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by iforgotpassword
1422 days ago
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Exact same thing happened. Found a bunch of old screenshots from 2000 to about 2006. So many programs you just stopped using at some point without really realizing, but seeing the screenshot immediately makes you feel like past you again, and what it was like to use your computer back then. Especially when you see parts of a conversation with someone you didn't talk to in over a decade, or who passed away. You'd think that's what a photo would do, so I was surprised how strong of an emotional reaction screenshots can trigger. But then if you were spending 90% of your time online as a teen/early 20s it's not that surprising on a second thought. |
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You know, this is a very enlightening point. I never really thought about it from this angle, but there is a lot of truth to this.
I struggled a lot as a teen with anxiety, depression and bullying. I had a few IRL friends, but the very vast majority of my social interaction during that time came via MUDs and chatting. Many of the people I played and chatted with were fellow social outcasts, and we created our own parallel virtual communities to support and lift each other up. It didn't matter where we were, what we looked like, or how we did or didn't fit in. Many days in the 90s it felt like going to school was the thing I had to put up with, and logging in and seeing my friends when I got home was my real life.
Without them, there's a very real chance I might not be here today. Even all these years later, the people I met virtually during that time are still some of my best and closest friends, and it's a real treat when my travels take me close enough that we can meet for coffee or lunch. Many were at my wedding even, and in one case that was the first time I had ever met them IRL. And yet we knew each other deeply. It felt like we all grew up together because, kinda, we did.
When you look at it like that, those of us who grew up in that environment would look at a screenshot from that era the same way others might look at random photos from high school. Because this was our world.