I disagree. HN is definitely less insane than Reddit these days, but it's not representative of what Web 1.0 was like and felt like.

Everyone here would do well to read and understand this essay by Jaron Lanier:

https://www.edge.org/conversation/jaron_lanier-digital-maois...

I also recommend people revisit archives of some high-quality web forums and websites like Geocities. There is a lot of revisionism going on in tech sector right now. Conveniently, it's nearly impossible to challenge in a space where a handful of people can disappear your posts by downvoting and a conversation stays "relevant" only for a few hours.