Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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The entire showerthought must be in the title
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Today's web is the opposite of what early Internet utopians had in mind. Now the situation is somewhat similar to climate change: even committed activists can no longer turn the tide for the better. (lemmy.world)

submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I’ve been saying this for years. The internet was better when you had to be a little bit more intelligent than the average person to access it.

Back when you needed knowledge of computers and software, modems, anti-virus, hardware etc, it kind of meant you needed a brain in your head to gain access. I’m not saying that made the internet an overtly-intelligent space, but it was more intelligent and measured than it is today.

As soon a smart phones and data plans entered the game, you could be as dumb as a second coat of paint and gain access with a single button. That opened the flood gates for the stupid. Now the stupid are here en mass and internet is just a dumpster fire full of retards.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Your post gives vibes of elitism... I don't think your intelligence argument holds any water. The Internet of the late 90s/early 00s was easy to access.

The difference from before is the advent of social media. The stupid have been on the Internet for a very long time now. But you would't hear them much.

I know we had bulletin boards before, but social media, particularly Facebook IMO, allowed more people to express themselves and gave everyone an audience.