Ten years ago, the internet was a much different place. We had hundreds of businesses operating online for many different purposes. There was always something to look at, there was always websites that you could just take a peek into, and there were so many unique social media platforms and marketplaces.

Today, we see an internet that has less websites like Vizzed or Reddit, and more websites like Facebook and Twitter, which encourage addictive scrolling through vapid content and heavy monetization. These new websites have all made an attempt to be come the front page of the internet, the only place you ever need to go. As a result, you now need to sign into Facebook or Google to log into most applications. Everything runs through the same proprietary systems owned by the same massive corporations.

Most websites today have paywalls on news articles, required logins, and invasive marketing techniques.

How did it get like this? Was the Golden Age of the Internet really just a placeholder for something darker?

What do you think?

For me the Internet is the Internet, that's all I can really say. I've grown up with it since 2009 which was at the tail end of the flash game era. Hell I remember playing Mario Kombat after all these years. Times change, while I do not enjoy the tense mob culture, there isn't much I can do about it, so I just carve a place for myself and enjoy it.

The internet, like many other things, was better when it wasn't trying to be dominated by a few huge corporations and instead allowed to be organic and unique. Now anything "mainstream" feels stale and homogenized.

I definitely miss the old days where people made things to be creative rather than to maximize an algorithm or latch on to a meme or fad. There will always be unique stuff out there but it is so much harder to find than it used to be because all the big platforms are money making schemes rather than locations for creativity.

It really has just recently hit me how... monotone a vast majority of the internet has gotten for me. Everything is just "TWITTER" "FACEBOOK" "REDDIT" and all these other websites. I miss discovering weird and fun internet forums and websites for the first time like Vizzed and Newgrounds. It feels like things have gotten a lot more boring since then.

The web was definitely a different place before, I'd say, 2006. Forums like Vizzed were much more prevalent! I remember days when I had six or more forums to check in a day!

Actually, a lot of that is still out there, it's just quieter and harder to find.

I have watched a documentary called The Corporation that doesn't touch on internet stuff much. However, I think one point it makes is relevant. Corporations have been given the same kinds of rights as people. And sometimes they are too powerful. I think that's part of how the internet got to be this way.

I think it is pretty crazy how "branded" everything on the internet is now (as I use Google Chrome to type this XD). And my family and I regularly struggle with ads being everywhere. It is hard to even seek out some cool entertainment or useful information without being bombarded with distractions, mainly ads.

Actually, come to think of it, I wouldn't say places like Vizzed were more prevalent, because although Vizzed is based on older forum software, it actually has more in common with sites like Facebook or Reddit.

For instance, most posts seem to be seeking karma, and the summoning feature, while nice, discourages reading a thread after you posted in it--after all, if someone were replying to your thoughts, they would have summoned you. It feels to me like it creates less of an atmosphere for reading and replying, and more of one for getting your thoughts out and moving on. Again, much more like Reddit or Facebook, than a traditional forum.

your perspective of the internet is pessimistic and skewed, the world wide web gives freedom to all, it is uncontrollable, it has anything you could want, you can be anything or anyone and you can find whatever you're looking for. i personally think the internet is far better now than it was in the early years, people just fail to get with the times and keep up with how rapidly things are evolving. when it comes to technology you will be left behind if you aren't able to keep up

First thing's first
"Today, we see an internet that has less websites like Vizzed or Reddit, and more websites like Facebook and Twitter, which encourage addictive scrolling through vapid content and heavy monetization."
Why is Vizzed and Reddit being used in the same sentence here? How is Reddit not in the latter category when it's one of the most popular websites on the internet and is widely known for shadowbanning and otherwise censoring voices that they don't agree with, regardless of how benign that content may be? Not saying they've never been right, that would be stupid and they've certainly banned some really nasty stuff, but they've hit a lot of completely irrelevant subreddits and users with their massive ban waves too.

Beyond that, I really have to agree with the overwhelming sentiment that the modern internet is a really different place. I think geeogree said it best: it's all homogenized and profit driven. Feels like that's all anything is anymore. I understand the need for profit in the real world, but it definitely feels like innovation is stifled in the name of mass appeal. Instead of having boundless sites with niche purposes and tight knit communities like Vizzed, we have a few juggernauts overseeing the majority of internet activity. The internet, video games, and movies all seem to be stuck in this crappy time where suits think that everything has to be exactly the same or else it'll fail. I've had people tell me I'm just being a boomer when I say this stuff, and sure, nostalgia paints everything through a rose tinted lens, but that doesn't mean that we're wrong for saying things used to be better. It just feels like these wonderful mediums for creativity have been hijacked and made to abide a formula; that creativity is frowned upon because it's "risky"