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  3. Am I the only one who thinks social media has destroyed the spirit of the internet?

Am I the only one who thinks social media has destroyed the spirit of the internet?

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  • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
    realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #1

    The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

    It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

    I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

    snokenkeekaguard@lemmy.dbzer0.comS realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR D O L 80 Replies Last reply
    217
    • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

      The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

      It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

      I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

      snokenkeekaguard@lemmy.dbzer0.comS This user is from outside of this forum
      snokenkeekaguard@lemmy.dbzer0.comS This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by [email protected]
      #2

      Small forums always did exist and always will exist. That cannot and will not change

      E 1 Reply Last reply
      2
      • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

        The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

        It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

        I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

        realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
        realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #3

        It's clear, but I have the impression they were abandoned in favor of social networks...

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

          The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

          It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

          I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

          D This user is from outside of this forum
          D This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #4

          No, not the only one -

          The internet is just a microcosm of social media’s destruction of our entire social fabric

          1 Reply Last reply
          6
          • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

            The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

            It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

            I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

            O This user is from outside of this forum
            O This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by
            #5

            Social media brought all the normies into the internet. Normies ruin everything.

            realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR 1 Reply Last reply
            3
            • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

              The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

              It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

              I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

              L This user is from outside of this forum
              L This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #6

              I like very much the comparison you made of a rural exodus; inspiring!

              1 Reply Last reply
              2
              • O [email protected]

                Social media brought all the normies into the internet. Normies ruin everything.

                realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #7

                Same reflection

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • snokenkeekaguard@lemmy.dbzer0.comS [email protected]

                  Small forums always did exist and always will exist. That cannot and will not change

                  E This user is from outside of this forum
                  E This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #8

                  This is true, though internet gatekeepers can keep people from being able to find these forums.

                  N 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                    The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                    It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                    I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                    kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                    kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #9

                    The internet has always been a collection of social media platforms: bulletin boards, Usenet, IRC, people hosting little personal sites and making contact with each other via email, etc. It got bad when big money arrived and brought in the general public. First is was platforms like AOL's chat rooms and forums, and later things like Facebook and Twitter. We are all living in eternal September now.

                    Exhibit A: this t-shirt from 1994

                    D 1 Reply Last reply
                    3
                    • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                      The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                      It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                      I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                      R This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #10

                      You're probably not the only one.

                      However, the interest (on Lemmy-aligned circles at least) in self-hosting, reducing depedence on large tech companies, community building on smaller scale online and offline, has me excited again that the smaller counterculture can co-exist with the mainstream profit-motivated social media culture.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                        The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                        It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                        I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                        K This user is from outside of this forum
                        K This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #11

                        Not social media per sé, but definitely "the algorithm" that was introduced around ~2014 and has been tweaked by the likes of Cambridge Analytica to now provide us with endless ragebait.

                        MySpace was social media and had none of the toxicity.

                        gashead76@lemmy.worldG buelldozer@lemmy.todayB 2 Replies Last reply
                        3
                        • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                          The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                          It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                          I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                          fartswithanaccent@fedia.ioF This user is from outside of this forum
                          fartswithanaccent@fedia.ioF This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #12

                          The early Internet was social media, but it wasn't so corporatized to the point of being ruined.

                          M 1 Reply Last reply
                          19
                          • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                            The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                            It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                            I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                            geekwithsoul@lemm.eeG This user is from outside of this forum
                            geekwithsoul@lemm.eeG This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #13

                            I think you're confusing social media and late stage capitalism. Social media hasn't done anything to anyone, capitalism has used social media to further its own ends.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                              The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                              It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                              I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                              the_picard_maneuver@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                              the_picard_maneuver@lemmy.worldT This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by [email protected]
                              #14

                              Everyone clustered on like 4 websites for convenience, and then browsing the internet started to feel like wandering around different sections of the same department store: sterile, corporate, advertiser-safe, and everything's transactional. Plus, it made it incredibly easy for any party that wants to astroturf public opinion, because now they only have to set up shop on a few sites: botting comments, infiltrating moderator positions, abusing the algorithms.

                              We desperately need to break the internet's monoculture, and I think federated social media like this is a great start.

                              W 1 Reply Last reply
                              3
                              • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                P This user is from outside of this forum
                                P This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #15

                                I don't think it was social media. To be honest with you, this is the worst thing I have ever said. Seriously! I swear to god, it was once the "normies" got on the internet. I think "normies" are socialized to be cruel, and they took that cruelty to the internet. I loved it when it was for the freaks and the geeks. It was the best of the best!

                                It took my favorite activity (reading) and turned it into a social one. An educational one too! It was amazing. There's still bits out here. I mean look at us. But there's a lot of trash on these sites too. Just filter, enjoy your echo chamber, and be open to people entering it with opposite opinions. In fact, be open to opinions all over the place, even in person. Just saying, I use this as reprieve. I don't need to work myself up, I want to chill and cool down with it.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                  The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                  It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                  I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                  altima_neo@lemmy.zipA This user is from outside of this forum
                                  altima_neo@lemmy.zipA This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #16

                                  Social media back then was making stuff you thought was cool and having friends and other weirdos across the Internet also enjoying the same things as you.

                                  Social media today is juicing the algorithm to generate the most views, regardless of whether you like the content you're producing or not.

                                  gashead76@lemmy.worldG ckmnstr@lemmy.worldC 2 Replies Last reply
                                  4
                                  • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                    The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                    It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                    I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                    softestsapphic@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
                                    softestsapphic@lemmy.worldS This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                    #17

                                    I agree the internet feels a lot different than the eqrly 2000s, but breaking down what's different I can't pin anything concrete down.

                                    There's pretty much no fundamental differences between how social media was and how it is now. People talk, share interests, get in arguments. What we feel is nostalgia for a wild west internet with less people and rules that will never exist again.

                                    More people use the internet now so more people participate in the conversation. That's how it will be for the rest of human history probably.

                                    buelldozer@lemmy.todayB 1 Reply Last reply
                                    1
                                    • kersploosh@sh.itjust.worksK [email protected]

                                      The internet has always been a collection of social media platforms: bulletin boards, Usenet, IRC, people hosting little personal sites and making contact with each other via email, etc. It got bad when big money arrived and brought in the general public. First is was platforms like AOL's chat rooms and forums, and later things like Facebook and Twitter. We are all living in eternal September now.

                                      Exhibit A: this t-shirt from 1994

                                      D This user is from outside of this forum
                                      D This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #18

                                      What was the state of the internet in 1994 that it would cause such resentiment?

                                      M S C A 4 Replies Last reply
                                      1
                                      • fartswithanaccent@fedia.ioF [email protected]

                                        The early Internet was social media, but it wasn't so corporatized to the point of being ruined.

                                        M This user is from outside of this forum
                                        M This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #19

                                        To expand on that, all media with a negligible barrier to entry is social media. Which describes the internet as a whole. The commodification of such media is both unnecessary and parasitic. The only thing "social media" adds is accessibility.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        4
                                        • E [email protected]

                                          This is true, though internet gatekeepers can keep people from being able to find these forums.

                                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #20

                                          The extent to which that's possible is debatable.

                                          I think it's simply that there's less incentive to find or to host those small forums.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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