A long time ago, the internet was very different. I'm referring to way back in the bygone days of the dial-up. The internet was not a place for "normal people." The masses did not gather on social networks, there was no Facebook, no Twitter. There was much less noise, and as a result the content that was produced was much higher quality. Click bait was not yet a thing.
Most websites were labors of love, made by hobbyists, who may or may not have known what the fuck they were doing, and who may or may not have been creating eyesores, but bear with me. All those old tacky handmade homespun websites were beautiful in their own way. Businesses and corporate entities didn't really have much of an online presence. At the very most there might be a simply done website AND an AOL keyword.
The internet was not full of normal people. Back then, you had to know a thing or two about how to set up a computer and get online. Most people online back then, ergo, were at least marginally intelligent and had something interesting to say. You had sci-fi geeks, fat nerds who lived in their mother's basements, wanna-be teenage hackers, whacked out conspiracy theorists pushing woo-woo ideas, creepy old men pretending to be little girls, FBI agents pretending to be little girls, and like I said, everyone had something interesting to say. It might not have been something good to say, and you might not have liked it, but society wasn't infested with cancerous selfie culture and instagram whores just yet.
The internet back then, was like the wild west. You felt like you could do anything, say anything, become anything.
Now, the "internet" consists of a handful of social media websites, video streaming websites, online shopping and Google. But gather round and listen, kiddos...when I tell you it was something to behold, understand, it really, really was.
Of course, now the influx of normal people has ruined it. It's gone forever. And all you fuckers ruined it.
I mourn it's passing, daily.