Yeah I've been online since ~92 and have been saying approximately the same thing as well. Back then you hop onto IRC and you're generally talking with academics and programmers from around the world. Browse any web directories and it's extremely information-rich.

There was a real technical or situational hurdle to even be present on the net back then, and I think most users had a sense of wonder and perhaps respect for the platform they were privileged to even get a glimpse into and partake in. Maybe? Today the amount of low-effort/low-value thoughtless vitriol makes up a much much larger percentage of the communication and web content than "back in the day". Spend but a few moments and you will encounter some flamebait/sensationalistic noise. It used to be a lot harder to be subjected to such stuff. Tragedy of the internet commons, or something.