> everyone is here

I think this is the answer. Once upon a time we were way fewer people, and many interests were shared among those people (because we pretty much were all "geeks"). We've always had trolls, spammers, etc. but it still felt like we were part of a big community.

Now everybody is here, and that feeling is no more. It's like moving from a small village or town (where everybody knows each other) to a huge city. It doesn't feel like "belonging" anymore.

And nobody makes Monty Python or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references anymore. I had a boss 15 years ago who had watched all things Star Trek, just like me; Knew all the things. But at one point he mentioned he wasn't really a fan, it was just "required reading, part of the literature". This is an interesting one. There used to be certain things that all nerds knew, and could talk about, use as analogies and metaphors. Something to talk about just like sales people (stereotypically, used to) talk about sports. I realized early in my career that's why some people in business follow sports, so they didn't get cut out of conversations. I always had nothing to say when that topic came up. But it's tricky because geeks and nerds shouldn't be gatekeepers about what the entertainment is, or the literature, because that cuts out a lot of people who should feel included. But at the same time most people think it's generally nice to have some common things to reference, talk about, and normalize on. I think social media, politics, streaming services, etc. have totally blown away these shared frameworks in society, and it's kind of a bummer, even though it's great to have lots of choices. People used to watch the same TV shows and talk about it the next day. I guess sports is basically the last thing that's shared. Thanks for attending my Ted Talk...

Monty Python, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Star Trek are becoming old. These are references from the 70s. I'd say anime took over as the stereotypical geek culture thing. Japanese otaku and western geeks got along. Also fantasy became popular over science fiction, the video game landscape has changed dramatically, and of course, younger geeks grew up with the internet more than with TV. Also, there are series like Stranger Things that are definitely geeky.

Things are moving on, we are just getting old.

Back in the day of The Internet of 1994, HHGTTG was only 15 years old.

But today, HHGTTG is very nearly 45 years old.

For how many decades should references to novel fiction persist, do you suppose?

42 years, and then never mention it again.

It's hard to believe that a 15-year-old book was a defining cultural touchstone. What do we have from 2009 that has the reach of HHGTTG in 1994? Twilight? Hunger Games?

We didn't read books in 2009 like we did in 1979.

In 2009, we already had pocket supercomputers.

The TV version was broadcast just over 42 (!) years ago

I think you are missing the point. It's not that interest in these things is what is essential to the old internet but that a shared interest and shared language is - and this includes as gp has pointed out metaphors and imagery.

But to your question, Tolkien, Asimov, Lovecraft, et al. are still a heavy influence on modern Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Horror. Why do you think a mere 45 years should mean that something is no longer referenced?

> because that cuts out a lot of people who should feel included

Why.

> People used to watch the same TV shows and talk about it the next day

That's the societal cost of having personalized experience. Nobody watches the content I watch because I pick content that's specifically relevant to just me. Even my closest friends watch different things.

>geeks and nerds shouldn't be gatekeepers about what the entertainment is, or the literature, because that cuts out a lot of people who should feel included.

But the sports fans never felt this way, and were always happy to cut out the geeks and nerds that didn't give two shits about the sportsball game they watched that weekend. Why should the geeks and nerds need to worry about including the sports fans, but not the other way around?

>I think social media, politics, streaming services, etc. have totally blown away these shared frameworks in society, and it's kind of a bummer, even though it's great to have lots of choices. People used to watch the same TV shows and talk about it the next day.

When Game of Thrones was the new hot TV show, it seemed like everyone and his dog was watching it, and that included the sports fans and the nerds too.

>I guess sports is basically the last thing that's shared.

Back to my first point. I don't know any sports fans in my circle of friends and work colleagues (who are all techies of course). If any are, they keep it to themselves, thankfully.

> There used to be certain things that all nerds knew, and could talk about, use as analogies and metaphors.

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra

the analects of confucius, or, in europe, plato, cicero, and the bible

I’d like to offer an alternative: people who still write on personal blogs and like to interact with each other.

https://ooh.directory is constantly growing if you want to look for things to read.

https://kagi.com/smallweb Is a fun alternative way to discover new content.

I started a series almost a year ago to help people discover interesting humans and their blogs: https://peopleandblogs.com/

Bearblog has a discovery section: https://bearblog.dev/discover/

The spirit of the old web is still alive and thriving in places that are now no longer mainstream. It takes some effort to find them but great sites are still out there.

I'll add some more "small web" links, for those interested. Thanks for yours!

* https://search.marginalia.nu/

* https://wiby.me/surprise/

* https://neustadt.fr/essays/the-small-web/

* https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3hn0a7/what_smal...

EDIT: and because this one just brings me joy, that it exists, with such excruciating detail (:

* https://www.trilobites.info/

As others have noted before, [0][1] the ideals of the 'small web' movement are essentially just a subset of the much older IndieWeb movement, which is more deserving of the credit.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24269071

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29790502

One more:

https://www.leanternet.com/

(Scroll all the way down; HN is mentioned first).

Great list until

> 8. Ads can be good

No they absolutely cannot. Ads skew the incentives whether they are intrusive or not. Also the entire point of ads is to get the user to do something aside from his own goals so they are in direct opposition of point 1.

If I'm gonna be honest, I never liked blogs. Never liked reading them and never liked the idea of writing one.

Forums were the cornerstone of the old internet and more or less completely extinct today.

And that’s totally fine. Forums are still out there and still a viable option.

> https://kagi.com/smallweb Is a fun alternative way to discover new content.

Thanks for this. It's the best thing since webring. I recently switched to Kagi. I didn't know they were patrons of the spirit of the old web too. That makes me even happier to be giving them my money.

Go back a couple of years and the BBS scene was that times ten. Imagine if everyone in this thread lived within 20 minutes drive of each other, knew each other's real names, and might even recognize each other if they passed on the street. Anyone else feeling too much CRT today? Want to go throw a frisbee around?

The issue is not so much that everyone is here, but that now the community is large enough to be worth putting a lot of effort into capturing sentiment and advertising. These issues happen no matter the community once it reaches a certain size. Solve that, you've solved the internet, and just about every other social ill we face today.