Wow, my first post, finally!
And what a better way to start it than talking about what inspired me to learn HTML/CSS
and make this website to begin with, and in general, helped me shape the person I am
today? (I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, but whatever.)
Internet in the early 2000's, an era where the internet was still seen as a novelty
rather than a game changer, something we'd NEED in our lifes on a daily basis, where instead of
relying on big companies or websites for everything, you'd go into some random forum where some guy
called "DickMaster445" on the "MegaDoom XL Forums" would explain you how to add a WAD file to your game
Or alternatively, when a kid that just so happens to know what he's doing makes a video in 144p with
Unregistered Hypercam 2 to record his notepad while "Trance - 009 Sound System Dreamscape" is blasting
on the background, yet somehow, most of the time, that would be enough to solve whatever
problem you were having, or to teach you something you didn't knew before
Or you'd just watch it because you had nothing better to do, and it was just fun to do so.
Those were the great times.
It was a time for discovery and fun, where nobody really gave a shit about their image (except for
a few losers) and all people were focused on was having a good time with people online
either they be friends or strangers, the possibilities and potential were endless
But that's in the past, those were different times.
Times that will never come back, unfortunately.
Why though? Is it because nobody wants it back anymore? What we have nowadays is better?
The answer is a little bit more complicated the more you try to think about it.
And it's mostly connected on how the internet evolved, and how the people who use it devolved.
And what do I mean by that?
Buckle up, buddy.
We're going down the memory lane.
As I've pointed out in the beginning of this post, when the first home computers were
introduced to the world, they were seem as nothing more than a simple novelty
mostly made for office jobs, like excels, docs, emails
and things among those lines, and I think this was specially true with things like emails.
Nowadays, things like instant messages, having calls or even sending emails is
something incredibly superficial anybody can learn how to do these things in about a minute
and with increased internet speeds, these types of tasks aren't really a problem anymore
since sending and receiving files takes about the same time you'd take reading
a single paragraph of this post, if not faster
But that's the thing, "Nowadays", but back then, not only internet connections were way slower
but that was a new technology being introduced to the world it was revolutionary.
Distance didn't seem like a problem anymore, and barriers were quickly being broken
as people started to explore the possibilities with these new tools, a new world was opened
not only for those seeking to be professionals, but for those who were eager to explore
and find new things, new cultures, new people, new everything.
first era of the internet was a golden age of curiosity and discovery, and once people started
to hear about the things the internet could do and offer you, everyone was eager to be a part of it
People started to use internet and their home computers for more than just work
they started to use it for their own entertainment, and suddenly, the internet started to develop
it's identity, a place where you could do anything, create anything, post anything, share anything
it was like the wild west, what you were going to do with it and who you were going to be
on the internet was all up to you.
The internet started to gain a personal touch that's pretty much lost nowadays
and that was mostly prominent on sites like GeoCities, where users would make their own web pages
They would either be like a personal page, or something completely random
at times being a incoherent mess filled with gifs and vivid colors
And man, was it cool.
And now you're probably asking; "Uhm, are you sure? Are you sure you're not blinded by nostalgia
and it's making you have a poor judgement over something that probably wasn't
even that good to begin with?"
And to that, I say "No".
These old webpages were absolutely awesome, and they were a huge part on
why surfing the web was so fun
Most of the might have been pretty amateur-ish, and even a mess, but every page had
it's own distinct feeling, no page was the same, they all had a personal touch to them, even if
they shared the same ideas or focuses, something would always make them memorable and unique
among the crowd, either because of how the pages were built, the content they had, or just
because of how the person that created them wrote and did things in it
And this personal touch allowed people to create all sorts of sites, either to post and
talk about things they liked, or things they didn't, or just because they could, and with that
people would be inspired to create and share things themselves, and that got us a lot of fun
and creative stuff, like videogame websites, tutorial websites, fun and random websites, and
even sites centered around user creations, with some of them still being a thing even nowadays
like Newgrounds, although Newgrounds didn't allow users to share content when it first came out
although that would quickly change, with it being one of the main participants on the
culture of creating and sharing your creations on the internet.
And I cannot overstate how amazing this was back in the day
Out of nowhere, a lot of people that simply didn't fit well anywhere, either because the things
they enjoyed, the way they acted or the things they created were heavily judged and ostracized
from most if not all circles, but not anymore.
Now everyone could have their own little spaces, their own groups, and for once, feel like
they belong to somewhere.
And things didn't slow down there, since forums and online chats would quickly rise into popularity
not only allowing for more freedom on what and where to share, but to interact with people in
real time either by text communication, or even voice and video calls, and there was plenty of choices
to choose from, either it was IRC, Mumble, MSN, Skype, Xat, Forums, it was all up to you.
It was an amazing time to interact and make friendships, or just meet all sorts of weirdos
and one of the things I really miss from that era, is that people weren't trying to appeal to anybody
they were just being themselves and having fun, without a care in the world if people were happy
about it or not, and instead of being constantly worried about filtering everything they said or
moderating theirselves 24/7 so they wouldn't piss some random loser on social media that didn't
know what an opinion is, they would just do their thing, and let people do theirs.
Every personality was pretty much distinct from each other, you'd meet all sorts of people
either they were bad or not, and most if not all of these encounters would stick with you
and you'd be able to remember them just because of how much impact they left when you had
the chance to meet them, and I think this era of the internet was defined by one word
"Personality".
From the people, to the sites, the music, the way internet was shaped and how people shaped it
it all felt really "personal", and everywhere you'd go, sites and the things you'd see in them
would stick to you, even years after you've first visited them, and I think one of the biggest
examples of this happening with me was with this site called "The Mystical Forest Zone"
It was a site where you'd download Sonic sprites, and you'd even have comic sections, and I'd
visit it daily, not only because I just loved looking at the sprites, or because I'd always
download them so I could make my shitty Sonic comics on MSPaint, but because the site looked
and felt amazing, it was a weird feeling of comfort and wonder I cannot describe correctly
and even going back to it nowadays wakes something up in me, and that goes for basicly
everything made at that period in time
People would make things for themselves before anything or anyone else
Sharing with others was just a part of the fun, but not the whole point or the whole fun itself
And that allowed things to feel more unique from each other, with everyone having something
distinct about them and their works, and yes, of course people copied each other from time
but you'd still be able to tell what or who they were copying just because of how memorable
some of these personalities were, and I think there is a certain beauty to that, to know
that the things you did or just you being yourself, was enough to make you special in
else's eyes, even if you're just another stranger on the internet, or the fact you've never
met this person in your life, and probably never will either
and I think that turned specially true when YouTube got into the scene and it started growing
in popularity, becoming one of the most beloved sites in the world.
Broadcast yourself, because you were the star
YouTube was something else back in the day.
Since YouTube was a small site at that time, anyone would get a chance to be at the spotlight
and you'd never run out of fun things to see, because instead of only giving the spotlight to very
few creators like how you see nowadays, you'd see new faces daily, and the videos you'd find where
incredibly interesting, not only because of how chaotic and random some of them were, but because
of the wild ideas some of these videos had
And I think that was specially the sprite videos with videogame characters, most specifically
Sonic characters living normal lifes with wacky shenanigans happening in each episode, with
real life photographs as backgrounds, all of them made in movie maker, essentially as a
slideshow and using that old Windows XP voice to voice every character in the video
And man, I loved those.
You'd see some truly crazy videos like "Sonic & Shadow's Halloween", "Amy and the cloning machine"
"Silver falls in love with black yoshi", and things among those lines
and the best part out of all of that is that, all of these videos, no matter how ridiculous or
poorly made they were, they were legitimately some of the most fun you could had in the site
not only because they were legitimately funny due to how ridiculous they were, but because you
could tell just by watching the video that the person that made them was really enjoying making
enjoyed making those videos, and sharing was just another part of the fun
The fact most of the videos were all amateurish gave them a very unique feeling that's so hard
to recapture nowadays, specially since YouTube is a completely different beast nowadays
a beast that kills any chance of you having any semblance of success unless you force yourself
to do and create the things everyone else is doing
And this change on focus to "everyone else" before "yourself" in my opinion, would essentially kill
one of the things that made the internet so fun to access to begin with.
We've talked about the rise
Now we're going to talk about the fall.
I've been mostly talking about how everything felt incredibly unique and "personal", how even the
the most boring of sites or aspects of the internet were still pretty memorable just because of how
wild everything was, and because of that "personal" touch everything had on old user pages and even
on the content people used to create and share, and with the rise of social media with the likes of
Twitter and Facebook around 2012-2014, social media would destroy most of the things internet and
the people using it from the beginning cultivated from the very beginning.
I'm just going to say this to set the tone; I HATE Social Media with a burning passion.
It's not only one of the biggest wastes of time, a breeding ground for some of the
most vile and disgusting human beings the planet had the displeasure of having, and the main culprit
for creating a horrible and depressing mentality, but it also destroyed and distorted a lot of the
things that made the internet such a fun time.
But before I get into the real meat, let's talk about "the corporization of the internet".
Take a look at these three pictures
They're from two different periods, two of them being from 2006-2009, and one of them being from
2013 to 2022
Can you tell me what's wrong with one of these pictures?
Can you tell me why we went from something full of customization and personality, to a bland
sterile, boring, corporate piece of shit style, instead of evolving, we devolved?
That's the effect of the internet being corporized to death, which was something that became
a huge problem around 2013, and the problem still persists to this day
In fact, it has gotten worse in some areas, specially when it comes to stylization and web design.
Again, can you see what I'm trying to say with the examples above?
How being lifeless, bland and sucking the soul and fun of everything has become the standard?
And now you're probably going
"M-maybe they do that so it makes the site easier to navigate and understand?
The answer is no, they don't.
I'd be less irritated if that was the case, but the fact is; they only do that because it allows
them to be lazy, and because everyone else is doing it too, so it means it must be good!
Roblox site back in the day might have not been the best thing in the world, but not only it
looked very inviting, but navigating it was pretty good too, specially since you'd have game
categories which would allow you to quickly find games in the style you wanted to
If you want wild west, click the the Wild West category, if Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi category, and so on
But for some fucking reason, they removed the categories, and made their site not only one of
most dull looking things I've had the displeasure of seeing, but they also made it harder to
navigate for no good reason, but why? because they want to be lazy, and they don't give a shit
if their site or their game is barely functional, they don't want to spend the time and effort
on making something truly good, because that would take effort, and nowadays, effort is
something that rarely rewards you, no matter how good you might be at your job.
Now that we've talked about the death of personality on websites
Let's instead talk about the deadly mentality of social medias and modern age internet.
Buckle up, this one is a fucking doozey.
You might have noticed how the tone of this post shifted quite a lot as it went on
from optimism and positivity, looking to praise things, instead of shitting on them
to going completely off the wall and being as negative and hopeless as I could get
And that's intentional.
Because that's exactly what happened with the internet and how people use it
From something you'd go in when you needed a break, when you wanted to have fun
do the things you liked doing, talking to people you actually want to be around
A way to relieve yourself from the stress of the real world
Now, it's the complete opposite.
You log in your computer, and you see people screaming at each other over nothing
People are turning their backs on their own friends over them saying stupid things and
having fun in private, like everyone does, but people don't care about friends anymore
they want to feel morally superior above anything else.
People that don't want to be criticized or have any discussions that challenge them or
or their views, blocking you or sending their brainless armies against you the moment
you decide to have an opinion that's not on par with "the standards"
A desperation for attention and to fit in, constantly shifting their opinions and
the person they are on a daily basis because they're desperate to catter towards everyone
instead of just being themselves and being happy about it
You get into social media hoping to see something that brings you up, something fun
but it's just a reminder that the world is gone to shit, and everyone else has a better
life than you'll ever have, and the worst part, they didn't even had to try to begin with.
Don't know what and who to trust, and people just go along with whatever they see or hear
Not caring if that's going to hurt someone over things they didn't do or even themselves.
Sharing and being online was a thing that I absolutely adored back in the day, but that's
also because most people knew how to differentiate "opinions" from "facts"
Of course, there was always that one guy that would hate you because your opinion was
different from his, but that's just one guy, a guy that probably nobody likes or gives
a shit about due to how insufferable being around him is
But besides that, back in the day, you'd disagree, challenge people with whatever was
in your mind, and people would just move on with their days even if someone got angry
with you yesterday, on the next day, they'd hit you on Skype or IRC so you could play
SRB2 or Doom with them, like friends would, you'd disagree and even fight, but things
would be okay either in the next day, or the next week, and it all felt pretty genuine.
but the concept of friendship, specially online ones, has been distorted to death
People nowadays won't hesitate on leaving you behind or pretend they never had anything
to do with you just because you might have said something stupid, or even offensive once
Some guy will look into your web history from a decade ago, and out of nowhere
everyone and the world is against you, because privacy is not a thing anymore.
and some people are unfortunate enough to have private things made public.
Independently of how much you evolved as a person, or how much your actions have spoken
more than the things you've said, it doesn't matter, people are desperate to make you fall
they'll go through horrible lenghts to make sure you'll stay down if they ever decide that
they don't like you, because respect is a archaic concept, nowhere to be found nowadays on
the current landscape, either it's online or offline.
And with that, people are afraid, afraid of doing the things they like doing
Afraid of saying the things they want to say, afraid of criticizing anything or anyone
Unless everyone else is doing it too.
Unless you're fine with people obsessing over you and following each and every step you do
waiting for an opportunity to strike you
Then individuality is dead.
Go into social media, most specifically Twitter, and you'll see the amount of people that
will bandwagoon over something or someone they didn't do their own researchs on
They won't bother to read or analyze things themselves, if the big person says they're bad
then everyone else is obligated to do the same, and god help you if you don't
There has been many examples of "friends" betraying each other on recent years, or just people
Being dishonest with each other, one of the examples I love bring up is the ProJared case
When his ex-wife told everyone that he was cheating on her, even though they were on a
open relationship, a lot of people came forward stating that ProJared was a pedophile
with their only evidence being "bro trust me", and although there was a lot of red flags
from the very beginning with all of these statements, people still decided that he should
be vilified
That is until his defense video came out, and it turns out, his wife pushed him to be with
the girl he was apparently "cheating" her with, and the minors lied about their own age
to send him nudes, and even thought they said he never asked them about their age, that was
quickly debunked with screencaps showing that ProJared did ask beforehand if they were 18
in which they responded that they were.
And just like that, another person had their name slandered, because people were just going
with whatever they heard, instead of forming their own opinions.
And out of nowhere, cancel culture was apparently not cool, that is, until another person got
exposed, then it was ok to just do the exact same thing people were criticizing two weeks ago
The concept of morals is essentially non-existant with social media, and the same goes for
criticism or opinions in general.
I shit you not, try criticizing, or simply disagreeing with a twitter user
specially those that pretend to be "Innocent and positive", and you'll either see them instantly
block you or instantly drop their facade, and either get extremely angry with you, or try making
the "beef" they're having with this random person a public thing, sending their braindead mob
against you, a random person on the internet, instead of solving things like functioning
human beings, which is another thing I hate about the internet and interacting with other people
on the current age, which is the fact that most people now are complete cowards, or that their
whole personality feels fabricated, either because they're afraid of backlash, or because
they're desperate to fit in every single group they possibly can
Remember how I was talking about the rise of the internet gave people the chance to show the world
your unique traits and personality that normally wouldn't fit anywhere?
How anybody could have a place in the world now, and they didn't had to pretend to be something or
someone they weren't anymore?
People are doing the exact fucking opposite now
Instead of trying to be themselves, they're constantly shapeshifting and deforming their views and
personalities in an attempt to appeal to the masses
And no, I don't have a problem with people changing or evolving, I don't expect, and I don't want
people to be the same thing forever, it's just a part of human nature, but that should be natural
something that happens gradually, instead of being a thing you're constantly forcing yourself to
do on a daily basis
And this kinda makes me and a lot of people to be iffy about everyone they meet now, because you
don't know the type of person they really are, or the type of views they hold, if they're even
your friends, or if they're just around you to gain something, to leech from you.
Of course, back in the day, things were still pretty anonymous all things considered
but the most boring person you'd meet back in the day, would still make more of an impact on you
than the most popular face on the internet right now.
Another contributing factor is also the fact that social media has developed this bad habit of
showing how "happy and perfect your life is"
You go on things like Facebook, Twitter and specially Instagram, and you'll always find people
posting pictures of themselves in fancy places, parties and etc... and all of them with shitty
messages about always "always being positive and that struggles will make you stronger", and how
"they had to work their asses for everything they had"
when everything that's coming out of their mouth is bullshit.
Most of these people NEVER worked for anything or for anyone, they were born in wealth, and most
of them never had any real, meaningful experiences, yet they're constantly trying to convince
everyone and themselves that they're bigger than they actually are, by showing the amount of
superficial and meaningless things they have in life
People who are so desperate for attention and approval of everyone are not happy
Neither with their lifes or themselves.
And this obsession of showing the world how "perfect and happy" you are is a mentality that has
caused nothing but harm everyone, both online and offline.
People now feel like you NEED to constantly let everyone know you're happy, that your life is
perfect, that showing any emotions besides "I'm made in life and I'm never sad" is a bad thing
One thing is taking a picture because you want to record a moment you genuinely enjoyed
the other is feeling the necessity to share it everywhere in a attempt to shove on everyone
else's face how much of a good time you had/you're having.
It's not only superficial
It's very sad.
What once was a fun thing to do, like record a video of yourself and your friends just bein silly
and posting it online because you thought it was fun, turned into an obsession into trying to profit
and get as much as attention as you possibly can at every single situation
And that's essentially what influencers boil down to
Desperate for success and attention, when in reality they're some of the saddest people out in the
world, because not only they're lying to themselves, they're lying to everyone too, and unfortunately
they do influence a lot of people's life, but not in a good way.
Unfortunately, everything good must come to an end
And sadly, that era of bliss and curiosity from the internet is now gone, and it's not coming back.
The focus has changed
The internet changed
The fun was changed
People changed.
But I'm still glad I had the chance to be a part of that golden era, no matter how silly it might have
been, I truly had fun, I've made many friends, learned lots of things, hell, the fact I even know how to
operate computers and even know how to speak english is due to me being a part of that curiosity and
fascination for the new people had back in the day, and I'm glad for that, despite all of my flaws as
a person, I think I'd be way worse if it wasn't for the internet, the people I've met there, and the
things I've learned here, in general, I probably would be even more boring than I am
Or I wouldn't even be in here anymore, all things considered.
It's gone and it's not coming back, but looking back at things can be a pretty bittersweet experience
and although things are not showing signs of improving, all we can do now is to make the best out of
a shitty situation.
I made this site as sort of a tribute to that, a time where creativity and personality would run
wild, and we were all just having fun, without a care in the world if we'd get witchhunted for it or not
I have more plans for this site, but I also wanted to make my first post meaningful and personal, and I
hope you enjoyed reading this, and either learned or absorbed anything out of this
Hell, even if you just laughed about all of this and thought it was stupid, that's good too
Either way, I hope you're all doing good.
I'll see you around.
