| Naturally you're 25 years older now. So you're seeing that time from a different perspective. Age-wise I'm guessing you're in yor 40s now looking back again at a teenage self. Your lament is pretty common to adults of that age, and has been going on for hundreds of years. It has nothing to do with the Web, and everything to do with a time which was less complicated for you, a time when you first interacted with a world beyond home/school. A time unfettered by the responsibilities of adult life. Yes, your experience will be different to your children. You bemoan that they're not writing blogs, I bemoan that my kids were inside (in my youth we didn't have computers, we roamed outside on the mountains.) Our kids will bemoan to their kids (as they spend all their time in VR) of the simple days watching tiktok on a phone. In truth of course, nothing stops you having a personal site today. Of writing a blog. Of building community around a shared interest. But I bet you don't, because in truth that's not what you are really missing. Rest assured though. You don't need to be sad. Your kids will find their own experiences, they'll form their own memories, ultimately they'll have their own nostalgia- and when they do in 20 years or so, smile gracefully. |
It's not just about age but also about circumstance. I guess the first radio-pirates were also nostalgic about the era of complete freedom when everything was allowed. We just happened to live through the era of the birth of internet. The newer platforms, controlled by google and apple are draconian in comparison.