this post was submitted on 13 Mar 2026
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Microblog Memes
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I'm really confused what this could be referring to.
Because the folks who've been around the longest and remember the early days of the Internet are currently in utter dismay over how their fun international sandbox has become a Black Mirror-esque horror show, while everyone else seems to just shrug and obediently upload their face scans so they can watch AI videos of uncanny-valley cats playing cruel pranks on facsimiles of political figures in-between unskippable ads for applying to be an ICE agent under promises that it'll be like COD but in your own backyard with living, breathing brown people.
Spot fucking on. The people who’ve watched it grow then wither are the most bitter because we saw what it could have become
I'll never forget John C. Dvorak's 2006 article from PC Mag, where he argued that we were living in the Golden Age of the Internet, and to enjoy it while it lasts, before it ends up overcommercialized like what happened to radio. I only half believed it at the time, but I see now that he was 100% spot on with that prediction. (Snippet here; can't find a scan of the entire article.)
I went digging and found it, it's split across two pages (which was the style at the time) here and here.
here is the full text to save you a click:
The Golden Age of the Internet
06.21.06
By John C. Dvorak
How many people realize that we're living in a golden age, the Golden Age of the Internet? It won't last; golden ages never do. Some of it will remain, but there's evidence that much of it is headed for the trash heap of history.
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Radio days. The golden age of radio lasted from about 1930 to 1950. It was nothing like radio today. Money was thrown at it. Thousands of great dramas and variety shows were made. Huge news organizations were built. Today, radio consists of rightwingers ranting about liberals, psychologists analyzing moaners-and-groaners, and mediocre music from CDs. We do get all-news stations with erroneous traffic reports, and public broadcasting stations with thoughtful shows on fascinating topics like the art of Gebel Barkel from the first millennium BC.
Every new technology that widely affects society has a golden age, and we give things a lot of slack. Porn on the Net symbolizes this leeway. But so do podcasting, blogging, free video servers, chat rooms, P2P, free e-mail, and other flourishing services.
A proprietary, closed Net is coming. A golden age ends either when something new comes along (as with radio's golden age, killed by the advent of TV), the government gets involved, or entropy sets in—usually a mix of these elements. In the case of the Internet, we are already seeing a combination of government, carrier, and business interactions that will eventually turn the Net into a restricted and somewhat proprietary network, with much of its content restricted or blocked. Only a diligent few will actually have access to the restricted data, and in some parts of the world even trying to view the restricted information on the Net will be a crime.
It's already a crime to post intellectual discussions about copy-protection schemes that are protected by the DMCA. If the American public tolerates that sort of onerous restriction, then it will tolerate anything.
Continue reading... (page 2)
Filtering and blacklists now common. Most U.S. government agencies now use filtering mechanisms to keep their own computers from accessing blacklisted Web sites. Third parties maintain these blacklists, and they put whatever they want on the lists. For example, my blog was blacklisted for a while, with no explanation.
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Most companies go much further and carefully monitor all network traffic. They can then pinpoint the use of streaming media and other verboten uses of corporate computers and simply block such usages and blacklist the sites involved.
Even e-mail is lost in the shuffle. The New York Times has a system in place that prevents certain press releases from getting to the reporters.
Blame spam and porn. Spam, porn, and other forms of questionable content are the reasons for filtering and blacklisting. But increasingly, content that mentions birth control or evolution is blocked. Nazi memorabilia sales and hate sites are also banned. It is folly to think that any government, no matter how progressive, won't be tempted to choke off certain content of which it does not approve.
This sort of intervention becomes ever easier with the consolidation of the Internet. It's all headed to AT&T; and Comcast. AT&T; has already sold the public down the river by turning over phone records to the government without blinking an eye. Ask it to filter Google results? No problemo!
Is there anything the public can do about this? Yes—enjoy the Golden Age, while you can.
Discuss this article in the forums.
More articles from John Dvorak:
See John get cranky about technology in his new Cranky Geeks IPTV Show.
Go off-topic with John C. Dvorak here.
I've been looking for this article again for nearly two decades. Obviously my Google fu isn't as good as it used to be.
Thank you.
(E: That take on Nazi memorabilia, yikes. Don't remember that bit lol. Oh how naïve we used to be...)
I'm also clueless and don't understand what the OP is talking about - who is having a mental breakdown and why? And aren't the millennials who are the only tech and internet literate generation exactly the people having a mental breakdown over the way the internet is going? I'm so confused, I need more context.
I've been on since BBS's , I was just starting to understand it a little then it expanded to browsers, then there was the FTP's to share pirated software, ICQ to meet people from all over the world it was good.
Then it went to shit, the only good thing is that torrents have been keeping my media free.
I miss IRC. I met really cool people there. From nowadays social networks almost nobody. Not sure what is the difference, maybe it helps that I do not want to link my real person to social networks.
Dude, you don't have to miss IRC, you can just hop back in. Its still great. A little less people but once you find a couple of channels its excellent.
Just few months ago I came back to my old IRC channels about my hobbies. All empty except the one from my city, that is used only by men to find sex, 0 conversation.
Oh yeah the old ones we used to hang out in are long gone. I found new ones.
Even though I'm not the owner or admin of this place, I feel like I can invite you to have a look around. Relevant info and a webchat can be found here: https://inthemansion.com/
I was assuming OP means all those gross out pics/vids, or the death/violent stuff. Those pain olympics were something else, and I couldn't finish 2 girls 1 cup.
Statistically speaking, most people alive for the days of the early internet are significantly better off than younger generations. That's my guess, that whoever posted this is comfortably oblivious to the class war
But if you've been around long enough and have been reading and paying attention to history, you shouldn't be surprised because the ruling class is literally doing what they have always done.
The US has not changed, their ruling class has been raping and eating people and children since its inception, but people ignore that history or aren't taught it because it was done to slaves.
Slavery never ended, it just changed names and presentation to for-profit prisons.
Idk if we are desensitized or just not surprised because we could see it coming
Not just me then
This my brother.