What Are the 'Dead Parts' of the Internet? Reddit Co-founder Talks About the Current State of the Web

I recently heard something that got me thinking💭

You know Reddit, right? It's like an online bulletin board where all kinds of people chat about whatever they want. Well, the co-founder Alexis Ohanian said something like "much of today's internet is 'dead'," and I was like, wait, what does that mean!?😳

What Are the "Dead Parts" of the Internet?

To put Ohanian's words simply, the internet used to be more free, with diverse opinions and information actively exchanged, but now due to the influence of major platforms and algorithms, diverse communication has decreased and "the same kind of things" are spreading everywhere✨

Actually, I kind of get this feeling... The old internet had lots of personal blogs and small bulletin boards, and there was joy in exchanging opinions with strangers🌸

But now social media has become so massive, with similar posts flooding our feeds, and our interests getting skewed by ads and algorithms - it feels like things have become more monotonous...🥺

Why Does He Say It's "Dead"?

Ohanian seems to mean that internet giants have gained too much power, and many people can only communicate within their frameworks.

For example...

The same kind of content keeps circulating, with fewer new discoveries
Opinions tend to be biased, making it harder to encounter diverse perspectives
Spaces for individuals to express themselves freely have decreased

This state is what's being described as the "dead parts"💬

So What Can We Do About It?

Hearing that the internet is "dead" sounds scary, but I actually think it would be nice if we could regain "places where we can talk freely like in the old days" and "the excitement of discovering new things"🥺✨

So maybe we could try:

Looking for different social media platforms or bulletin boards
Sharing things we're interested in without relying on major platforms
Paying attention to real-life communities beyond the internet

Starting with things like this might not be a bad idea💡

My Little Realization

I'd vaguely felt that "the internet is convenient but has become kind of bland," but hearing this made me realize that these changes are actually happening✨

The internet of the future might become interesting in different ways, and maybe we can participate and help shape it🫶

Thinking about it this way, rather than just going with the flow, choosing to take action ourselves might not be so bad💗

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It's kind of a sad change, isn't it🥺

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Comments

グレース

I wonder how much of Reddit's conversations and upvotes are from AI.

ハンナ

I'm shocked at how useless search engines have become. It's gotten especially bad in the last six months. Just AI crap answers and ads everywhere.

ハンナ

I don't search as much as before, but the search results are seriously terrible (I only use Google and Bing, maybe that's the problem).

ノーラン

That's why I can't stand the internet anymore. I used to think annoying people were just trolls, but now I suspect they might be troll bots.

ワット

I quit other social media years ago, and if I get banned here, I'm leaving for good.

ジョージ

[deleted]

クリス

I've been reading about the indie web lately, and there's a movement to create personal websites like the old internet. Like Neocities and Neko web.

ロバート

Suddenly remembered that geocities /tokyo/towers/ site that used to have scanned anime pictures.

サム

The current mobile and social media-focused internet is like cancer. I'm glad it's ending.

リリー

We need the original internet, not this psychological warfare it's become.

ハンナ

I miss the small message boards like in the old days. Good automotive forums got bought out and collapsed, everything turned to crap.

ジョージ

Reddit might be the place for a fresh start. But the admins welcome bots and make money from inflated numbers and ad clicks.

レオ

Maybe it's good for smartphone addicts though.

リリー

The internet is dominated by a few social media companies, with Palantir collecting everyone's data. Wealth is being siphoned from the middle class to the top 1%, it's over.