
17 issues everyone misses from the times of the “old internet”
“We took it for granted.”
The web hasn’t been round for that lengthy, but it surely’s modified dramatically within the years because it first actually grew to become a family staple. And though loads of unimaginable strides have technically been made, there’s loads of nostalgia for the previous days that encompasses each fond reminiscences and a want for practicality and character which can be lengthy gone from our trendy web.
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Redditors determined to place their heads collectively and mirror on a few of these “old internet” issues all of us miss. Our time on the worldwide net might now not be dominated by dial tones and Geocities web sites, however we’ll maintain these reminiscences alive all the identical.
1. Flash video games
“Flash games. This was really a form of art in some ways. And we took it for granted.” —u/Zieeloo
2. Usable search engines like google
“Being able to search for something and the search results not being page after page of AI corporate slop.” —u/Belle_TainSummer

3. The separation
“I miss when the internet was a ‘place’ where you would intentionally go. You would need to sit in front of your PC, turn on your PC, and connect to the internet. Now it’s everywhere. The first thing we grab when we wake up is our cellphone to turn the alarm off, and with it, there are a lot of app notifications.” —u/senhoritavulpix
4. Learning HTML
“Hand coding pages and stealing ideas from looking at code online.” —u/ontarioparent
5. A extra genuine YouTube
“2005-2010 YouTube. The videos felt less commercialized and more organic. The channel layouts looked way better and were better organized. You could use any image you wanted for the background with the channel info text boxes over it.” —u/Long-Tip-5374
6. …even the downvotes
“YouTube Dislikes.” —u/While-Sky2714

7. Hobbies over side-hustles
“Posting and creating was ‘For the love of the game’.” —u/guesting
8. Amazon, earlier than
“Old Amazon. Search actually found you what you wanted instead of ramming fake alphabet soup brands from China on the first 10 pages of results.” —u/EmergencyRace7158

9. That sound!!
“krkkk…krrrRRR…sssshhh…beeeeeeeeeeep… whEEEeeeEEEeee…kssshhCHHhh…ping-ping… BOOOOONG…chirp-chirp…SKREEEEEeeeeee… ka-krrrrrr-KRSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…bee-bee-beep…ping…” —u/cervesa_v
10. Anything however algorithms
“Simple feeds of content, organized in ways we could understand. Like, ‘here’s a list of all the posts from people you’ve friended, shown from newest to oldest.’ Now everything is algorithmically sorted and injected with recommended content and clickbait meant to keep us scrolling.” —u/KaleidoscopeProper67
11. Chat rooms
“Mid/late 90s chat rooms. They were pretty cool just randomly meeting new people.” —u/HotSpicedChai
12. Simpler shopping
“Opening a page and there it is, the page. No, I don’t want to subscribe. Well, no, I also don’t want to allow 3247 third parties to own the cookie (or however it works). Just a flashing banner to avoid, and text. A picture if you’re lucky.” —u/theguywhocantdance

13. Personal web sites
“People having their own website devoted to their unique interests.” —u/GameShowWerewolf
14. Chaos and journey
“Just because it was like the wild west, you never know what you’d find or a new website you’d come across. Online friends and chats. It was a lot more fun and authentic.” —u/SeafoodDuder
15. Forums
“God, I miss forums. As a weird little lonely kid, I feel like some of the older folks on forums brought me up. They were the place I went when life was too much. There was always some niche little community I could turn to. Reddit is great, but it’s not the same at all.” —u/jesuseatsbees

16. Fun
“I miss being able to post and read things without hearing about clout/karma/like chasing. There used to be a time you could just screw around and chat online, and the sole reward was that you were entertained. But now people are either chasing likes or accusing everyone else of doing so.” —u/Mental_Freedom_1648
17. An web of our personal
“The whole internet not being five mega-corporate spaces.” —u/dakmar2
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