my obsession with the early internet

By the time I was old enough to use the internet for anything but Barbie.com and pbs kids, it was beginning to morph into the hyper-regulated capitalist hellscape it is now (not to say all forms of regulation are bad, but shoving everyone into the tiny square of an instagram post takes away from the self expression that used to be available in the early days.)

Of course I got some peeks at the early internet as a child- watching my dad download music from limewire to burn CDs for our car, hovering over my babysitters shoulder as she updated her MySpace page- but I was never a part of it. As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten even more interested in internet history, and it was only recently that I realized why: The technology of the internet has allowed for constant, fast change, and it’s hard to keep track of. There’s so much out here that gets created in the blink of an eye, and it disappears just as fast. It can also get pretty mysterious. While complete anonymity is hard, it’s still possible to some degree, and it was even more so in the early days. At its worst, the internet is full of lies, deception, and scamming, but at its best, full of secrets to uncover and mysteries to solve. And most importantly to me, it tells a story. 

The story of the internet is just as much fiction as it is fact. It’s about real people and their real experiences, as well as stories we’ve made up. Fact and fiction coexist on the internet like nowhere else, and in the early days it was even harder to discern which was which. 

I’m glad for the relative safety and critical thinking I’m able to use on the internet nowadays, but I’m still fascinated with what once was. The glittering world of  customization, escape from reality, and thousands upon thousands of new relationships to be made at the click of a button. 

I’d love to hear from others who share my fascination, as well as those of you who were around in those early days, and those of you working to recreate the freedom of expression and freedom from corporate influence that we once had.