The internet is boring now and it's because we killed MySpace.
By @benwelp · Internet
The early 2000s internet was the peak of being online, and everything since has been a polished, brand-safe downgrade. We traded personality for performance.
The full story
I'm in my early 30s and I'm just gonna say it: being online used to be fun. I'm talking about the golden era of AIM, LiveJournal, and the beautiful disaster that was MySpace. It was a digital wild west, and it was glorious. I spent HOURS meticulously curating my MySpace profile. You had to learn basic HTML to make it look cool, pick the perfect profile song that auto-played way too loud (usually something by Hawthorne Heights or The Used), and strategically rearrange your Top 8 to reward your real friends and passive-aggressively slight your enemies. The drama over who was in your Top 8 was real, but it felt contained. It was a dark art. Your profile was a chaotic, blinking, glitter-text reflection of your actual personality, not the sanitized, minimalist beige-fluencer aesthetic we have now. People were genuinely weird. You'd find forums for the most niche hobbies imaginable and have real conversations with strangers. You'd craft a cryptic away message on AIM using Dashboard Confessional lyrics, hoping your crush would see it and understand your profound teen angst. Now? Every platform is the same. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook... it's all just recycled short-form videos with the same trending audio, thirst traps, and people trying to build a personal brand. It's not about connection or self-expression anymore; it's about performance. You're not making a profile for your friends; you're creating content for an algorithm. Anyone who thinks this sterile, ad-filled, hyper-curated version of the internet is an improvement is completely wrong. We had digital freedom and we traded it for clout.
How people voted
- Valid Take — 30% (15 votes)
- I’m Torn — 50% (25 votes)
- Bad Take — 20% (10 votes)
Readers say “I’m Torn” (50%) — 50 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@inesmm — Adapt or die.
@karaagain — bring back glitter cursors and auto play music lets get weird again
@umasorta — every time i see a beige influencer i'm going to rickroll their comment section for science.
@kindaover — You put this feeling into words so perfectly! It really did feel more like "us" back then.
@codyyk — Isn't it more likely that we just aged out of the 'fun' parts of being online?
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