the internet is (a little) boring
This post is part of the basement community 1-year anniversary blog event, this event's theme being "Internet usage". Come submit your blog post on the forums for a chance to win $50. We're friendly, I promise!!
Back in 2009 when I was a freshmen in high school, I ended every night, without a doubt, scrolling through 9gag.com and near-pissing myself laughing at all the memes that were uploaded to the site. The site got its meaning from the fact that each page had 9 posts/memes on it - then you'd advance to the next page and scroll through 9 more. Some of it was original content, some was stuff lifted from Reddit, but all the Rage Comics, impact-font images, and 60s spider-man memes were the peak of comedy for me at the time.
Now I look back at those memes and do not find them funny in the slightest. But back then, that was the Internet for me. Being part of this weird culture that nobody else around me would understand...yet.
I think there seems to be a weird phenomenon going on right now, where a new online subculture is popping up, full of people who are burnt out on today's Internet and looking for ways to purge themselves of their online accounts, myself included. 2005-2015 is when I would argue were the best years for this subculture. You had cool new social networks popping up like Youtube and Facebook, really addictive games like Runescape, World of Warcraft, Club Penguin, Neopets, and meme culture came in full force with Lolcats and Rage Comics. People online were still more outcast-ish, and it wasn't necsesarily cool to be "terminally online," which is a phrase that you'll hear often today. Being online and part of these communities was new and fun, and there was this feeling of belonging to an "in crowd." It was less formulaic and everything you saw felt new and original.
Well, okay fine - not everything was original. Looking at you ebaumsworld.
Now, the Internet is just utterly flooded with people. Being "terminally online" isn't that uncommon, and mostly everyone understands Internet culture, memes, how to operate social media accounts, etc. Original content is a lot harder to come by, Youtube channels and Tiktok accounts are making money by following a formula and borrowing strategies from other channels, resulting in oversaturation of similar content, social media is flooded by people of all age groups - you get the point. I think the worst part though is that everyone is angrier and more cut-throat. I don't know how it got this way. Maybe because information spreads more easily, maybe because we all grew up and now care more about issues outside of World of Warcraft. Who knows?
My ultimate point here is the Internet is boring. Nothing really feels new and it's a lot harder to get the satisfaction and the excitement that was there in 2009, for me at least. My advice to you as the reader is to keep exploring smaller parts of the Web. I recommend forums like basement community or posting.cool, which is one I just discovered. Try reading some blogs on bearblog's discover page, or join smaller discord communities like the one over at 32bit.cafe. I'm sure that if you feel the way I feel about the Internet right now, you'd be surprised at how much more fun it is to participate in these smaller communities of like-minded people.
P.S: I re-made a puzzle pirates account, which is another browser MMORPG I used to play 10 years ago. If anyone wants to play, feel free to hit me up because god is this game good. IYKYK.
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