Hyperland (1990) [video]

So I can not blame technology for what is clearly a human/social priority problem.

1) The Internet was created. Early adopters are generally optimistic about its potential to share knowledge and data, and form communities around mutual interests. 2) People begin to realize different ways to create money from this popular new technology, leading to very obvious attempts at creating revenue at some expense of users attention (e.g. advertising), followed by more hidden ways of revenue creation (e.g. selling data).

I also find it hard not to despair. There are still online communities that are still more motivated by communicating and sharing for their own sake (HN included), which I think should be the aspiration of online communities. Most people here have probably just settled into the online communities/blogs that serve these more optimistic goals. The unfortunate thing is that as soon as these communities become relatively popular in any way, other motives start to come to the fore to take advantage of that popularity. As those motives become clear, cynicism is inevitable. It seems to me that you might need something like benevolent community leaders that want to pour their own resources (time and/or money) into online communities without expecting anything in return.

I guess this comment didn't really offer ways to deal with cynicism regarding technology, if anything I justified the cynicism and suggested an option to create communities that would not breed cynicism.

Having grown up along with the Internet, I feel this is a common sentiment among those who experienced the early days when things were just getting started. It seems we're losing touch with the vision and culture that gave birth to this technology and made it seem magical, like participating in a collective evolution.

The commercialization of the Internet and the shared space it enables is a symptom of modern social priorities (as a sibling comment pointed out). It's part of the history of colonization of all public space and the public themselves. As one of the "natives", it's hard not to feel cynical about the transformation - but that, at least for me, ties in with a deeper cynicism about society and its values, the direction of culture and civilization.

On a more positive note, there's a kind of generational knowledge transfer, passing the torch: the history, the set of values, the original insights that formed the foundation are all (or much of it) still there, being taught/learned, carried on, elaborated and pursued further. As I get older, I feel more responsibility to play my part, to do what I can in my local sphere of influence. That also opens my eyes to what others are doing in terms of activism and education.

To prevent spam/commercialization/hostile take over, it could be invite only so you could "trim" off any rotting limbs efficiently.

I also considered black listing all the popular sites to give it a more community feel. I imagine there are thousands of websites out there that cover so many niches that will never appear on google.

One thing I miss about the old web was how personal it felt (or maybe it's rose tinted glasses). Now everything revolves around LCD* and $$$

edit: *Lowest common denominator

Maybe it's quality is better.