[CaptSpify]

My personal opinion: Before monetization. The Internet I remember was people volunteering their time, because they loved the project that they were working on. If some random blogger wrote an article about something, it was often shit, but it was also sincere. Now that there's money involved, it's less about feeling passionate about something, and more about what brings the most CPM.

This has led to walled-in gardens, where the noise is amplified. I'd even tentatively argue it's because having more users is seen as better, even if those users are fake, trolls, or non-contributers.