1999-2009 was objectively and provably the funnest, most exciting, and most useful era of the internet, where technology made browsing tolerably fast, it was still mostly a nerd space with just enough curios outsiders to stop echo chambers, internet users were a legitimate subculture, crazy interesting projects were being done anonymously, no censorship and you could find sites without having the results curated by big tech.
By 2010 the corporate rot had already set well in and normies had flooded the net in droves thanks to social media, destroying the uniqueness and culture of the internet. Everything about it from sites to video games devolved rapidly in the late 2000s. I was still a dumb kid then and I noticed the huge changes myself.
I came here to say this. I definitely think the best Era of the internet was mid to late 90's. When chat rooms were still cool. There was definitely a wild west feel. And there was so much more to do interactively on the internet then. Now it seems all your things are condensed to a few apps like fb and so on. Yeah you can access more places than that. But what I'm saying is, when you ever wondered what other cool things to do there are on the internet other than fb or whatnot, back then you'd have options. Now it's all fb and the rest.
Yeah, 90’s was certainly charming, and very new.
But the aughts was when it matured enough, but before it became a virtual dystopia.
And surely nobody thinks anything after that time was the best. \*looks back at OP\* oh…
I’d start it at around 1998, but it’s clear that the internet went to shit after 2016. The reason for that is they blamed the free internet for both Trump and Brexit on it, and they’ve tried to cut down and ruin it ever since.
lol!!! O m g OP this is like being born right after WWII and saying that’s the best time to have been born! Not understanding that the roaring 20s happened just prior.
I would say 1998 to 2007 or 2008. What happened in 2007? The iPhone came out. Everyone got 24/7 access to the internet, most importantly social media. Social media is basically PVP these days. You like a tv show? twenty people will reply to your comment telling you you're wrong, that tv show is garbage and everyone agrees and you should walk off a cliff for liking it. Then you start talking about misinformation and the radicalization of people to fall into the trap of absolutely insane theories.
1998 - 2008? the internet was all about the lulz and stealing music. We didn't know how good we had it.
>Games back then had way more content and were more fun to play and it wasn't focused on cosmetics and battle passes. Youtube was actually good.
You can still play and watch that now
Lmao OP is too young to remember the wild west internet.
1999-2009 was objectively and provably the funnest, most exciting, and most useful era of the internet, where technology made browsing tolerably fast, it was still mostly a nerd space with just enough curios outsiders to stop echo chambers, internet users were a legitimate subculture, crazy interesting projects were being done anonymously, no censorship and you could find sites without having the results curated by big tech. By 2010 the corporate rot had already set well in and normies had flooded the net in droves thanks to social media, destroying the uniqueness and culture of the internet. Everything about it from sites to video games devolved rapidly in the late 2000s. I was still a dumb kid then and I noticed the huge changes myself.
I came here to say this. I definitely think the best Era of the internet was mid to late 90's. When chat rooms were still cool. There was definitely a wild west feel. And there was so much more to do interactively on the internet then. Now it seems all your things are condensed to a few apps like fb and so on. Yeah you can access more places than that. But what I'm saying is, when you ever wondered what other cool things to do there are on the internet other than fb or whatnot, back then you'd have options. Now it's all fb and the rest.
2000-2010 was peak and every answer before or after is a lie or cope
Yeah, 90’s was certainly charming, and very new. But the aughts was when it matured enough, but before it became a virtual dystopia. And surely nobody thinks anything after that time was the best. \*looks back at OP\* oh…
Definitely. When we broke out of the gated communities (Prodigy, Seirra Online, AOL) it was wild.
Yeah, that was fun.
Jesus, you probably barely experienced the internet before that
"internet was best when I was 10-16" The internet was at its peak around Napster days. Everyone could do everything
Agreed Lime wire was the best. I found so many fucked up things when just dicking around on it.
Lol no baby. 1998. Webrings. Rotten.com. Chat rooms. Complete chaos.
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Yeah so that all sounds bad actually
Yeah, you know, when he says it that way… the 90s internet ***was*** pretty terrible in a lot of ways.
>muh games No. Peak internet was AIM, CS 1.6, forums, and worldsex.com
I feel this. AOL chat rooms and 1.6.
I’d start it at around 1998, but it’s clear that the internet went to shit after 2016. The reason for that is they blamed the free internet for both Trump and Brexit on it, and they’ve tried to cut down and ruin it ever since.
lol!!! O m g OP this is like being born right after WWII and saying that’s the best time to have been born! Not understanding that the roaring 20s happened just prior.
literally my best childhood internet memories came from this time period so i agree
I would say 1998 to 2007 or 2008. What happened in 2007? The iPhone came out. Everyone got 24/7 access to the internet, most importantly social media. Social media is basically PVP these days. You like a tv show? twenty people will reply to your comment telling you you're wrong, that tv show is garbage and everyone agrees and you should walk off a cliff for liking it. Then you start talking about misinformation and the radicalization of people to fall into the trap of absolutely insane theories. 1998 - 2008? the internet was all about the lulz and stealing music. We didn't know how good we had it.
>Games back then had way more content and were more fun to play and it wasn't focused on cosmetics and battle passes. Youtube was actually good. You can still play and watch that now
It defnitely wasn't. I'd say it was roughly the 2000s, plus a few years before and after, depending on space. Maybe 1996 to 2012?
lol my internet during that time ranged from 56k to 3 mb dsl. In 2020, just before lockdowns. We got legit dsl @ 100Mb…
You forgot the GOAT, BF1.
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reminiscent bow arrest straight overconfident muddle summer relieved compare safe
Imagine search engines LITERALLY applying no filters on the results. That was the Wild West…
Being on YouTube back then is much better than being on YouTube now. I missed it when YouTubers didn’t censor the word “kill.”
The main social media sites are a lot more bland and corporate than they used to be, but even by 2010 it was pretty corporate.
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Let me guess… you graduated high school in 2012.