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Comment by barbariangrunge | Hacker News Reader

Good. The internet was really fun before the ads and monetization came.

We had forums and personal web sites. Weird blogs everywhere you looked. Some semblance of anonymity. A sense of community that wasn't about growing a following.

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The concept of an upvote didn't exist. You were primarily relating to people, not an audience filtered through a voting mechanism.

It was peaceful.

The usenet I remember was anything but praceful haha

The toothpaste is out of the tube though, sorry to say.

Things get worse once someone realises how it can be monetised...

This sentiment reads pretty much like auto enthusiasts musing about how good things were when every car owner knew how to fix his car and things were more simple. The world has moved on, the Internet is not a hobby or specialization anymore, just like reading and writing used to be and no longer is.

Modern cars are about as easy to fix as old ones. The engine room is more cramped now so a bit more annoying though and you are often out of luck if the computers need replacements and be programmed for the car.

But most problems are fixed just like before.

I feel it is mostly an exuse to not bother doing it the "manly way" but paying a pro to do it.

I highly doubt the kind of people making weird anonymous blogs then are now instagram influencers trying to grow their following

The initial batch of professional "influencers" (they were called bloggers) where I live were ordinary bloggers before they started to shill products. I think it was around 2006 sometime?

They had normal blogs before profits entered the picture.

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