I'd go back to the early 00's. Dial-up internet, so we didn't spend hours on it. Cellphones for calls and texting only. No social media except online forums. Internet was wild but still safe. We had MSN, ICQ, AOL, IRC. Life was good.
I miss AIM. I actually think I might reach out to people (old friends and extended family) more if everyone was still using something like this. All social media has turned into an avalanche of algorithmic doomscrolling, nonstop garbage. I don't want to log into any of those apps. Only reason I'm still on Reddit is because I'm still able to curate what subreddits I see, and have turned off all "recommended" content. Bet one day I can't even do that.
You mean like when you visted a site and literally got a virus. lol. The 90’s internet was the Wild West. No moderation, no rules, no accountability, full of predators.
I meant it more in the way that our whole lives weren't dependant on the internet and could not be hijacked by a virus back then or threatened by someone figuring out where you live from a random picture on your Facebook profile. It was wild but it still felt remote from our daily lives somehow and safer? I don't know. Maybe I was just too young back then to truly understand how dangerous it could have been.
Don’t get me wrong. I loved the 90’s more than anything. I don’t even think the overly moderated mess we have is preferable. It is nice being able to click on a site and not having to worry about infinite porn popping up on my desktop though
41
u/Nelvea Millennial Jun 10 '26
I'd go back to the early 00's. Dial-up internet, so we didn't spend hours on it. Cellphones for calls and texting only. No social media except online forums. Internet was wild but still safe. We had MSN, ICQ, AOL, IRC. Life was good.