periodically I look around at the state of the internet and the way it is clearly contributing to making the world worse in so many ways, and I think back to dicking around in a computer lab in the early 00s and how full of promise it all felt, and I feel sad
it didn't have to be this way
it didn't have to be this way
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The terrifying thing is that *anyone* can come on here, develop a following, and impart their wisdom to millions.
The internet had dark corners forever but really feels like social media mainlined this all into the average person and it's been disastrous.
We completely lack the ability to filter technological advancement for the pro-social and anti-social impacts.
Ya know: governance.
But no one understood wtf he was talking about back then lol
https://youtu.be/eKl6WjfDqYA?t=84
We cheerfully bricked ourselves back in for them.
And instead it just became one more tool of hatred and violence. So sad.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/how-the-retweet-ruined-the-internet?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpg
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8FHEPcD/
#BlueSky as #TikTokReplacement via #ATProtocol video.
Turning humans into addicts brings out the worst in us.
I vividly recall the FreeNets of the 1990s, which always had deep puddles of conspiracy nuts, perverts and psychos. Stumbled into a couple before I knew my way around and realized a lot of people are very, very sick in the head.
IMHO it was probably when social media companies first decided to grow at all costs. Both underinvesting in moderation, but also buying up and shutting down competition, and teaching people bad habits, and disrupting efforts to use the internet to teach
Unregulated capitalism….. or maybe capitalism self regulated by Capitalists… in the *who watches the watchmen* sense without a self loathing Vimes in sight. Only Mr Cletes & the Auditors. (I *just* read Soul Music…so they’re who sprung to mind)
To get on the net or even BBS systems in the late 80s/early 90s you had to really put in the time to understand it. And no ad money obviously.
I used to check out a website where some guy built dioramas of Bible scenes out of Legos.
And the one where some guy uploaded Hitler to amihotornot
Cell phones can cause cancer but no one is going to stop using them.
As soon as it was monetized, it was over, we just didn't know it yet
I dicked around in a computer lab even before that… got my first email address in 1993.
Jennicam was groundbreaking around that time lol
Instead, the internet made us all stupider and gave the stupidest a sense of community and made them think they’re right about everything.
We need to upgrade our humanity more or it's not going to get better.
Clearly, w/o smartphones we would all still be talking about Nirvana on our local BBS.
https://bsky.app/profile/thombowers.bsky.social/post/3lfdy7yzcb22s
It was a bit boring at first. But gradually got better 2000s were kind of the peak. Google maps was a strong edition, but took a while to get it in London.
Once upon a time Twitter was an easy integration over RSS/Atom. Facebook gave us easy access to audiences. AWS (maybe) made redundant hosting easy. Focusing on Google SEO was easier than juggling, etc..
Reversible, with work. I feel like we're going to start seeing that work pay off in the next few years.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Reader
I would probably still be stuck with those abusers--or possibly even dead--if it wasn't for what the internet allowed me to learn and the opportunities it gave me.
Social media sites implemented algorithms to addict us so they could make a profit from us, and turning humans into addicts brings out our worst qualities more than anything.
🥺 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Bx3eNMjvk
... and now look.
Some bits are still there, and the moderation has always been hard (Usenet eternal September).
Billionaires: Oh. Look what they're doing. Look what they might do. They've no right. We ought to own that.
https://www.nytimes.com/column/rabbit-hole
But they made the key mistake of allowing me on it
It was actually close a few times. The sense of loss is truly profound.
What we got was a monetised way to divide and conquer, misinformation with no brakes and bought elections.
Bring back fax machines.
periodically I look around at the state of the internet and the way it is clearly contributing to making the world worse in so many ways, and I think back to dicking around in a computer lab in the early 1980s and how full of promise it all felt, and I feel sad
it didn't have to be this way
The Internet, 2020: “Hold my Jolt Cola.”
I’m gonna toss the heart of the ocean into the frigid waters, now.
Boy was I wrong.
Now if i get a couple of youtube hits on a search , I'm lucky.
But it is what we allowed.
In the winter of 1981, I helped a friend build a Trash-80 & program it with machine language. Tell us about the old days, Grandma! 🤣
There was such a hope for it. "The world at your fingertips".
Sigh.
And we have anti-vaxxers and Qanon and Pizzagate and Trump cultists.
/s
I remember the first time I heard a libertarian exulting about how it was going to splinter everything, remove everything that involved gatekeeping or standards or quality... and I realized he was right.
If we were all still chained to a desktop computer and an answering machine, things would be more civil.
it brought in the masses, and with them the corporations.
before that, it was just us weirdos on our message boards and websites.
we had to fight just to get darkmode back.
Mid-to-late 2000s: I remember specifically calling someone out because they figured out a way to track users across sites. I thought it was unconscionable. That user data should only be used to improve your own site.
Now...
Joy
Art
Creativity
Fun
Love
Hate
Violence
Etc etc etc
It was all just a matter of time before the net reflected that.
But we can at least make some corners of it joyful.
it could have been so good, Micah
instead we got this
Really concerning and a good read, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveil...
To Hell with Big Data and Big Brother can lick my loafer!
And on the other hand we can't forget that these were the "tits or GTFO" "Middle East nuke simulator Flash games" "domain name typo hardcore porn" "rotten dot com' days, too
Then there was Ogrish.
It needs to be fixed.
The more people we can get off of those trash bins, the better. BS or Mastadon type sites are the way forward.
I think what's made it worse is people.
We were supposed to have the entirety of human knowledge at our fingertips.
How did it become this clusterfuck?
The only thing that's really changed is traffic.
it was the first big mainstream shift from going to people's pages to see what was there to what was happening to everyone being indiscriminately shown to you
everything now is a news feed