> The late 90's through early 2000's internet was way better for meeting people online.

Right? I made quite a few friends and even a couple of romantic partners on forums and BBSs. For what it's worth, I've seen this happen (tactfully!) on facebook (before they decided that they needed to be a dating site too -_-), through mutual friends and special-interest groups. But, that specifically doesn't work for straight people who are locked into gender-isolated bubbles.

could that be selection bias? a lot less of niche people today on big apps, and more casual(superficial) mainstream "scene"? like in those time people were selfselecting on certain traits and really motivated on soulmate search?

(european POV, internet became mainstream in 2010s with social networks)

> (european POV, internet became mainstream in 2010s with social networks)

Wow. In the US, 2010 was about when AOL stopped stuffing our mailboxes with install disks... (some research later) make that 2006.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nma...

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/12/8594049/aol-free-trial-cds

Possibly. I'm also older now, which probably doesn't help...