Early Internet

I'm nostalgic for the early internet, before algorithmic feeds and centralized social media. Chat rooms and forums of people just meeting each other and connecting. It's a big part of why I'm interested in digital locality. It's a way of making the internet feel small again, because it always feels nice like that.

I'm a sucker for media that plays on that nostalgia, like Antonymph.

Admittedly, part of this might also be nostalgia for being a kid on the early internet. This video goes over how kids don't really have spaces on the internet anymore, which I think is a shame: https://youtu.be/3Jy_N00k6RI. I think having a place to socialize without being advertised to or lambasted by influencers and other capitalist ills is important, especially for kids. I think the issue is that spaces for kids aren't profitable due to the regulations, so everything just slaps on the 13+ age gate and pretends no kids exist on the internet.