It's not nostalgia

Like many here I'm trying to wean myself off the modern web and engage more with the personal internet. It's not about going back to a perceived "better time" but instead a reaction to a number of different things:

The corporatisation of social media

The modern social media algorithm

The same bland, shiny modern web design that plagues the net now

Corporate control over web spaces

A right-wing centric net

I'd rather engage with individuals and what they love and not be a mass of data points in an algorithm. Sure, there is no current complete replacement for all of this. I'm still going to have to book holidays, tickets, and generally buy things on the web, but I can be more thoughtful about how I'm doing it.

securesakelayer

I recently deleted my Twitter account and created a new one to try to curate the algorithm in a certain way.....and it didn't work. Every time I open the app, I have to press "Not Interested" to multiple political posts which are preferable to the fight clip genre of videos it tries to force as well. At no point in over a month of trying to curate it have I actually been able to spend a whole minute scrolling without seeing one of those two forms of content.

On the flip side, discussing a certain product in person and later seeing an advertisement for that product on social media makes me feel violated. It's not convenient and I hate it.