Yes yes yes! Bring back wonder and curiosity to the internet. I think the way we create more life in the digital space is by coming to it on our own terms and stop allowing billionare tech bros tell us what we like and don't like. One resource I've thoroughly enjoyed is called Cloud Hiker. It's a site that literally allows you to surf the web. I've come across so many cool websites in this way.
"Today the online world feels everywhere, omnipresent. But what about when it used to be somewhere?" What an interesting way to put it. Might I offer that "surfing" the internet was a more fitting verb when we *had* to choose our waves to surf? With the "algorithmic gaze" (as you had wonderfully described) of being online, scrolling through a feed that's automatically curated for you feels like the ocean currents are deciding where you have to go. Perhaps surfing the internet was a more popular phrase when the water was shallow enough for us to reach the air. Today, surfing sounds like an exhausting thought when you can just let the waves of algorithms seize you. New fan to your page, absolutely fun read! I'll be using more of my search bar from now on ;)
yes exactly you get my point!! surfing is such an interesting metaphor for internet life in the first place, and my favorite thing about it is that surfing is not some passive act. it’s very demanding on your body and mind—choosing the right spots, timing, being constantly aware of others around you, making infinite choices all to have a transcendent moment where you’re transported by something more powerful than you!
the idea of having 'intentional' internet time seems so foreign today but you are so right - that is exactly how i used to surf the web!! searching for content and consuming content that you want does feel different from being fed content by The Algorithm. that might be why i am still on tumblr in the year 2025 lol. but i definitely want to try having 'computer time' and see how that affects my relationship with screens. thank you for sharing!!
I miss coding marquee text and personal pages on geocities and angelfire. Cresting a little home on asianavenue. Sitting in my dad’s office chair in a dark room and logging on after 10pm when surely no one would try to call the landline.
This was a great read! I definitely have some fond memories of the internet of the 90s, that decade being the sum of my elementary and middle school experience, but I'm still cautious about idealizing it too much. Sure there was a lot of fun stuff on it, and the limitations of technology (from server processing power down to the fact that you had to tie up a phone line to be online) and the conservatism of corporations (namely that their hesitance to get too deeply invested in a new and dubious technology prevented their presence–at least until the Dot Com Bubble started inflating) kept it from becoming obviously manipulative; but there were no filters for misinformation, toxic content, scams, etc. I remember a certain website: all you needed was innocent curiosity (or a desensitized, morbid compulsion) and the URL to see actual (alleged) snuff films, in the characteristic low resolution of the time. Virus protection was a lot less effective back then, too, and the generally democratic space that the internet was made its more dangerous corners easier to access. I don't think it was better or worse; just better in some ways, worse in others. Surfing the web then, as today, required caution, restraint, and good judgment, which is the point you're hitting on here.
With that said, I do miss the days when 1) the best place to find out about a band/artist you just discovered was their website and 2) there was more pertinent information about them on that website than a picture of their latest release, a link to their label's store, and a list of tour dates.
Deeply enjoyed reading this, and I can relate to so many aspects. 'Computer Time' especially! I often throw around this term when wanting to be left alone exploring online - navigating my tabs, revisiting saved sites, clicking through into deeper threads. The content feeling that follows is much more satisfying than the social scroll. Its great to read this joy being a shared one.
I started doing the same thing recently! I go into office 2x a week for my silly little email job and was looking for ways to procrastinate that don't require me to switch from desktop to phone (so it's less obvious I'm slacking off). I find myself falling into what we elder millennials used to call a google hole. feels good to be home tbh.
In love with this essay and with you. I went on the same bender for one of my favorite bands Bark Psychosis. The Spotify > YouTube live performance > Wikipedia page > obscure 90s interview pipeline is a very special one. Call me so I can tell you about it ❤️ Also love the poetics of relations obviously! You had me at rhizome :)
looooove when it all ends with an obscure 90s interview! and love you more <3 ps you taught me the word rhizome! not sure if you remember it, but i do :’)
Your tangent about undeserved nostalgia & wanting to expand your experience beyond the present; I resonate with that deeply with adult lifestyle. As I'm approaching my mid twenties (birthday was yesterday!), I reminisce about memories I never had. Which is why I try to bring it to life as much as I can - with vintage clothing, retro furniture, dancing to 2000s music, & dressing in business clothes I couldn't wear as a child then. I talk more about it in my post, "I Miss The Days I Was Too Young To Experience" and this essay kept me from feeling so alone in the emotion. Thank you for sharing! 🥰
This is an amazing essay that really resonates with me. I like the idea of pretending like we're in third grade in a computer lab. The imagery of the rhizome is also sticking with me.
A few things I'd like to share:
-there are a few ways to disable the YT algorithm. It can be really peaceful to see no recommended videos on YT
-I'd like to recommend the site Neocities! It's got a lot of decentralized 90s style websites on it. It is extremely fun to explore and gives me a nostalgia for something I've never experienced.
I relate to this so much! It’s great to know that younger generations crave The Computer Room™ experience. I’m early into conceptualizing a new social media platform that will be a return to the early Internet: Avatar chat rooms, AIM, MySpace, Reddit forum vibes. No app, all desktop. I hope to connect with you in the future :)
I am a new suscriber to your Substack and I love the two posts I've read so far. This makes me thing a lot about my time online in the early 2000s in comparison to the way I "navigate" now. I will take your words as inspiration for writing a post because now I reeally want to write about my favorite websites back then. <3 Thank you!
Yes yes yes! Bring back wonder and curiosity to the internet. I think the way we create more life in the digital space is by coming to it on our own terms and stop allowing billionare tech bros tell us what we like and don't like. One resource I've thoroughly enjoyed is called Cloud Hiker. It's a site that literally allows you to surf the web. I've come across so many cool websites in this way.
coming to the internet on our own terms! exactly ❣️
"Today the online world feels everywhere, omnipresent. But what about when it used to be somewhere?" What an interesting way to put it. Might I offer that "surfing" the internet was a more fitting verb when we *had* to choose our waves to surf? With the "algorithmic gaze" (as you had wonderfully described) of being online, scrolling through a feed that's automatically curated for you feels like the ocean currents are deciding where you have to go. Perhaps surfing the internet was a more popular phrase when the water was shallow enough for us to reach the air. Today, surfing sounds like an exhausting thought when you can just let the waves of algorithms seize you. New fan to your page, absolutely fun read! I'll be using more of my search bar from now on ;)
yes exactly you get my point!! surfing is such an interesting metaphor for internet life in the first place, and my favorite thing about it is that surfing is not some passive act. it’s very demanding on your body and mind—choosing the right spots, timing, being constantly aware of others around you, making infinite choices all to have a transcendent moment where you’re transported by something more powerful than you!
the idea of having 'intentional' internet time seems so foreign today but you are so right - that is exactly how i used to surf the web!! searching for content and consuming content that you want does feel different from being fed content by The Algorithm. that might be why i am still on tumblr in the year 2025 lol. but i definitely want to try having 'computer time' and see how that affects my relationship with screens. thank you for sharing!!
ok you’re right maybe i just need to get back on tumblr, i think that could Fix Me
I miss coding marquee text and personal pages on geocities and angelfire. Cresting a little home on asianavenue. Sitting in my dad’s office chair in a dark room and logging on after 10pm when surely no one would try to call the landline.
This was a great read! I definitely have some fond memories of the internet of the 90s, that decade being the sum of my elementary and middle school experience, but I'm still cautious about idealizing it too much. Sure there was a lot of fun stuff on it, and the limitations of technology (from server processing power down to the fact that you had to tie up a phone line to be online) and the conservatism of corporations (namely that their hesitance to get too deeply invested in a new and dubious technology prevented their presence–at least until the Dot Com Bubble started inflating) kept it from becoming obviously manipulative; but there were no filters for misinformation, toxic content, scams, etc. I remember a certain website: all you needed was innocent curiosity (or a desensitized, morbid compulsion) and the URL to see actual (alleged) snuff films, in the characteristic low resolution of the time. Virus protection was a lot less effective back then, too, and the generally democratic space that the internet was made its more dangerous corners easier to access. I don't think it was better or worse; just better in some ways, worse in others. Surfing the web then, as today, required caution, restraint, and good judgment, which is the point you're hitting on here.
With that said, I do miss the days when 1) the best place to find out about a band/artist you just discovered was their website and 2) there was more pertinent information about them on that website than a picture of their latest release, a link to their label's store, and a list of tour dates.
Deeply enjoyed reading this, and I can relate to so many aspects. 'Computer Time' especially! I often throw around this term when wanting to be left alone exploring online - navigating my tabs, revisiting saved sites, clicking through into deeper threads. The content feeling that follows is much more satisfying than the social scroll. Its great to read this joy being a shared one.
It’s almost 2am and I don’t have the words to articulate the feelings that I have from reading this but this sums it up: 🥹
:’)
Beautiful!! You may be interested in Jia Tolentino’s essay, ‘The I in the Internet’.
wowww yes i forgot about that essay! read it years ago, need to reread trick mirror again soon
absolutely adore this tysm no notes
I started doing the same thing recently! I go into office 2x a week for my silly little email job and was looking for ways to procrastinate that don't require me to switch from desktop to phone (so it's less obvious I'm slacking off). I find myself falling into what we elder millennials used to call a google hole. feels good to be home tbh.
In love with this essay and with you. I went on the same bender for one of my favorite bands Bark Psychosis. The Spotify > YouTube live performance > Wikipedia page > obscure 90s interview pipeline is a very special one. Call me so I can tell you about it ❤️ Also love the poetics of relations obviously! You had me at rhizome :)
looooove when it all ends with an obscure 90s interview! and love you more <3 ps you taught me the word rhizome! not sure if you remember it, but i do :’)
Your tangent about undeserved nostalgia & wanting to expand your experience beyond the present; I resonate with that deeply with adult lifestyle. As I'm approaching my mid twenties (birthday was yesterday!), I reminisce about memories I never had. Which is why I try to bring it to life as much as I can - with vintage clothing, retro furniture, dancing to 2000s music, & dressing in business clothes I couldn't wear as a child then. I talk more about it in my post, "I Miss The Days I Was Too Young To Experience" and this essay kept me from feeling so alone in the emotion. Thank you for sharing! 🥰
This is an amazing essay that really resonates with me. I like the idea of pretending like we're in third grade in a computer lab. The imagery of the rhizome is also sticking with me.
A few things I'd like to share:
-there are a few ways to disable the YT algorithm. It can be really peaceful to see no recommended videos on YT
-I'd like to recommend the site Neocities! It's got a lot of decentralized 90s style websites on it. It is extremely fun to explore and gives me a nostalgia for something I've never experienced.
Can't wait to read more of your work!
I just genuinely enjoy reading your voice, keep going.
I relate to this so much! It’s great to know that younger generations crave The Computer Room™ experience. I’m early into conceptualizing a new social media platform that will be a return to the early Internet: Avatar chat rooms, AIM, MySpace, Reddit forum vibes. No app, all desktop. I hope to connect with you in the future :)
I am a new suscriber to your Substack and I love the two posts I've read so far. This makes me thing a lot about my time online in the early 2000s in comparison to the way I "navigate" now. I will take your words as inspiration for writing a post because now I reeally want to write about my favorite websites back then. <3 Thank you!
please do! would love to read it :)