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# The Internet Used to be Better
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/the-internet-used-to-be-better/
- Published: 2021-06-15T00:31:03.000Z
- Updated: 2021-06-15T00:31:03.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: Links, #Import 2023-06-01 22:41, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

[I miss the old internet | Science Fiction and Fantasy World](https://www.sffworld.com/forum/threads/i-miss-the-old-internet.57195/?ref=birchtree.me)

> Is it just me or is today's internet boring and overly commercialized? I feel like today's internet is like a modern mall, sterile and boring with just main-brand clothing stores, a food court, and not a lot else. Whereas I feel like the old internet was more like an exciting urban playground.

[On the other hand:](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27493309&ref=birchtree.me)

> I think it's easy to forget we're not the same people we were 20-25 years ago. I see all sorts of lamentations about various things in the world changing and becoming less magical. But as far as I'm aware, I could still go and argue about bands in chatrooms. I could talk to other writers and dream about my future best-selling novels. I could go read random opinions about any subject and get into an exhilarating flamewar about it. I don't want to do any of those things.

[And:](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27496055&ref=birchtree.me)

> Yup. "Today's IRC" — the place for kids to idle around and make friends — isn't Discord; it's Minecraft. (Not that weird; Minecraft is a low-stakes graphical MUD, and MUDs have always served double-purpose as chatrooms.)

“They don’t make them like they used to.”

“Music was so much better when I was a kid.”