25 days ago
- The internet has evolved from a selective, optional destination to an essential, pervasive force in daily life, intertwining with nearly every aspect of modern society.
- Early experiences with the internet in the 2000s involved exploration and novelty, characterized by dial-up connections, family computers, and a sense of limitless, user-driven content.
- The mid-2000s marked a shift where the internet became a distinct world with accessible tools like GeoCities and Tumblr, allowing users to create personal websites and fostering communities through blogs, forums, and games.
- By the early 2010s, centralization and app dominance, led by platforms like Facebook and Twitter, began reshaping the internet, emphasizing algorithms, data mining, and profit over user autonomy and diversity.
- In 2026, the internet experience is fraught with barriers like ads, tracking, AI summaries, verification steps, and corporate control, making navigation cumbersome and reducing the sense of free exploration and personal ownership.