this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2024
884 points (97.6% liked)

Greentext

4406 readers
1146 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (4 children)

"Ruins the internet"

I happen to remember the forum culture of the mid-late 2000s. It wasn't that great.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

I do recall that people were extraordinarily toxic online. Reddit for a few years was a breath of fresh air but then got too big.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It was better though. Wouldn't call it good. But definitely better.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Gotta disagree with that. I remember the rampant elitism and tribalism, the shock-culture, isolation of communities, casual bigotry that would make modern 4chan blush, arbitrary forum rules irregularly enforced, etc etc etc.

For all the modern internet's problems, its communities are much more connected, it's much more accessible and less elitist, that shock-culture died out, the casual bigotry became contentious instead of accepted, and corporate running the show on most of these sites means that appeals and reversals are much easier than when you would rub some mod the wrong way and get permabanned from a forum you were a long-time member of. Never happened to me, but I saw it numerous times.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Yes, but if you didn't like one forum you just move on to the next. Today there are very few active forums left.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It was pretty great, actually. So much creativity, everyone has a normal voice, no YouTube celebrities

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So much creativity, everyone has a normal voice,

...

You might be wearing nostalgia goggles.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

It started out great. It went to shit.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

It had unique pieces, and a lot that I genuinely miss. But... there was also a LOT of bullshit that wouldn't pass muster nowadays.