yore but, we're sadly past the point of no return there. The only thing to do is not let memes or other things get ruined by chumps.

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It feels like its an effort in futility. The part I find more upsetting than anything is how hard it is to make friends these days. Maybe it's just because I'm older and as kids we were all much more accepting of each other. But as supposedly interconnected as we are today, it feels lonelier than ever. The only friends I have left are the ones I made back in high school. I used to waste long hours chatting people up on MSN between gaming sessions and not even noticing where the time went. Now conversations feel forced and I'm more of a hermit than anything.

In my opinion the rise of Facebook has contributed to the killing of the internet. They caused most discussion to become centralized and have killed creativity.

I know exactly what you're talking about. What ever happened to "for teh lolz"? now people get fucking riled up over some random puppy stuck in a pipe somewhere that's not even real. Not to sound like the south park goths but i rather kill myself then pick any side and conform to the fucking bullshit going on these days. Like silent~ said it has a lot to do with facebook as in if you want to speak whatever's on your mind you end up with no one to talk to. I miss calling everyone a retard and knowing they really didn't care. Only places left are a select few older games still being played in which people actually care even though they might not be that serious. I literally played overwatch for three hours not even looking at the screen and didn't receive a single complaint (that i know of) while watching shit on the other monitor. Only option now is creating a new internet with blackjack and hookers.

Personally, I miss calling everyone a retard and feeling I was exaggerating.

Much love and sympathy, my condolences etc.