[marginalia_nu]

I've put some thought on this topic, and I think the driving force between the Internet seeming so small nowadays is a combination of changes to how search engines work, as well a move from forums to big social media which has meant a shift from organic community discovery to being drip-fed content from based on what an algorithm thinks will be engaging.

The Internet, as you remember it, still very much exists. Some forums have shut down, but there are still small personal websites, blogs, all that stuff. They're just really hard to find with Google and facebook/reddit/twitter.

Here are some cool and creative things I've discovered recently. I have no affiliation with these projects, I just thought they were cool:

http://www.lileks.com/

http://dreamcult.xyz/

http://sod.jodi.org/index.html

http://godxiliary.com/

https://www.floppyswop.co.uk/

https://www.dedware.com/

[heavyset_go]

> I think the driving force between the Internet seeming so small nowadays is a combination of changes to how search engines work, as well a move from forums to big social media which has meant a shift from organic community discovery to being drip-fed content from based on what an algorithm thinks will be engaging.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Google used to prioritize forum posts in their search results. They even had a feature to limit search results to only forum posts via a "Discussions" option on the results page.

These days, Google prioritizes social media content, click bait and blogspam that has a lot of ads. The "Discussions" option is gone, and even recent forum posts are nowhere to be found on the first few pages of search results.

[tdeck]

A similar thing has happened with Google News. It used to be that News was a search engine that basically told you all the latest blog posts and discussions on a topic, rather than trying to provide capital-N News. I was recently looking for that functionality to find discussions on an obscure topic and it's completely gone.

[fuckcensorship]

It’s absolutely worth mentioning your search engine, Marginalia [1] as well.

[1]: https://search.marginalia.nu/

[gauchojs]

Wow, just seeing "pure meat" results like this throws me back to another time...

https://search.marginalia.nu/search?query=steak+recipe&profi...

[asciimov]

Lileks... I've been visiting his site off and on since the late 90's. Always something interesting there.

[c21h30o2]

The recommender algorithms cater to the dumbest common denominator, i.e. content with the broadest appeal (no niche stuff) to the most active internet users (people with way too much spare time).

[strikelaserclaw]

people always go towards laziness and convenience, that seems to be a axiom of life.

[marginalia_nu]

I'm not sure I'm convinced about that. The desire for convenience may be a widespread cultural message, but I wonder if it comes from people and not marketers. A lot of people seem to suffer in perpetual convenience, they may not be able to articulate it, but it makes them uncomfortable. After a while they feel restless and crave some sort of meaning in life, something to engage with, an interesting idea, a hobby, a project. Some form of work, not for salary but to create something or learn something or do something. Something real and authentic.

This thread is actually a good example of that, and OP isn't the only one who has noted that the Internet seems to have turned into a soulless mall where nothing has any effort or thought put into it. Well, it hasn't, but when you engage with the Internet through certain tools it sure looks that way.

[strikelaserclaw]

i agree with you wholeheartedly, nice point. I guess you can liken it to junk food, most people would be happier and healthier without it but marketing and people's propensity for an easy way out if it exists has lead to people being fat, unhappy and addicted to junk food. I wonder who is to blame? People for the choices they make, or businesses who know people's propensity to do stuff even though it goes against an individuals own best interests.

b/w i found your search engine and blog, you are exactly the type of people we need more of, thanks for everything!