was the old web really as good as people say it was?

It was often crappy and inaccessible, forums were full of trolls, and apps were insecure. But it was all a lot more personal. That's what people are nostalgic about. The rest are technical details we can and should fix.

A bit nostalgia a bit it was better. It's much easier to find things these days because most things are sanitized and centralized. Back in the day looking for stuff felt like exploring and finding secret clubs. Finding a forum about a niche topic immediately bonded the users because you all had to stumble upon it. The best example I have is an old Percy Jackson Roleplay website I used to frequent. I have no idea how I found it. It seemed dead but I posted on it in a few places and checked on it a few hours later. Someone responded and I started using the site religiously. Got acquainted to the regulars. We all talked in and out of character about whatever occurred to us. Those late night sessions of watching youtube and chatting on the forum hit different. Then one day I went to open the website and it was just gone. Like it, and all those people never existed. At least to me, the internet was like walking around in an enchanted forest. If I found something cool I had to be careful to remember how I got there because if I forgot to, what ever I had discovered would just vanish without a trace. These days if I post something it will basically be there until the heat death of the universe.