[itsmeknt]

When a new island is formed, usually it is first inhabited by algae and moss. As the ecosystem matures, plants, birds, insects, and all sorts of organisms populate it. You can still usually find the early algae and moss. They are just harder to spot due to the thriving and abundant ecosystem.

I think the Internet is a lot like that.

[shmeeed]

This is a beautiful way to see it, thank you for leading me to it.

Guess I'll have to consider myself a bryophite of the information age from now on.

[anal_reactor]

I think that this analogy is really fitting. The old internet was way less organized, which means that it was less useful, but it also gave this fantastic sense of exploring something new. It was highly personal, the lack of common standards meant that everyone had to reinvent the wheel in their own way. Its dangers were more direct and "in your face". Yes, you could stumble upon a pedofile on an open forum and ordering a taxi online was wrong on so many levels, but there was no systematic explotation of human weaknesses like we have nowadays. The phrase "global village" captures the experience really well, as opposed to the megacity we have now.

I think it's a curse of progress. Once you get the taste of a highly developed, efficiently functioning society you can't go back and live in a cave again. At the same time you can't deny that living in a cave has its charm.

[mlyle]

There is also the effect of sharply concentrated power in a few hands. Antitrust shouldn’t let individual tech powers get too strong.

To keep the analogy going, mankind introduced a few invasive species to the island.

[specproc]

Unfortunately, most of the island has now been buried under fast food joints, car parks and factories.

[gosub100]

And one platform has, arguably, been infested with rats!