How come since 2015 the web is all politics and shopping now?

submitted by [deleted] from self.politics

Even people who will say they are moderates if you read between the lines you can see often the 'seething' in them and once prodded enough they will spill their true colors. It's quite sad how rotted the web has become where it's all politics and shopping instead of personal websites and stuff it's all just the social media.

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[–]Tarrock 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Smartphones.

Once everyone had a smartphone, then everyone was on the internet. The people in power then realized that they could spam this at you and force you to get involved.

[–]Crestind 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Before 2010 was the true golden era. Just enough tech, but not too much. Once the iPhone came out, the web became cool and once the plebs flooded the web, plebs being the majority of a population, so did government and business.

[–]HiddenFox 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I'm going to take a page from Joe Rogan's book and say it has to do with how we are wired to have conversations. We are ment to have them face to face, not in 255 character messages while being anonymous.

The discussions were there back then but the format was different. I remember chat boards where things could get intense but once a few hot headed people left things would simmer. Smart phones and Twitter allow that nonsense to continue 24/7 and every person gets to toss there opinion in as well... truly I belive Twitter will be the down fall of the west.

As for the shopping, Amazon is today what Walmart was 25 years ago. People want their shit and they want it a cheap as possible. No questions asked, no moral implications considered, zero fucks given. Give-me give-me give-me, cheap cheap cheap!!!

The parts of the old internet are still there. They are just buried, miles under the 5 -10 major players there now are.

I think that's why I like this site. Dispite all the garbage and shitposts there are gems like this thread that remind me of days past. Now let's all bust out kali and play some original warcraft 2!

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (10 children)

My theory is that you remember a golden time of the internet being prior to 2015, but that may have more to do with you than the web. If you were born in 2000ish, it makes sense to have a certain nostalgia for your childhood that ended during your teenage years.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (5 children)

I don't think so. I'm not sure when it started but there was definitely a time when people were a lot more capable of and willing to engage in civil discussion than they are now. I think at some point corporations just realized what an effective propaganda tool the internet can be and now it's pretty universally utilized as such.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

That's a good point, the internet has become weaponized. Doesn't help that everyone and their grandmother is on the net now, the lowest common denominator keeps getting lower.

I was thinking about something Adam Corolla "joked" about, the alt-left is a plot by foreign actors to undermine the US. It makes a certain amount of sense. You just need to sow the seeds, have a few people in positions of influence (like power mods), and you can train ordinary every day people to propagate your propaganda for you.

It also occurs to me we can do this back to them, albeit without some of the bot nets and tools the state sponsored organizations have.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

No this is a you thing sorry. The world I live in has been filled with people, below a certain age, incapable of talking to each other civilly about any topic they disagree on. I'm not saying you are wrong on the elites weaponizing the internet to divide the masses but it's been going on since at least the 60's. It's just been gaining critical mass since the early 2000's.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I don't think that conflicts with anything I said really.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Well that it's been only since 2015. Other than that no. I was saying you were blind to it before.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'm not the person who said that. But I do remember the vibe being very different in the early to mid 2000's at least. Not sure when it really took a turn.

[–]Tophat123 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Been online since the 90s, I can say with absolute certainty that politics was rarely ever discussed. You would think it would be a major subject given 9 11 and everything controversial that came after it.

In fact, the internet then was so benign that the stereotype then was anyone who uses it often used it to argue inane matters in comics and such.

These days, politics is EVERYWHERE and is practically unavoidable.

[–][deleted] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I have never before seen the sort of extremism I do now.

However, I remember arguing desperately and passionately against George W. Bush in general and specifically the Iraq and Afghanistan wars online. A lot of people knew then it was bullshit but the common person didn't want to hear it.

I used to be more into politics so that's what I used to do online, but now I avoid it generally.

the internet then was so benign

I have a different experience, I think about those times as the Internet's Wild West. For instance, it was accepted that "Op is a faggot" because "Op is always a faggot." It was like 4chan but with less incels, autism and green text.

politics is EVERYWHERE and is practically unavoidable.

I read everything here, so I see politics obviously, but on Reddit I don't have too much of a problem avoiding it. There are some major subs you have to avoid though.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The sad thing is both camps are wrong. What actually occurred was the nuclear warheads were shipped off in pieces to Syria as Bush kept delaying the invasion of Iraq for almost a year. He kept sayin he was going to do it then didn't do it then practically told our enemies when the invasion was going to take place. Yeah we're going to find 'illegal weapons' after we broadcast our intentions loud and clear to the enemy so they can have time to..........

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

1986

[–]Soloninja 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I think it is because people use there true identities online. So the Golden Era of the internet died when social media took over

[–]Tophat123 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Another point to add, back then the pool of users was very low, you were either rich or pursued academics to the point where you most likely had a computer during an age where rarely anyone had them.

These days, any jackass can go online for free given the free shit that exists that allows them to connect. As such, the lowest common denominator is everywhere. Back then, only people of class and respect ever found themselves online and this was reflected in how orderly people behaved and treated each other.

[–]yoke 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

profit

[–]ArcturianDeathTrap 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Theres still tons of blogs and personal sites. I had the first blog on the internet!

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Most of them if not all of them not updated since 2015.