We romanticize the old internet because we were young, not because it was better.
By @gabeyy · Nostalgia
My old friends constantly complain that smartphones killed genuine connection, insisting our college years were better solely because everything was low-tech. I think they just miss being twenty with zero responsibilities and are confusing nostalgia for superior culture.
The full story
Every time my old college circle gets together, someone brings up how much better life was back in 2008 when we had to write each other literal paper notes or wait until 9 PM for free cell minutes. They talk about old digital cameras with the blurry flash and burning mix CDs like we lived through some golden era of deep human connection. I loved those days because I was nineteen with zero rent and all the free time in the world, not because technological inconvenience inherently made us deeper people. Half the reason we hung out on porches for five hours doing absolutely nothing was just that we were stranded without cars or reliable GPS, not because we were practicing mindful community living. When you try to make plans now, they act like shared a place nearby calendars and group chats are a disease that ruined friendship, whereas I remember having to coordinate six different people using landline answering machines and someone always ending up sitting at the wrong diner parking lot for an hour. It feels like people confuse the physical energy of youth with the tools of the era. I miss having bad knees and no bills way more than I miss printing out MapQuest directions that missed one highway exit and left you lost in the dark. It’s okay to admit modern conveniences actually make staying in touch easier, even if the world feels a little louder now.
How people voted
- Facts — 24% (17 votes)
- Depends — 39% (27 votes)
- No Way — 37% (26 votes)
Readers are split: “Depends” leads with 39% — 70 votes and 3 comments so far.
What people are saying
@maeyy — Are your friends actually romanticizing MapQuest or are they just annoyed that you sit on your phone during dinner?
@laneyk — Isn't it possible people genuinely miss the lack of constant surveillance and push notifications without missing bad directions?
@quinnlol — Next time they start crying about the good old days just take their phones away and hand them paper MapQuest printouts to find the restaurant.
Keep reading
- Family movie nights before streaming were actually miserable.
- Streaming playlists completely ruined the concept of album filler.
- The internet was objectively better when nobody had a personal brand.
- Streaming algorithms completely ruined the experience of listening to music.
- Burning mixtape CDs in the 2000s was actually terrible and we need to stop romanticizing it.