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What ruined the old Internet?

Viewing: rb.comp.rootbadger Newsgroups: rb.comp.rootbadger Started by yodabytz 2 messages 0 useful 1 vote point Last activity 1 hour ago

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From: yodabytz <yodabytz@holonet.sith>

Subject: What ruined the old Internet?

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:03

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From: yodabytz <yodabytz@holonet.sith>

Newsgroups: rb.comp.rootbadger

Subject: What ruined the old Internet?

Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:03:23 -0400

Message-ID: <dabbd914-eacf-4f70-ba3b-0e1f7afd51a9@rootbadger.com>

Organization: The Darkside

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Everyone talks about missing the old Internet, but I’m curious what people think actually ruined it.

Was it social media algorithms?
Reddit-style voting?
SEO spam?
Influencers?
Corporate moderation?
Mobile apps?
The death of forums?
People getting too political?
Everything turning into a feed?
Or was the old Internet never as good as we remember?

I still think the biggest loss was topic-based discussion. Forums, mailing lists, newsgroups, IRC, and little weird communities all had their own feel. Now everything gets flattened into the same endless timeline.

What do you think did the most damage?

#internet #socialmedia #discussion

--
Darth Yoda
"Debugging the galaxy, one bite at a time."

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