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Remember when...

I feel like part of the reason for the concentration of the internet is that it was marketed to us in a way that appealed to our sense of convenience.  We got lazy.  Remember when you used to actually go to websites that weren't a social media site?  Most of us had a regular round of sites that we went to...it could have been forums, stupid flash cartoon sites, some web game...


Then social media (facebook in particular) arrived with the promise to bring all those things you loved on the internet in one place.  Once it got us all in one place, it had the final say in what you did/didn't get to see.  

If you really want to take control back of the internet, the easiest thing you can do is actually visit sites outside of social media.  Start making the rounds again.  I include myself in this as well because fuck yeah, I've gotten lazy about it.  But I feel like that's a good, simple starting point to returning the decentralized feel of the internet that we remembered.


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Reply by Shadow Bliss

posted

Yeah. I remember as a kid the place I went to the most was imdb forums. I talked about movies, games, music, all through whatever was on there (I talked about music through the fact that many of those bands/singers have an imdb page).

I can't remember the last time I used imdb for anything other than "so this person was in this movie?"


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Reply by V Holeček Art

posted

I didn't even realize IMDB had forums...


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Reply by sadgrl.online

posted

Yes, I agree with this wholeheartedly! The easiest first step we can take is to venture into the "depths" of the web and find cool things - because they exist. Sure, there are a ton of useless websites out there, but for every useless website there's someone working on something cool and innovative. 


I'm going to try and keep this group fully stocked with a wealth of websites to keep everyone away from the big platforms, hahaha.


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Reply by Shadow Bliss

posted

Yeah imdb had them up until 2016, as far as my memory goes.

It was fairly simple stuff but it was a cool way to discuss that sort of shit.


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Reply by SafeInSanity

posted

It totally sucks that IMDB ditched the forums!  I think every episode of a TV show had a message board. It was so cool, and everybody was over there too. It was a very socially active website! 


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Reply by KiethBlackLion

posted

I would love to see Twitter just get shut down completely. 


Personally, I miss going to individual websites to talk to people or watch video clips. Of course at the time I had dial up and so it took awhile for things to load, but still. There was a simplicity to it.

There are some advantages to social media, such as Facebook, that I enjoy. Since I live 3 hours away from my home town, Facebook allows me to stay in touch with my mother and sisters and share the growth of my kids with my family, but there is a certain charm that is missed out on from not visiting a specific website and chatting in forums about a particular topic. 

When I first got on the internet in 1998, the Nintendo website had a feature called The Loudhouse, which was where the forums were located along with other fan oriented features. I loved visiting the Nintendo forums and talking about the games of the day; which at the time consisted of only NES, SNES, N64 and GameBoy games. Sharing tips on how to get the highest points in Pilotwings 64 and how to get to the mystery island in Goldeneye 64's opening level.

The Nintendo website even had an online digital pet of Yoshi that you could take care of like the Tamagotchis of the 90s. It was all a flash game, of course, but it was still fun.


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Reply by V Holeček Art

posted

 "Because usually when you just like and run the only reason to comment is to argue or make a statement for your own likes."

omg so much this.  I actually get that sense that not having to do anything more than "like" a post or comment actually incentivizes some of the more combative behavior that we see these days.  Like you said above, the only reason to comment is to argue or make a statement for your own likes. 


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Reply by Hopman12

posted

Well yes and no, I'm born in the mid-late 2000s. I still lived a bit of the time of the internet in the early 10s but would do anything to go back to the 2000s. :(


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Reply by Skip Jøhnson

posted

The late 90s - early 2000s were the best time for the internet. I loved it when we all made our own "home pages" and linked them together via webrings. Interaction happened via email and guestbooks. Geocities, AOL Hometown, Angelfire, etc. Great times.


MySpace was the start of social media but it still had that "Wild West" internet feel.


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Reply by Craig Jeffries

posted

I really miss when IMDB had forums.  I always would follow shows that I loved and read the new posts after a new episode would air.  Ahh, those were the days.


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Reply by Julian Kevin Bloodworth

posted

100 percent agree. I'd gladly say to be damned with "convenience" and browse more carefully to avoid the modern censorship and "business friendly" social media hellscape. The censorship makes me want to puke. I'm on a 30 day for giving a compliment to another Weightlifter for calling him a "siccunt." (Very big compliment)


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Reply by Merzcat

posted

Back in the day we could rely on other people to create sites/web destinations for us.
There were tons of forums, multimedia sites, imageboards, video clip sites etc but those people have either aged, died or moved on.
It is now up to US to continue the legacy of the 00s internet, because no one else is going to do that for us.
I have quite a few ideas in mind but I lack the know-how, so I'm going to take the steps necessary and learn what I need to know about web development.


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Reply by Swiftpaw

posted

I feel like Discord may have also contributed to this. Most forums have moved to Discord and even if they're still around they also have a Discord server, it's much more convenient than checking multiple forums a day. 


Although I've been getting back into checking non-social media sites or at least social media which are more small scale. I still enjoy forums at least 


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Reply by Supa Troopa

posted

I´ve been active in forums since I received internet 2004 and I never stopped! Social media sites like facebook have never been a way for me to deal with my particular interests and hobbies. And now with all that censorship and suppression of free speech going on, I´m even more concentrated to focus on other pages.


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Reply by Br00klyn

posted

[img]http://www.mazeguy.net/silly/blockhead.gif[/img] 



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Reply by Ninely Andrien

posted

This is really cool


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Reply by Skip Jøhnson

posted
updated

IMDB forums are archived at https://filmboards.com/


You can sign up, link your old account, and still post with a very small amount of stragglers, too.


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Reply by Eamon

posted

The modern climate has conditioned us to become lazy. Why bother typing an elaborate, thought out response to a topic when you can simply react to one and run away? It's almost as if it's like this by design to dumb us down and hinder our critical thought.


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Reply by ☆MjHash☆

posted

This is a great idea & I miss the nostalgia of hopping on the computer after school and having to navigate the web without it all being in one place.


RIP Bebo


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Reply by Sean

posted

I see your IMDB forums and raise you Badmovies.org


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Reply by 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚜

posted

like compared to back then of pop-ups and ads... is nothing compared to today.

I make an experimental observation every few months on Facebook and Instagram with collecting how many ADs or Promoted materials I see in between all of my 'Fakefriends' and pages I follow... like seriously it's just worse. My time looking around the boards on Space Hey, no lick of distraction from scrolling. 


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Reply by xxRebellious_Emmaxx

posted
updated

Yes. I remember playing Adobe Flash games on a bunch of random websites every day after school and on weekends on my family's Windows 7 laptop when I was in elementary school. Hell, I spend most of my time online nowadays on obscure websites such as this one and on various internet forums that are still up and running as of 2022.


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Reply by SafeInSanity

posted
updated








Eamon said:


The modern climate has conditioned us to become lazy. Why bother typing an elaborate, thought out response to a topic when you can simply react to one and run away? It's almost as if it's like this by design to dumb us down and hinder our critical thought.






I think you are really on to something here bro! 👍


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Reply by cows

posted
updated

I think the internet has sorta been turned into television 2.0. The person to person interaction has been somewhat replaced with ecelebs, streamers, internet politicians, vtubers, video essayists etc. People mainly come on the internet to consume carefully curated content and comment compulsively. Say that 5 times fast xD. Of course there are still ways to have meaningful discussions and establish connections with people over the internet, that's just not really "the thing" anymore sadly. The human element of the whole thing has been on it's way out the door for some time now in favor of the clean cut and dry, web 2.0 sponsored version presented to you in a neat package by big company™. It has it's pros and cons I guess. More people than ever before have access to the internet, yet are lonelier than ever so... I guess it kinda goes to show web2.0?


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Reply by ethan (taylor's version)

posted

do i give out my account adress? if so, it's ts1989@escargot.chat !!


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Reply by radi0sack

posted

Wait...you're literally blowing my mind. What do you mean, like, you dont goto websites anymore? Like, you only get on facebook? I'm pretty sure thats not the experience of most people. Personally I visit dozens to hundreds of independent sites each day. If you are being honest about your internet habits, its probably a blessing in disguise, and you're doing 100x better than 99% of America. So i wouldn't be complaining about such a thing. idk


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