Ask Lemmy

I'm ready to give up on most things.

Set up your own website if you haven't already, the indie web/smallnet/etc movement lately has been really cool to see and has made the internet fun again for me. Neocities is a great place to start if you need simple hosting, completely free and without ads

The Internet sucks now. There's just not "things" on it anymore. When I was a teenager, there was always something new and interesting to do online. Modern Internet is social media, streaming, and shopping. It's just not the same.

I understand completely but am trying to mold my access to the world in a way that doesn't cause me such depression. I don't use the normal social networks, I've used the piefed filters to block everything about musk, trump, ice, america, politics, etc. and I've never followed any kind of "news".

Before I did that, I was literally becoming chronically suicidal(well, that's not gone but it's better) from the absolute shit-show that the world has become(it's not just the US, other countries are quickly adopting the bipartisan hatred model now that they see it works to divide). It would be different if you saw something regarding a change towards improvement but that's never seen, you just get another endless scroll of shit that is destroying society with no way to change it.

The fediverse is just as bad as any other social network out there. Although the leaning is opposite, it's still full of extremism, hyperbolic hatred, ridicule, mockery, division and sufferporn. Without filters, it would be as unusable to me as, say, facebook or trump's social network.

I'm withdrawing a lot from people online but still spend a lot of time online, it's just not as interactive as it used to be.

If this is not sustainable, I'm sure I'll likely follow your lead and leave it to the rest of the world.

No, not "off" the internet.

Off the big corporate-driven soulless sites, maybe. Smaller discussion groups/forums, dedicated services, etc. still works. It's less tedious, less eating your brain.

Basically, going back to internet before central planetary services that feed on everyone being miserable.

I keep a book on my person at all times now. Instead of mindlessly grabbing my phone (internet propaganda portal), I'll grab the book instead. Been doing it about six months now, I like it a lot. I still havnt finished a book, I jump from one to the other very often, but I'm reading much more.

Its okay to sign off. I had a panic attack two weeks ago, and basically had to sign off for a time. I'm still keeping distance from the internet though. Renewing my love of reading has been a serious positive though.

Don't give up, stick to places that don't suck. Corpotrash is replacable

I've given up on the super-corporate side of the Internet.

99% of my Internet use is Mastodon and Lemmy, both of which don't really represent "the Internet". I sail the high seas occasionally to help meet my other needs.

Yes, multiplayer gaming is toxic as hell. If I'm doing that, I have chat turned off, but mostly I've managed to finagle the Internet into my own personal, cozy little Hobbiton derivative, so it doesn't feel quite so toxic to me as it might to the population at large.

Nah, it's just getting good. The Epstein/Mossad files are slowly melting the fascist tide by exposing the perverts behind the curtain. The billionaires are losing their control over information to first hand accounts posted live so we can all see the truth before the spin. The Internet is the forefront of understanding what is about to happen.

Don't quit now. If you want to see the truth, the Internet is the last place to host it unfiltered. Quitting is how the billionaires get people to only see the world through captured media.

Lemmy is a salvation spot for me, been an internet denizen since before I was a teen, it has been sad to see it slide into popularity contest/mass consumerism garbage. But I enjoy my Minecraft videos I've been watching for over a decade and getting to chat about homelab/Linux stuff as an alternative.

Its not like the real world (in the us at least) is doing any better lmao

If the fediverse were to collapse, I'd be done. Its the one thing worth being hopeful about right now.

Yeah the internet is cooked.

Im trying to invest more time in off-line things.

The Internet as a whole isn't the problem. Specific sites are. Steer clear from those sites, and you'll be just fine. Take notice of which sites and services result in negative emotions, and find alternatives to those places.

Be mindful that it's a tool, use it to benefit youself

I jave been onlone from the dialup and BBS days of the 1980's when it was the reserve of nerds, it's accelerated the enshitifcation process in the last 20 years and commercialisation via advertising is why, it's the only reason Googke, Facebook etal exist

You might be done with people, not the internet.

I'll tell you right now: many of those old corners of the internet... Are still there. A lot aren't, but a lot still are. Seek them out, it's worth it.

Not at all. Look at this beautiful corner we have made here.

I viciously “edit” the internet as much as I can. I block toxic social networks and have deleted any accounts I had on them. There’s a Firefox plugin that lets you individually block sites in search results so you reduce scraper garbage SEO sites in your results. PiHole, uBlock, and whatever else that is available to block ads, tracking, etc. “-ai” when searching. Use SearXNG or non-big data search tools when able.

News comes from places like AP or Reuters. Not perfect, but better than half-true at best MSM clickbait.

It sucks. It takes work to enjoy what used to be better a decade ago, but let’s face it it’s been steadily downhill since ‘10 or so. I truly miss the “old” web. Yeah, it had its own problems, but it was far, far better and more egalitarian than this war zone of monetization and manipulation we have today.

I still doomscroll to stay a little informed but my recent salvation has been free ebooks on my phone. Same phone strolling action but instead of doom, I get fun little mysteries.

Just don't read news. News push negative narrative because it creates strong emotional reactions and people engaged. Problem is even here on Lemmy, people share and discuss these toxic news instead of writing their own view of it that is more modest and objective.

Yup, I've gotten much more into the smolweb, niche websites and the dark web, where some parts still feel like a place I can breathe.

I believe that life on the internet will reside in private, invite only communities. Public spaces will only get worse and worse.

you inspired me to check out ytmnd. fucking front page has an epstein contest.

i'm not entirely sure if i was on a tour of an active particle accelerator if i wouldn't take a dive just to try to get us all on a different universe. godsdamned weasels

*humanity

but yes, i'm vastly returning to an offline, analog life.

when i stay on, it's self-hosted and smolnet

I almost feel the same, too much USA doomnews about Trump and Epstein. Here, people break rules too, just to spam USA news 24/7.
My solution to combat this, was to block keywords(Lemmy) and access website I only need(forums, websites etc).

Good luck! Come back and let the rest of us know what it's like out there.

AI is the thing thats close to pushing me off. I've loved it less and less every day since it turned into a popularity contest, but it still had a lot of great stuff. Now its not even people pretending to be something they're not, its a computer program pretending to be somebody pretending to be somebody theyre not in the vain hopes that you'll LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE.

I'm not talented or special-skilled or super-interested enough in anything to warrant joining any niche forums. This right here is the last of my Internet I think. Once Lemmy is overrun by thots and bots I might be done.

I mean I gave up on web 3.0, bloated to hell web pages and telemetry shit. Stick on the small web and fediverse much as you can. Its still fun but it's like music, you have to look hard to find good things now because its not right out there in front of you because there's too much of it.

Instead of giving up, keep learning so you can explain and help the non tech illiterate how to run their own servers and docker containers etc etc for when every application requires a brain chip supplied by musky to log in. A lot of the normies are lost right now at how all this works and no one is explaining it to them. Now, 98% won't listen to you, but you can try

I was told that I was as evil as the BTK killer a couple days ago. That was because I think circumcision is bad and female genital mutilation is worse. A couple weeks prior I was called a few dozen different awful things in a many many page dissertation about how evil I am. That one, because I made a one sentence joke about Hasan then trolled a 5 page response to it. So, idk maybe enough internet.

I always viewed the Internet as a kind of alternate reality growing up. But, then that started to change once "social networks" started taking off and all the normies (as some people refer to it now) started using it. Then it kind of started becoming almost "realer" than IRL, with algos optimized to manipulate people, and sophisticated propaganda campaigns. About 5 years ago, I noticed politicians started using language taken from the "gamergate" discourse. Now, the US admin is transparently trying to control discourse on the largest platforms, and official government institutions are poorly shit-posting.

So, yeah, it's kinda disheartening how one of the greatest communication tools has turned into a tool for control. Though, in hindsight, I guess I should've seen this coming, even from fiction created a century ago. I think I remember some person saying that the Nazi regime wouldn't have been possible without the invention of the radio.

not this part

that sounds more like problems with IRL than problems with the internet

It’s hard to get a recipe off the internet without having to hunt for it after a 14 mile long backstory no one on earth cares about. To me, that sums up the internet. It’s damn near dead.

Nope. Just about all the good things in my life, arrive through the intertubes. My anime, games, hentai, history videos, they are only really practical because of the internet.

The only pleasure I have outside the internet is food. And honestly, eating for pleasure is far more expensive than a good game. For $30, I can have at least a month of amusement. A good meal? Just a day of contentment.

Maybe I would feel differently if I could spend money without feeling anxiety...but meatbag activities like visiting third places, fills me with fiscal dread. I cannot leave my room often, else I risk poverty finally overtaking me.

I'm not going to completely give up on it, but I'm finding ways to be more selective about how I use it. I'm moving away from it gradually, as going cold turkey has never worked for me in the past. I've started buying physical books when I can, working on hobby stuff more, going outside to exercise, etc.

Corporate social media is outright abusing people's minds for profit and is wholly unethical. It should be burnt to the ground and only mentioned as a cautionary tale. Anything with an algorithm should be treated with the same kind of caution we use for hard drugs. Honestly, I'm not sure any form of social media is good for your mental health anymore, but at least federated socials are organic and free range, so to speak.

Streaming and gaming I'm more conflicted about. I feel it's obvious that the current business models most streaming and gaming companies use have contributed to a decline in quality and artistry in our media. Microtransactions in games should be held in the same low regard as corporate social media. However, I don't think giving people access to a broader selection of content is harmful in general, it's just the constant price hikes, seemingly arbitrary cancellations and removals, and shifting of content from one service to another that ruins it. With product placement becoming an accepted practice, we're seeing more and more movies and TV becoming ad vehicles and propaganda platforms... But we could have a nice thing if creators were respected and consumers treated fairly by the major streaming services. Sadly, that's not likely to happen unless the money dries up.

News... News is awful. Regan dealt broadcast news a fatal wound by repealing the fairness doctrine, but it was Facebook that finally buried it. When more people started to access news content through Facebook and Twitter than from actually watching the channel, news networks adapted by creating content that plays well in the attention economy, which basically means they generate as much rage-bait as possible. If it's not outright propaganda or apology peices then it's just political gossip aimed and pissing one demographic or another off. There's not much point in consuming any news except long format articles from a few select sources any more.

Interacting with people... Back in the heyday of forums you could find a wealth of info and helpful people to answer questions on almost any topic. But most of those forums had a miscellaneous or off topic board where the chronically online could talk about what ever they wanted. Those places were always a minefield of trolling, misinfo, and general assholery. That's basically what smartphones turned the Internet into, one giant off-topic section full of angry, chronically online people. I don't try to find online friends anymore...

For me, I limit devices to specific purposes. My phone does calls, messaging, and the few socials I interact with plus occasional music for workouts. My tablet only plays music, has a limited selection of games, and my e-reader apps (no socials, no streaming, etc.). TV is only for streaming video. My laptop I'll occasionally access Lemmy on, look up hobby stuff, and do online shopping with. Any gaming is on a steam deck these days, and usually single-player offline titles. Setting things up this way helps me avoid doom scrolling, buying shit I don't need, consuming mindless Netflix content, and buying in to AAA game hype. It's not perfect, but somehow it helps a little.

Your mileage may vary.