Have people become less smart? I think more likely you’ve just been exposed to the reality than most people are not as smart as yourself.

I certainly think more people are aware of things they wouldn’t have otherwise been aware of. It’s become more difficult for governments to hide facts from their citizens, and that’s been good.

It’s been a mixed bag and I think we should be careful of judging the Internet by the behaviour of companies like Facebook.

We’re also learning. Ten years ago I can’t imagine anyone quitting social media due to concerns about privacy, manipulation, the undermining of democracy or the amoral behaviour of Facebook’s employees, but that happens a lot now. As PG said, it takes time for us to “develop antibodies” to these things.

No, I don't think I'm smarter. I think it's a mix of both things. There was a barrier to entry before, which was still significant pre-smartphone. This naturally selected the people that participated. In the early net, pretty much researchers, professor, university students. Naturally this had a selection effect. Like all utopias, it eventually ran into real people.

But secondly there's also the issue of social media mass manipulation, which MAKES (or strongly pushes) people to act like they do. This is completely separate to how "smart" the community is.

Facebook is AOL 2.0. AOL was equivalently vapid - and often just as toxic - in the 90s.

Yes, I remember joining KKK chatrooms on AOL as a kid and spamming them with "White Chowder! White Chowder!". Good times.

This. People are wearing rose colored glasses, but the scale has changed and the barriers to entry removed.

Hopefully FB goes the same way AOL instant messenger did.

2005 is where I place the beginning of the end

I should have seen it coming in 97 when I introduced an acquaintance to IRC or similar, expecting the same enlightenment I saw, and the first thing he did was start spamming channels with swears as a laugh.

Had exactly the same experience.

many of us place it a bit earlier. [0]

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September

While I agree that was the end for Usenet. And it for told what would become of the wider internet. 2005 saw the creation of the modern social network and the start of the centralized services we have today. A move from 100's of niche forums and blogs to a few social networks. Which is where I place the beginning of the end of the wider internet

I wish all the internet was more like hackernews.

Going from the posts in this thread it seems like HN thinks "the internet" is all social media and ads. What you're wishing for is another type of misinformed opinion, one that you agree with.

If you’re forced to agree with something, might as well be hackernews IMO.

Just above your comment was a caricatural: “Is the internet I built bad? No, it must be other people who are stupid.” that made your comment take a colour very different from what you intended…